dining

Essence of Earth

The latest example of our rising level of sophistication is Chameleon Fusion Bistro, a wonderful little restaurant with a Melbourne address, but close to Palm Bay, in the old Atlanta Bread building on Palm Bay Road.

Chameleon and fusion; are perfect descriptions for the place, because it changes effortlessly from color to color, genre to genre, and it fuses Continental, Asian, Hispanic and American styles very nicely indeed, from the décor to the menu.

At the entrance stands a high waterfall of glass and a black baby grand piano, and the interior is not posh, but clean looking, with a few objects d'art, including modernist paintings. Behind the bar, the walls are decorated with little Asian-style bottles and in front of it are dividers of thick, lighted glass. The rest is yellow-gold, with polished, dark furniture and roomy, curving booths padded in butter-colored leather. It is extremely inviting.