Fusion on Thayer

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learning all she could about food. Now, four decades later, she's the guiding spirit of a new restaurant that bears her name.

Mercy, fifty-nine, and her husband Steve Kasle, sixty, opened Mercy's in the former Earle Uptown space in the Bell Tower Hotel in late January. And both maintain that you won't find its unusual fusion of French and Asian cuisine anywhere else in the area, mostly because of Mercy's emphasis on Burmese recipes. Born in Burma, Mercy immigrated to the United States in 1966, and many of the dishes are based on her mother's recipes. Burmese cuisine borrows elements from Thailand and India, resulting in a unique fusion of spices and curries and in dishes that tend to be tart rather than sweet.

Entrees, priced at $15 to $34, include ginger salmon wrapped in Swiss chard, French bistro lamb shanks, and ohn-no-kauk-swe, Burmese chicken-coconut soup. Starters run $5 to $15 and include duck confit egg rolls, ginger chili-glazed beef on rosemary skewers, and scallop crepes St. Jacques. Because Mercy's is right across the street from Hill Auditorium, it also offers a special before-the-show menu featuring dishes that can be made quickly for people who want to get to a concert on time.