We’re all familiar with stylish dining establishments serving minute, fussy portions with slick designer presentation, but the freshly launched Seven Resto-lounge takes a fresh approach to creative cuisine. The menu is a combination of wholesome dishes and international flavours designed to suit most palates, from the classics-seeking diners to those wanting more adventure.

Modern Italy, Canada, Mexico, France, Greece, Louisiana and the Pacific Rim make up the namesake seven influences that are fused into a varied and tempting list of plates. As part of the Metropolitan Group, which also has the Metropolitan Grill locations and Tommy Burger in their roster, Seven confidently takes over two floors of the Plains Midstream Plaza.

With a reported $3.5 million spent on design, Seven's bright, sizable interior is somewhat chilly in design; both the upper 110-seat level and the 165-seat main-floor lounge stick to a colour palette of mostly black and white. But the iciness ends there. Much of the staff has been hand-picked from area restaurants, and they approach higher standards of warmth than we're normally accustomed. Our waiter in particular was composed, friendly, and knowledgeable of all things pertaining to food and wine.

The founder of this concept, Jeff Hanna, who heads the Metropolitan Group, has brought in Metropolitan executive chef Curt Pickering to develop a dinner menu that offers about 40 plates that sample the best of the seven culinary influences.

What intrigues most about that menu, which includes an assortment of global specialties such as souvlaki quesadillas and crispy duck confit wontons with sake plum drizzle, is that the more fusion-y it sounds, the better it will be. Case in point, Seven serves up a reflective of New Orleans with their own take on the jambalaya crepes. With origins in the French provinces throughout the middle ages, these thin filled specialties are a distinctive Louisiana treat, and a welcome addition to these parts.