August Specials!

Specials for AugustThis is the first time I have offered the Argentinian Rib Eye Steak.  Grilled to order, it is topped with chimichurri - a rustic sauce of fresh parsley, vinegar, garlic, onion, red pepper & olive oil.  The perfect Summer steak! Other highlights include:

• Summer Berry Bread Pudding - a fresh, light alternative to traditional baked bread puddings
• Mykonos Pita Pizza - a familiar favorite makes a much requested return
• Lemon - Cornmeal Pancakes - the special light texture of these make them a fantastic warm weather brunch option

Join us for lunch, dinner or Sunday brunch to enjoy exciting new additions and old favorites. 

Cafe News
It is time for the bi-annual cafe menu update! I am currently making adjustments and testing recipes for changes we hope to have in place in all locations by October 1.  Please send me your thoughts on what has worked, what hasn't, and what you might like to see on the menu this Fall/Winter.

Community Give-Backs, Mosaic's weekly fundraiser, will be in full swing this month.  Check with your local cafe for information on which local group is scheduled and when. As always, a portion of the evenings sales will go to some of your favorite local charities.

In Charleston, join us for live music featuring Greg Scott, every Sunday night. Sunday brunch continues to build and guests are now enjoying bloody mary and mimosa specials every weekend.

In Richmond, enjoy some fantastic drink specials every day.  The live music calender continues to fill up as well.  A full schedule of events can be found on our facebook page.

Thanks for your patronage.  We look forward to seeing you soon!

July Specials!

July News - Tomatoes are here!
  The fresh local produce is really starting to roll in including everyone's favorite, tomatoes!  Soon they will be at their peak and we are excited to offer them in several of our specials.  Besides tasting great, tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamins C, A and K.  They also contain lycopene, a phytochemical found in the red pigment, proven to lower your risk of cardiovascular disease.  Join us this month for lunch, dinner or Sunday brunch to enjoy exciting new additions and old favorites. 

• The Roasted Tomato Clam Chowder, Mosaic BLT and Village Summer Salad all take advantage of the amazing local tomatoes now available in all areas.
• The Tuna Nicoise Burger is an olive, lemon & caper seasoned ahi patty served with zesty caesar mayo.
• The Arugula, Ricotta & Lemon Ravioli is hand stuffed locally from farm fresh local ingredients.  Served with a dinner salad it is the perfect light Summer supper. 

Have an old favorite or a new idea you would like to see added? Email me directly and I'll do my best to get it included! 

Flowers for Summer - Organic & Local!

The Mount Pleasant Farmer's Market has been a fantastic opportunity for me to meet our local farmers and discover how many amazing things are produced right here in the low country.  Yesterday, our new friends from Nellie Farms on Johns Island agreed to provide us with all of our fresh cut flowers, broad leaf basil and cinnamon basil for the cafe and catering.  All of their plants are organic certified including the amazing zinnias.  Don't miss their  beautiful bouquets at both the Mtp Farmers and Charleston Farmers Markets.  If you know any great local resources, please share with me here!

Mosaic Richmond - Best

CONGRATULATIONS Mosaic Richmond!


Ryan, Ty and Chef Jordan represented Mosaic at this year's Broad Appetite and took home the top honor for Best Healthy Dish with the Firecracker Copper River Salmon!  The event draws more than 91 top chefs from 50+ of Richmond's top restaurants and over 25,000 food-loving fans.  Congratulation guys on a job well done!

June Specials - Asparagus Month!

Mosaic Cafe & Catering - June News
  Asparagus is here!
...and getting taller every day.  Eating this tender veggie is an excellent way to help protect yourself against heart disease, as it contains lots of folate, as well vitamins E, A, and C. In addition to helping your heart, folate (a B vitamin) helps cells regenerate; vitamin E fights Type II diabetes; and vitamins A and C help hold cancer and cataracts at bay. Asparagus also contains potassium, which helps lower blood pressure and perhaps even cholesterol. Nutritional info: One-half cup of boiled asparagus (about six spears) equals approximately 22 calories, 1.4 grams of fiber, 2.3 grams of protein, 0.3 gram of fat (0.1 of it saturated), 10 milligrams of sodium, and no cholesterol.
Pictured above is a twist on our now famous Mac & Cheese, loaded with shrimp and crab, finished with a bacon-parmesan crust.  For our dessert of the month, we will be taking advantage of the end of local strawberry season with a fantastic Strawberry Cobbler.  The berries are so sweet this year, the additional added sugar is kept to a minimum!

