Cuisine:

• American
• Californian

Fuse Lounge Café Description:
After a face lift, the Carmel Mission Inn surprises with a chic little lounge called Fuse. Check out the bamboo floor, the see-through stone fireplace, low slung chairs to slouch into and unassuming ranch-style retro design. Mixologist John Luce whips up cocktails while chef Don Rentfrow takes tasty small, medium and bigger dishes to task. Try a pomegranate martini with an order of firecracker edamame. They arrive spicy with crushed chilies, garlic and black pepper. Crab cakes, served with a cooling Indian-influenced cucumber-mint raita, unfortunately wilt, soggy, yet creativity spins through their preparation. A winner instead: a bowl of artichoke and crab bisque, thick and flavorful and full of nice bits of crab. Pan-seared chicken breast comes with a creamy tomato-caper sauce and Dijon mustard crusts a generous piece of Pacific salmon, placed on warm mixed greens. Both big plates are cooked as they should be, the salmon still moist, the chicken not at all overdone, but a similar buttery grill flavor prevails---in several of the dishes. Service couldn't be friendlier, a lot of thought was put into tabletop items, the atmosphere projects a hip, modest vibe and prices are right. Catch the restaurant on certain nights of the week and the dining floor morphs into a dance floor.


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