FOR a while there, we thought fusion cuisine had become a thing—or better yet, a taste—of the past. Fusion cuisine, the term, is as bland as hotel food, and gone are the days when every food establishment used the word “fusion” to add sophistication to their steak and paella swimming in oil.

Then again, there were a few that have stuck to their guns and continued to create something new by combining Asian and European cuisines. Among the row of, uh, fusion restaurants on the second floor of Greenbelt 3 in Makati City, there’s the six-year-old Cascada.

The co-owner is former real-estate businessman and now a hobbyist photographer, Carlo Mesina. He would rather use the terms “creative dining” and “cross-cultural”—and he is dishing you no bull. For one, he is a gourmet but, more important, his secret weapon is his wife Patricia, the executive chef.

The menu is proof of the cross-cultural theme, all of them originally conceived from the creative mind of Patricia, a fine-arts graduate from the Pontifical University and a pioneering student of Chef Gene Gonzalez.

For example, there’s the Seafood Salad Maki. Unlike the usual maki, this bestseller has a distinct taste that makes you want to order more. The secret is revealed: “Shrimp and crabstick salad rolled in nori, breaded and deep-fried, topped with ebiko, drizzled with wasabi vinaigrette soy-balsamic reduction and mango coulis.”

On the pasta and pizza list, there’s the Beef and Mushroom Teppan Linguine, which combines linguine pasta with thinly sliced teppanyaki-style beef. On the chops section, there’s the house specialty: lamb with seafood paella risotto. Highly recommended also is the beef tenderloin skewer. On the bestseller list are the lobster bisque and grilled salmon. Here, quantity also equates quality. A plate of full-slab baby back ribs is good for two to four persons, served with fresh tomato-basil and feta-cheese salad and parsley-butter rice. The rib-eye steak platter is composed of 12 ounces of grilled Australian rib-eye steak served with mashed potato, buttered vegetables, red wine caper sauce and herbed butter.

And the list goes on.

“When we  tell people about Cascada, they are usually surprised to know that we’ve been here for six years. After they eat, they would tell us, ‘Why did we try you only now?’ There’s a problem in awareness. Our marketing has been purely word-of-mouth lang. It’s a good thing our loyal guests keep on coming back,” says Carlo, who handles the daily administrative and logistics tasks.

It’s pretty obvious that it’s hard to survive in the food business. Especially in the Greenbelt area, where it seems a new restaurant is being opened every year. And now there’s Greenbelt 5.

“There’s a deluge of choices. It’s like election day every day. But you know what? It’s good to belong in a place na puro restaurants or maraming competition. The marketing strategy there is if you want to eat out, you go to the mall. Like if you want car accessories, you go to Banawe. But many of those stores survive. Why? Because you have created a distinct kind of service that keeps customers coming back for more. Our menu is not readily available in other menus, it’s not familiar to everyone,” says Carlo.

He fails to add the word “affordable.” For a couple or a threesome, a meal in Cascada won’t cause a heart attack when the bill arrives.

Cascada can accommodate 80 to 100 customers. The interior is also something creatively conceptualized. Cascada, the Spanish word, means “waterfall,” and one gets the thematic vibe from the glass sculptures and blue crystal beads in areas that won’t give customers a headache.

For a couple of years, Cascada has also done catering for corporate clients. Proudly, Carlo mentions of companies like Ayala Land, AIM, Volvo, BMW and PT&T.

It may not be a secret anymore, but the Mesina couple are also behind Kulinarya in Rockwell, which came first before Cascada; and the newly opened KXP restaurant in Robinsons Place Midtown in Manila. Carlo insists that each offers a different menu.

It pays to have so many choices from different food cultures. So, would you care for a unique carbonara with teppanyaki on it?

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