Mosaic Cafe

Last week we checked out dinner at Mosaic Cafe. The last time we had stopped by, they were not yet a full service restaurant.

Quite a few patrons munched away, including a large group of women, but the noise level was still acceptable. We were seated at a table with two chairs on one side and a booth/sofa seat on the other. We sat side by side so we could snuggle.

Our choice of wine - Frog's Leap Merlot (decent restaurant price of $46) was a bit of a challenge. We were told they were out (strike one). We ordered another merlot. We waited...and waited. Our waitress came over twice to ask about putting in our order for food. We were not ordering anything until we had gotten word on our wine choice. They finally produced the Frog's Leap.

And it was yummy.

For dinner I had:  Creamy roasted tomato cavatappi with roasted tomato cream sauce, garlic, white wine, olive oil, fresh basil, parmesan cheese, and grilled chicken. I really could not distinguish the taste of roasted tomatoes, but the cream sauce was not too rich and it coated the pasta and chicken very nicely. And I had enough food for lunch leftovers.

Hubby selected a dish from the monthly special menu: Cashew beef stir fry with roasted broccoli, carrots, red and green peppers, chick peas, onions, garlic, yellow squash, cashews and bistro beef strips, with grits on the side. Very tasty! The cheesy grits on the side were good, but seemed a bit disjointed with the main dish. This entree also gave us enough for lunch leftovers, but this dish did not heat up well the next day.

Mosaic Cafe features a lot of choices for eating (entrees, salads, sandwiches) and a cozy atmosphere. They also feature Fit 450 sautees where the meal is only 450 calories.

Photo Hunt: Addiction

My Favorite Olives

Upon discovering cerignola olives while dining at Olives in Las Vegas, I have become a huge fan of these very green, very meaty, very mild treats. I am so pleased that Libbie Market (near the corner of Libbie and Grove) carries these.

And we have a winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the 500 + 4 = 1 Giveaway. The restaurant recommedation that made the top of the list was Aziza's on Main. I must check it out!

And Scott was the lucky winner. For his efforts he will receive a $25 gift certificate to Tastebuds, one of my favorite dining spots. Scott - the prize is in the mail. Enjoy!

Weekend Round Up

Lots of activity this weekend. On Saturday we shopped for furniture. If anyone out there is aware of a pair of cool oval, round, or triangular bedside tables - contemporary or whimsical, let me know. I've had no luck.

We popped by the French Food Festival supporting the Little Sisters of the Poor. While the beef burgundy was tasty, it was ordinary.

The Cream Puffs based on Sister Teresa's recipe were incredible! It will be worth returning next year just for these.

In the evening we headed to The Diamond for Flying Squirrel action. On the way, we paused at Kitchen 64 for a margarita. Kithen 64 makes them with Sauza Gold tequila. I have always liked this brand for making margaritas. It retains the tequila essence (hint of licorice and black pepper) despite the sour, lime, and orange mix. Yummy!

During the game, we tried the BBQ - okay, but no great shakes and Dominic's brats (good, as usual). A word to the wise - if you want food at The Diamond, get to the game early. The lines were horrendous! Our friends elected to eat peanuts (Virginia Diner brand, I'm pleased to report) for dinner becuase the game would have ended before they got dinner.

I thought I had read that the vendors would also serve wine as well as beer. No wine to be found, so I stuck with Coke.

We were pleased that our team won and we met Nutzy.

While I have not found any bedside tables, I did fall in love with a chair for the office. We brought it home today. A big shout-out to R-Prime for the use of his truck. I hope you enjoy the Chateau Meyney!

And we enjoyed some burgers and fries at Five Guys.  We both like bacon with our beef - me with cheese, grilled onions, and ketchup; hubby with A-1 sauce (remember steak burgers?).

Nice weekend.

Photo Hunt: Covered

Best Doughnut in Town

I finally had me some Country Style Doughnuts today thanks to a co-worker. OMG! Yeasty, sweet, fried. Mmmm Mmmm. The plain ones stole my heart

I'm not sure why I did not try them earlier, but they are the best in town.

