Restaurant Mosaic: a taste from outer space

Even with a few changes in 2018, Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient remains Gauteng’s best fine dining experience – and a lot of that is due to chef Chantel Dartnall’s deep respect for her ingredients.

The CosmOrganic menu is not only a testament to her unwavering commitment to creating dishes that bring her personal stories to the plate, but also her firm grasp of textures and flavours to create delicate experiences course after course.

If you’ve ever been to Restaurant Mosiac, you would know it as an experience when, for a few hours, the outside world becomes a distant hum – as you’re transported into Dartnall’s universe where French sensibility meets boldness, creativity and inventiveness.

Walking through the giant doors at The Orient, the event begins with Mosaic’s new sommeliers Taryn Nortje and Moses Magwaza handing you a glass of Diebolt Vallois Blanc De Blancs. Champagne is, after all, the best way to catch your breath and pour over the art collection of the hotel.

Once the call comes to head to your table, the mood changes from lighthearted to splendorous. With a bread and butter selection that includes different yeasted loafs and butter combinations that include honey and cinnamon, anchovy or saffron and calendula butter, the start is simple, before your market dégustation or grande dégustation high culinary art experience.

Song of the Sea, a salmon dish that high- lights the textures and delicate flavours of salmon.

First course choices include her beautiful Song of the Sea, a cooling salmon, kombucha and yuzu dish. Other options include Sea Mist, an oceanic trip with scallop, langoustine and saffron, Some Birds Don’t Fly, an ostrich, beetroot and plum dish; or the popular Soupe du Jour made from cauliflower, truffle mousse and brussel sprouts.

As a remise en bouche you’re presented a soothing fennel and cucumber mouthful called Terrarium, before heading to main course options. These include the incredibly earthy Cote d’Azur consisting of ratatouille and soldier line fish, and presented with a beautiful courgette flower.

Cote D’Azur is a special choice as a main course thanks to the beautiful courgette flower.

The expertly presented Tajine du Magheb of goat with prunes and Argan oil in a bone shard is Magwaza’s favourite. But you can also opt for Cynara – a tender quail with artichoke and lavender.

Final flavours consist of a Charles Arnaud 36-month matured comté. Alternatively, you can make choices from the cheese trolley that includes local and international cheeses.  Belnori Phantom Forest from Babsfontein is a goat’s cheese aged in ash that deserves your attention.

With dessert, Dartnall presents you the hardest choices, because the two dishes are both examples of how dessert can be a playful end to a meal, rather than a heaviness that sits with you hours after wiping the corners of your mouth.

If you like decadence, The Gift of Quetzalcoatl is a celebration of chocolate. The chocolate eggs-haped bowl with a deeply flavourful mousse is darkly daring while the eye-popping, The Clash of Constellations, is a fun trip into the stars. Mixing passion fruit, mango and fresh berries in balls of sorbet, white chocolate smears and mousse, the dish is a conceptual take on the cosmos.

The Clash of Constellations is Dartnall’s clever end to her CosmOrganic menu.

Nortje and Magwaza and their team Eric “Welile” Botha and student sommelier Chantelle de Vries create a parallel universe with the sommelier’s pairing. Local and international wines strikingly play with Dartnall’s flavours – showing the team effort that goes into creating one of the country’s best food adventures.

Info

• Booking is essential to experience Dartnall’s CosmOrganic menu.

• The nonalcoholic drinks pairing includes an array of teas and juices.

• You can join the Restaurant Mosaic team for either lunch or dinner.

For more information and other events at Restaurant Mosiac, visit: restaurantmosaic.com

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