Since the heady 1960s, when Richard Wing first combined French and Chinese cooking at the former Imperial Dynasty Restaurant in Hanford, California, the term “fusion” has taken on many culinary meanings; unfortunately today that overused word has come to merely connote con-fusion.

Rare are the days when we're treated to the innovative talents of a Wolfgang Puck (Chinois), who has long applied culinary techniques of one region to the ingredients of another and ended up with utter gastronomic genius. Sadly, some chefs still think fusion means throwing random foodstuffs of disparate culinary traditions at the wall and hoping the resultant splatter will stick.

Thankfully, Tom Thai knows the difference between chalk and cheese and continues to deliver a twist on this tired trend. As one of Toronto's fusion pioneers, at restaurants like Youki and Tempo, his patrons have always been guaranteed a meal that is not only well-thought-out conceptually, but culturally integrated with great intelligence and respect. He was one of the first to spike sushi with Southeast Asian flavours. But as fast as you can say “California roll,” sushi fusion became ubiquitously available in forms both terrific and terrifying. So Thai left Tempo, and Toronto temporarily, to spend most of 2006 touring Southeast Asia and Japan, and eating six meals a day on the streets of Korea. “At 6pm,” Thai says, “all of Korea becomes one big restaurant, with street vendors everywhere and people drinking on the street till 4am.”

Yet Thai returned to sleepier T.O. because he thrives on challenge. “It's really, really competitive; people have so many choices here,” he says of the restaurant scene, pointing out that LA, with three times our population, has about the same number of restaurants. “It keeps me inspired.”

So he opened Foxley, a showcase of his fondness for the world's cultures. And it is very evident that an eclectic blend of ingredients and techniques still inspires the Vietnamese-Chinese chef. As expected, Foxley's menu features raw fish and Southeast Asian flavours, only now he's added many Latin accents, both American and European.

Daily ceviches like toothsome cubes of lime-marinated marlin ($14 – some of the prices have changed, numbers here reflect what we paid) boast the perfect pucker accompanied by a tangy salsa of chilies, red onion and lime juice; bits of crisp, fried shallots top this mix of textures. Savoury pan-fried dumplings ($7) are not merely stuffed with gorgeous ground lamb – it's the salty bits of house-made duck “prosciutto” (cured the Chinese way: marinated in salt, rice wine and malt wine, then smoked and air dried) that really make the trip to Ossington worthwhile.

Four battered frog's legs (tastes like chicken) tossed in barely detectable poblano pepper and szechuan spices reveal some minor warts in the new kitchen, but those scrawny gams are easily forgotten when two nose-to-tail beef platters arrive: skewered beef hearts ($10) are dense, not mealy – a grilled organ lover's dream dipped in a tangy chimichurri of cilantro, parsley and roasted garlic; plus stunningly stewed beef cheeks ($14), redolent of cinnamon, fall to pieces when dunked in a sweet-edged tomatillo salsa verde. Trust us – this offal ain't awful. A side of short ribs ($7.50) may very well be the best in town while a classic pork belly ($8) might get you to invest in futures.

Though the dessert selection was slim, an almond panacotta ($8) finale, made slightly runny due to the warmth of a strawberry-rhubarb compote, at least displayed seasonal innovation.

Thai may never be able to offer local foodies the kind of revelry he experienced on the streets of Korea, but Foxley is already that casual, low-key, neighbourhood haunt where you come to celebrate everyday life while you chow down on not-so-everyday food. Wow, creative cooking in an appealing atmosphere, with ironic t-shirt-clad staff (many of whom came from Tempo) well-versed in the intricacies of Thai's food, all at wallet-friendly prices – now that's exactly the type of fusion we can use more of.

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