Dinner and a Movie

We visited Coppola's yesterday  -

We ate Industrials with no tomatoes -

We drank limonata -

And then we went to The Byrd -

Bob Gulledge performed an awesome version of Seventy-Six Trombones on the Mighty Wurlitzer -

And Avatar was pretty decent, too.

Indian Wine Dinner at Olio

Olio located on Main St. in The Fan hosted an unusual and gutsy wine dinner featuring Indian cuisine. The price: $30 per person.

About 30 diners attended. Jason Savedoff provided the menu and Carol Colby from Republic National served up the wine.

As Carol pointed out pairing Indian food with its myriad flavors and intense heat to wine can be tricky, but Olio was up to the task.

To start we had S.A. Prum "Essence" Riesling, Germany with Raita Yogurt Sauce, Grilled Vegetables, and Bread (Naan). This turned out to be out favorite wine for the nice. Light and fruity, but not too cloying on the palate. The raita sauce was subtle, but we liked the shaved slivers of veggies in the sauce, especially the red onions.

Next was J. Lohr Vineyards "Wildflower" Monterey County, CA with Vegetable/Potato Samosa Dumpling and Tamarind Chutney Sauce. The wine was an interesting blend of Valdiguie (a relative of the gamay grape), Petit Verdot, and Riesling. I was not a fan of this wine on its own, but it paired beautifully with the samosa and tamarind chutney. My husband, on the other hand, liked the wine by itself and did not like it with the samosa.

The main dish featured Edmeades Zinfandel, Mendocino County, CA with Chicken Tikka Masala and Naan. I really liked the chicken and all of us liked the sauce so much that we ran out of naan to sop it up. The Zin was fairly fruity and while it paired with the chicken dish, if the entree had been any hotter/spicier the Zin would not have been a good choice. Hats off to Jason and Carol for recognizing this subtlety.

To end we had Michele Chiarlo "Nivole" Moscato d'Asti, Italy with Green Tea Cheesecake with Fortune Cookie Crust. Who can get mad at Moscato d'Asti? Sweet, fizzy, and a shoe-in for dessert. A fortune accompanied the cheesecake which was a nice touch. The cheesecake was good - truly baked, not mouse-like, but we were not able to pick up any green tea flavor.

We had a wonderful time. Met some foodies and explored an unusual branch of food and wine pairing. The price was more than right and we were served enough food to satisfy. A couple of wishes and this may be due to the price. The wine pours were a bit skimpy. The glasses were fairly small and we were served a 1/4 to 1/3 of a glass for each course. The small pour for the dessert was fine, but I would have preferred a 1/3 to 1/2 glass for the other courses. This way, I could sample before the food, drink with the course, and then finish without the food to compare to the original taste. Because we were served family style there were no clearing of plates before dessert. At the end of the 3rd course I had raita sauce, tamarind chutney, and tikka masala vying for space. Because the tastes were so different, picking up any leftover sauce from another dish would have greatly impacted the food and wine pairing.

Despite a couple of wishes, this wine dinner was a bargain for the money. The atmosphere was bright and casual and a great way to learn about pairing food and wine. I recommend that you check it out.

Boka Tako Truck

J. Emerson arranged for the Boka Tako Truck to stop on Grove Ave.

Lots of tempting menu items

I ordered fish tako with pears and sweet/spicy Napa cabbage

And then ducked inside to sample a sparkling rose with my fusion fare (they also had beer samples)

Quite messy. The corn tortilla disintegrated and I ended up with scooping up everthing with my fingers, but still, Delicious! J. Emerson also had plenty of napkins on hand. The Bugey Cerdon had a bit of sweetness to it, but worked well with the pear and sweet/spicy sauce.

Since I don't work downtown, I usually can't take advantage of the food cart offerings. I'm glad the stars had aligned on this day. And kudos to J. Emerson for coordinating!