SMALL SURPRISES: Small plates and unexpected tastes are a winning combination for Zengo .

FEEL THE HEAT: The sexy decor at Chicago's Vermilion matches the spicy Indian-Latin fare.

PACIFIC RIM: Beacon dishes up California-influenced contemporary pan-Asian cuisine in a simple, neighborhood atmosphere.

CROSS-CULTURAL CLASSICS: Le Lan marries Asian ingredients with French cooking techniques.

DYNAMIC DUO: Chef Maneet Chauhan and owner Rohini Dey designed Vermilion's seviche, and other menu items with restraint.

In Miami, king salmon, guavas, carrots and mojito sauce come together for one of SushiSamba's Brazilian-Japanese "sashimi seviches." In New York City, a Vietnamese-and French-inspired salad of chilled poached lobster, tropical fruits and avocado is topped with caviar-chive cr&ethme fraÓche at Sapa. In Los Angeles, Japan and California meet atop an ahi tuna pizza at Kazuto Matsusaka's Beacon.

Although fusion cuisine has had its share of detractors since the phrase was coined more than two decades ago, this blending of cuisines continues to result in success for operators and chefs who carefully execute it.

Fusion means applying techniques of one cuisine—say, French—to ingredients of another, like Thai. Fusion also refers to the pairing of foods and ingredients from parts of the world that are not geographically close, and combining those ele-ments that work together because they share some common qualities, such as Peruvian and Japanese, Chinese and Indian or Californian and Korean.

Good fusion hinges on a few keys: executing both halves of the equation authentically; choosing cuisines that have commonalities and can complement each other; and restraint. More—more ingredients, more spices, more layers of flavor—usually does not mean better. Vicki Fan, who owns Beacon in Los Angeles with her husband, renowned chef Kazuto Matsusaka, says that a lack of focus can turn fusion into something it's not supposed to be. "Sometimes people get a little carried away with the word 'fusion.' It's really much more simple than it sounds. It can be as simple as adding one new ingredient to an existing dish. It then creates a totally different kind of cuisine."

Many factors lie behind the emergence of fusion, including shifting demographics, the availability of fresh yet foreign ingredients, America's interest in all things Eastern and our lust for new, bold flavors. Chef de cuisine Andy Motto of Le Lan in Chicago puts it best: "People want intense, palate-awakening bites."

As for detractors? "There will always be those who call it 'confusion,' and who say we should all be more authentic," says Rohini Dey, owner of Indian-Latin concept Vermilion in Chicago, "And I wish I had the right formula for balancing restraint and innovation, but if it works, then who are we to deny it?"

Focused Fusion from an L.A. Legend
Lauded for its focus and simplicity, Beacon in Los Angeles is a good example of everything that's right with fusion.

"Fusion doesn't necessarily mean a dish that is, say, 50 percent Chinese, 50 percent French," says owner Vicki Fan. Beacon's menu has been described as Californian-Asian, but chef Matsusaka and Fan call it "contemporary Asian." In any case, the flavors are big and bold, and indeed, the menu is more reflective of Japanese and Chinese dishes. California, however, peeks through in the form of beautiful greens and other fresh produce procured from local farmers' markets.

Take, for example, the salad based on a very Californian ingredient—the avocado, which Matsusaka slices and tops with cilantro, Japanese scallions and a vinaigrette of soy, sesame oil and a bit of fish sauce.

Matsusaka and Fan think the reason behind the success of the year-old restaurant is its blend of the new and the familiar. "Chinese food has been popular with Americans for such a long time, so there's a little bit of familiarity in the menu, but we're also introducing it in new ways, with new flavors and new presentations," says Fan.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a celebrity chef in the kitchen, either. Matsusaka made his name more than two decades ago at Wolfgang Puck's Chinois on Main, where he incorporated Chinese and French dishes for Americans starved for something new. Matsusaka's resume also includes stints at Puck's Ma Maison, Michael McCarty's Michael's and Michel Blanchet's L'Ermitage, all in LA, then at Paris's Buddha Bar.

The couple's return to LA and the opening of Beacon represented a return to basics. The restaurant, located in the Culver City area, is casual and simple. The focus is on small plates, and it's designed to be used as a regular neighborhood spot.

Best sellers include a kakuni udon appetizer ( Japanese noodles with braised pork belly, bamboo shoots and choy sum); the kaki fry, a small plate of fried oysters with yuzu-tartar sauce; and the ahi tuna pizza, with raw ahi, wasabi mayonnaise and pickled ginger. The most popular entrees include miso-marinated black cod served with sesame-tossed green beans and the grilled hanger steak with scallion-ginger potato salad and wasabi relish.

The menu is kept fresh with daily specials and seasonal items. A fun take on the BLT was a hit last summer. Matsusaka assembled bacon, tomatoes, mixed lettuces and slices of raw albacore tuna seared at the edges. It was topped with wasabi mayonnaise. Fusion is also seen in the dessert menu, which includes a green tea and white chocolate cheesecake and a coconut rice and mango brulee that's a play on rice pudding.

"As Kazuto and I have gotten older, we have become simpler in the way we eat, the places we go," says Fan. "Beacon is a reflection of that change."

French Classics with Vietnamese Flair
Two of Chicago's most prestigious chefs collaborated last year to open Le Lan, one of the newest of a handful of French-Vietnamese restaurants in the U.S. Roland Liccioni of Les Nomades and Arun Sampanthavivat of Arun's, along with restaurateur Howard Davis (Marche, Red Light, Gioco, Opera and Saiko), describe the menu at Le Lan as a "savory marriage of East and West," where the goal is to modernize classic dishes from both cultures while still keeping them close to their roots. While some offerings from both backgrounds remain untouched, in other dishes, the indigenous foods of Vietnam are prepared using French techniques, taking Southeast Asian fare to a higher plane. Other offerings present traditional French fare punched up with Vietnamese flavors and ingredients.

Liccioni, himself of both French and Vietnamese ancestry and classically trained in French cooking, takes the lead in the kitchen. Arun, raised in southern Thailand and a student of Southeast Asian cooking, is his complement. Chef de cuisine Andy Motto, whose resume includes positions at Charlie Trotter's, the French Laundry and, with Liccioni, at Les Nomades, helps fuse the two styles.

The concept for Le Lan (Vietnamese for "the orchid") was influenced by the French colonization of Vietnam in the early part of the 20th century. This, of course, was when French and Vietnamese cuisines were first "fused," but American experiments like Le Lan have served to elevate the marriage. Liccioni and Sampanthavivat, while still holding on to their posts at Les Nomades and Arun's, have come up with items such as a Vietnamese glazed ribeye with a red wine sauce, served with bok choy, pearl onions and fried rice risotto; and roasted rack of lamb with red curried loin, served with fennel salad, sweet gnocchi and eggplant chutney.