Mosaic - California Cuisine, Forestville

6675 Front St, Forestville CA 95436
(707) 887-7503
Parking: in the front
http://www.mosaiceats.com/

Last Visited: March 9, 2007

Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 2 to 3 stars
Service: 2 stars
Price: $$$ to $$$$

Both Jim and Jeff gave Mosaic high praise when we talked about outstanding restaurants in the North Bay, so when I was driving through Forestville, I decided to stop on by. I had heard through the grapevine that the food quality was excellent and it would be a worthwhile place to check out. I walked in with little expectation, but hoped for fantastic food.

It was a little after 5pm on the Friday evening I visited, and I was surprised at the very cool reception we received. Most hostesses are ready to greet you with a friendly smile and perhaps engage in some small talk about your day. Although I don’t expect this at your local chain locations, for these higher end restaurants, it’s expected. This was definitely lacking. There was not even a ‘how are you?’ but we gave the hostess the benefit of the doubt figuring it was a bad day or that she needed some time to warm up. She brought us to our table and asked if we wanted Fiji still water, sparkling, or regular water flavored with cucumber slices. When we answered that we wanted regular water, she said okay. My dining companion then proceeded to the restroom, and upon returning, she told me that our hostess told the busser to bring us regular water in a not too happy tone. When I received the water, it had a refreshing cucumber flavor.

Few customers came into the facility during my time there. One was a regular so the hostess greeted him with a smile, but the other couple that arrived near the end of our meal was greeted with extremely friendly tones by the same hostess. She not only made small talk, but she spent some time at their table and chatted for a while. This all made me wonder – what was going on when we arrived? Why didn’t she do the same for us? Don’t get me wrong. With the number of restaurants I have visited, this was not the only point of service that dropped their rating, but it was certainly one that made me feel uneasy. I would say she spent a good 15 minutes with these strangers, and though I personally didn’t want to spend that much time on small talk this evening, a few of the same questions about the weather and general conversation would have been fine.

Mosaic is a pleasant orange peach color on the outside, and the planter boxes are studded with colorful flowers. Walking inside is like taking a vacation from Forestville’s small town feel and entering a warm room filled with earth tones. From the dark copper floors, the wood tables, and the muted colorful plates, the room seems to silently exclaim the warmth of fall etched by the onset of winter. Smooth lyrics in a soothing jazz plays on the sound system. From the main dining room, you can see a little into the kitchen, but the faces of the chefs are hidden by the opaque glass.

At each table, the planked table tops were topped with one tealight candle in a small container. Each place setting contained one large colored plate along with a black cloth napkin folded into a rectangle. The knife was placed between the tines of the fork laid in the middle of the napkin. A butter knife sits on top of the small square black plate to the left of each of these.

When our server arrived at our table, she greeted us with a friendly, “How are you guys tonight?” Although this was fine at first, she proceeded to ask if “us guys” needed anything. The continued use of this phrase was exhausted, considering there were no guys at the table at all. When paying a higher price at a nicer establishment, the use of “guys” really isn’t appropriate anymore, since we’re not at a local burger joint or the like. Her demeanor was also just fair, lacking the excellent qualities of a great server.

After ordering, we were given warm French bread. I love that. Warm bread is always good. The bread arrived covered in a napkin and a small black ceramic container held the soft butter. As we conversed, we found the table was wobbly and asked one of the staff members to fix it. This gentleman was probably the kindest during our whole visit. After almost half an hour, we had eaten all the bread and our meal had still not arrived. So that’s where another point of lacking service was noted. When there aren’t any starters ordered and there is a long wait for food (which was inexplicable considering we were the only people in the restaurant), then the server should check to see if the diners would like more bread. Unfortunately, during our wait, we could hear the loud conversation from the kitchen, studded with cuss words here and there. What is talked about in the kitchen should stay there. You should never hear an expletive from the kitchen while seated across the room. Mind you, it wasn’t a situation where they dropped a plate or another disaster occurred. The expletives wandered around the general kitchen conversation.

As our food arrived, we noticed the beautiful presentation. It’s bordering being over the top though.

- Beef Short Ribs – Slow braised short ribs are served over saffron-parmesan risotto and grilled asparagus on a square green plate. The short ribs were cooked in a red wine reduction and had a lot of flavor. The meat was tender and fell off the bone. This was placed on top of grilled baby asparagus and part of the saffron-parmesan risotto which had been placed vertically on the plate (parallel to the short ribs). On top of the items was a single chive that was diagonally placed over everything. The spears of the asparagus were aimed toward the corner of the plate and fanned out. Although presentation was elegant, and the flavor of each item was nice, the combination of the flavors was a bit overwhelming, and I found that with each bite, everything seemed to get saltier. It’s unfortunate that the asparagus and risotto weren’t seasoned less heavily because that would have accented the short ribs even further. $29

- Halibut with raspberry sauce, gratin, baked baby yams, were plated on a round yellow plate. I’m not sure if it was a gratin, but the potato side item had good flavor and was not overwhelming. Of all the items on this plate, I enjoyed it the best. The three baby yams were placed on the side, with one opened up to reveal the gorgeous orange flesh. The halibut had been seared until golden brown on both sides and drizzled with raspberry sauce. Edible decoration was placed on top to add height. Although the fish was beautifully golden, the inside was a bit dry, especially as the meal continued. Even the raspberry sauce was not enough to counteract the gradual lack of moisture. Okay. $26

Unfortunately, I didn’t know until after my visit, that Mosaic’s signature dish is the Coffee Encrusted Filet Mignon. However, after my experience, I don’t think I’ll be going back to try it.

Mosaic’s motto is “Everything generously seasoned with passion and pride!” and certainly, I would agree that everything is generously seasoned – a little too much so for my palate. Individually, the items tasted good, but together, it became overwhelming rather than harmonious. The atmosphere was pleasant, but the service lacked friendliness and as we exited, though two people stood near the hostess station, nobody thanked us or greeted us as we left. An A for presentation, but only a fair experience overall.