As more and more fresh, local vegetables become available, we will continue to showcase them.  If in Charleston, please stop by the Mount Pleasant Farmer's Market and say hello.  We are  there every Tuesday afternoon from 4pm-8pm and you can take home some of our famous Smoked Gouda Pimento Cheese.  Our stand is located between Rio Bertollini's fresh local pasta and our friends from Kennerty Farms.

Have an old favorite or a new idea you would like to see added? Email me directly and I'll get it on the list. 

Thanks for your patronage.  We look forward to seeing you soon!.mosaicedibles.com

Amazing Avocado Pie

I have gotten some beautiful avocados lately and wanted to share some of my recent recipe experiments.  The first is an amazing Avocado Pie made with fat free condensed milk and fresh lemon and lime juice.  The combination sounds odd but the citrus flavor is light and not-too-sweet and the texture is really smooth and creamy.  Since it is a no-bake pie, you use your extra time to make a quick graham cracker crumb crust.  Trust me, the results are awesome!  Please let me know how it works for you.

Race Day Treats

After the Bridge Run, everyone was looking for something sweet. I can usually count on Clean Eating magazine for a healthy treat. These Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies stood out because I love almond butter and because they are gluten-free, low-sugar, and dairy-free (that last one is really dependent on the chocolate you use). For the sweetener these cookies use Sucanat, which is a minimally processed derivative from sugar cane. Sucanat is somewhat grainier than sugar and has a slightly molasses sort of taste--so it works well in cookies and muffins. Because it is minimally processed, it retains its natural iron, calcium and other nutrients that help balance rather than spike blood sugar. You can find it at natural foods stores or I have even seen it in grocery stores with a well-stocked natural foods section. If you can't find Sucanat you could use a raw sugar or brown sugar instead.

Clean Eating says, "Six ingredients, two steps and 20 minutes is all you'll need to whip together two dozen of our no-flour, dairy-free, low-sugar cookies."

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Clean Eating Magazine, March/April 2010
(Makes 24 Cookies)

1 cup unsalted almond butter, stirred well
3/4 cup Sucanat
1 large egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa or greater), broken into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl. stir together the first 5 ingredients until blended. Stir in chocolate. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 15 more minutes.

Nutrients per cookie: Calories: 110, Total Fat: 8g, Sat. Fat: 1.5g, Carbs: 10g, Fiber: 1g, Sugars: 3g, Protein: 2g, Sodium: 55mg, Cholesterol: 10mg

Cleaning Eating Nutritional Bonus: "While dark chocolate contains potent antioxidants, think twice before enjoying it with milk. Researchers have found that the bittersweet treat's free-radical fighters may bind with the protein in milk, interfering with antioxidant absorption and possibly negating any associated health benefits."

Charleston Mosaic - The Bar is in!

Our recent renovation in the Mosaic Mount Pleasant (Charleston) location included installation of this amazing bar. The art deco style, stainless and brass L shape was rescued from the old Mills House Hotel on Meeting Street after one of their recent renovations. We are so excited to have a little piece of Charleston. Please stop-in and check it out.

Food Safety Website

One of our guests alerted me to a great food website that I thought i should pass along. The site, http://www.stilltasty.com , describes itself as the ultimate shelf life guide. It offers some great insights into how to keep your food freshest the longest. In the restaurant, we utilize a system called day-dotting which tracks the date & time of production and person who prepared the item. For home, this site could be a very useful tool. Hope it helps!

