An Early Valentine's Day Celebration

The snowstorm threatened to derail our food-filled weekend, but although out Saturday plans for a Shiraz tasting and dinner were postponed, the Sweetheart’s Wine and Food Tasting at Café Mosaic was held as planned. Unfortunately, we thought it began at 6 although it actually began at 5. Fortunately, Kristen (co-owner of Mosaic) called us when we hadn’t arrived by 5:30, and the staff slowed down the service to everyone else to allow us to catch up by the time the soup was served. More proof that it pays to know the owners. We are always treated like royalty when we go to Café Mosaic, which is one of the reasons we keep on going. The other reason, of course, is the wonderful food we always get when we go there. Tonight was no exception.

The first course, “Flirtation,” was a fried oyster in a Rockefeller dipping sauce. The breading was light and crispy and the sauce delicious. A nice, dry, Botter Prosecco di Valdobbiadene from Venice accompanied this hors d’oeuvre.

Next came the “French Kiss,” a delightful salad of butter lettuce with Roquefort cheese, pickled pearl onions, and pomegranate seeds with a pommeray mustard vinaigrette flavored with lavender honey. The contrasting tastes and textures were wonderful. This course, and the soup that followed it, were accompanied by a dry Riesling from Michel Fonn in Alsace, France. It was good, although both Garrett and I thought we have had Rieslings with more flavor that could have stood up better to the many flavors in the dishes we were served.

The “Tantric Dreams” course consisted of a Golden Thai lobster soup. Exquisite. The texture of the soup was so silky, with a multitude of flavors from lobster, coconut milk, lemongrass, and ginger. Floating on top of the soup was a lobster medallion, shaved truffles, and a bit of cilantro. Yum.

The main “Desires” course consisted of seared Ahi tuna, served with an absolutely luscious sauce made from Napa valley foie gras. The tuna was topped with matchstick pieces of crunchy Asian pear, and served with a wasabi rice croquette and braised asparagus. The wasabi flavor in the rice cake was a little too subtle, but otherwise this course was really delicious. It was served with a Terra d’Aligi Cerasulo wine from Abruzzi, Italy. This rosé wine was not very exciting. Both Garrett and I thought either a red (maybe a Pinot Noir) or white wine (e.g., one of our favorite Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs) would have made a better match.

By the time the dessert course, “Passions”, came, we were stuffed; but we manage to consume a beautiful and playful chocolate ganache bleeding heart brownie served with chocolate gelato, raspberry sauce, and a long stemmed strawberry. Dessert was served with an excellent JanKris Winery Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles, California. This was our favorite wine of the evening, but the flavor was muted next to the intense chocolate flavors.

All in all, a wonderful evening, delicious flavors, and lots of fun.