Valentine's Brunch Sticky Buns

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Not that I need an excuse, but I took the opportunity this weekend to experiment with an easy sticky bun recipe (adapted from one of Ina Garten's old cook books). The prospect of a traditional yeast based dough always intimidated me so much that I stayed away from even attempting these sweets. The new recipe is a pastry based dough made even easier by using frozen puff pastry sheets! After many attempts and countless ingredient combinations, the staff and I settled on walnuts, cinnamon, orange zest and nutella (hazelnut chocolate spread)! I am a big fan of the nutella, but if you arent a chocolate lover, you can substitute any of your favorite ingredients for the filling.

We will be serving these for V-Day brunch in all locations. I am anxious to hear everyone's input!

February Specials are up!

Well, even though I have decided to update the store menus twice a year (once every 6 months for the season), I have added a few new items for February. I will be watching the local produce very closely this Spring in all locations. Even our catering & event menus have been constructed around what is freshest and most readily available this Spring. Special requests? Great ideas? Please send them to me directly. All help is appreciated!

Chickpeas & Swiss Chard in Sun Dried Tomato Broth

Well, after the success of January's Soup of the Month (and with lots of cold days still to come), I wanted to share the recipe with everyone. This is one of the easiest soups we make at the cafe and ironically also one of the most requested. Any good quality sun dried tomato pesto will do, and the parmesan rind gives a remarkable depth of flavor. Don't be afraid to mix in some additional protein (chicken, etc) or experiment with the many different winter greens currently available (kale, rainbow chard, etc). Let me know how it works for you!

SPECIAL EVENT 2010

Our Mosaic Unique Events team joined our nation's top special event gurus for The Special Event 2010 in New Orleans!
One of the concepts we are so thrilled about is this year is the Happy Hour Chandelier (http://www.happyhourchandelier.com/)
This entertaining concept was created by award-winning choreographer Nanine Linning (www.naninelinning.nl) and star designer Marcel Wanders (www.marcelwanders.com).
Each dancer is suspended for 20 minutes while pouring flutes of champagne to the crowd below!
This a just the tip of the iceberg - and we're thrilled to showcase some of the most innovative ideas this year! Stay tuned!!

Valentine's Weekend 2010

Well it's never too early to start planning for Vday, especially when it falls on a Saturday! This year, we will offer value options for both Friday/Saturday Dinner and Saturday/Sunday Brunch.

The Grand Marnier Ricotta Fritters are a new recipe for me. I/we have been working on this recipe for a while and the result is pretty incredible (thanks Ms. Elaine!)! Those of you that know me know that I am not a big fan of frying, but these are so amazing I had to make an exception. Surprisingly, they cook-up so fast that you use almost no oil. The result is crispy on the outside, light and souffle-like on the inside. Dust with a little powdered sugar and watch out - these little bites are addictive. I have included these in the Valentine's Brunch Menu to give everyone a chance to experience them before they hit the regular brunch menu. Let me know what you think!

Roasted Pears with Blue Cheese and Walnuts

Well it is cold in Charleston...REALLY COLD....so lots of time to work on some recipes that I have been wanting to try. I maintain a list of "recipes I must make" from books, magazines, guests, family, etc that despite my best efforts, only seems to get longer and longer each month. Until a recent special request, I had failed to notice the amazing pears available in most of the grocery stores (and the ones present in many holiday gift boxes). Today I decided it was time to find something warm and wonderful to do with them. The recipe I settled on was so easy and turned out SO well that I had to share it right away. A perfect example of how little needs to be done to fresh, fantastic ingredients! Enjoy and Happy New Year!

2010 is here and January Specials are up!

Wow I can't believe the holidays are over. The January specials have been posted and are available in all locations. You will probably notice some unusual additions to this month's choices, including some unconventional flavor combinations - all of which have been tested and tasted by me - that I am excited for you all to try. Some months have become very important to me in the "research and development" process and January 2010 is definitely one of them. I will be switching to a bi-annual store menu update format this year, with the Spring/Summer menu being in stores by March and the Fall/Winter changes in place by September. This will give me a chance to take advantage of the local, seasonal produce that is becoming more and more available in Virginia and South Carolina. I am really looking forward to a creative year of specials with lots of new items and refinements of some old favorites. My mother is also hard at work as usual, helping me with some of the recipes that I am famously challenged by (usually something involving baking!). If you have a favorite you'd like us to work on, please let me know!