Shooting for style,
and all that jazz

By Diane Villano
Times Staff Writer

Whether it’s a marvelous night for a moon dance, an afternoon business luncheon, or just an evening out with friends, there’s a new place in Frankford where eclectic cuisine and visual and musical artistry blend with style.
Come Saturday, Sept. 9, mozaic, at 4524 Frankford Ave., will be swinging to the sounds of the Vince Lardear Trio during its grand opening. Owner Joan Oliveto invites patrons to sit and enjoy the atmosphere, with live jazz on Saturday nights and gospel-music brunches on the first Sunday of the month.
Oliveto sees potential in her stylish vision. Cool jazz riffs float below the orange ceiling, while a Frankford artist’s contemporary, mosaiclike artwork adorns the deep fuchsia walls. Black velvet drapes will serve as the backdrop to mozaic’s stage, and a large, black-framed circular mirror reflects all of Oliveto’s passion for her new venture.
Passersby can get a glimpse of what’s inside when they see the colorful mosaic façade that Oliveto and Michael Scotese — owner of the Grey Lodge Pub at 6235 Frankford Ave. — worked on for more than a dozen half-days in the summer heat. Oliveto got the idea for the collage after seeing Grey Lodge’s intricate mosaic-adorned restrooms (mozaic has its own restroom surprise). Scotese stepped up and offered to help.
The artful welcome to the eatery reads, "Peace to all who enter."
Oliveto let neighborhood children who showed interest in her project place a tile heart wherever they wanted on the facade canvas.
"A little girl came by today to show her grandmother. She told her, ‘See, here’s my heart. I helped,’" Oliveto said.
While some might think the restaurant’s name comes solely from the outside artwork, that would be wrong.
"(The name) reflects the mosaic of the community. The menu is ethnically diverse, and I hope (the restaurant will serve as an) arts and cultural center," Oliveto said.
While gospel brunches will be held just once a month, the new restaurateur expects to add themed Sunday brunches to her offerings next year.
"I’ll bring in a Sudanese storyteller, or have a funk-themed or blues-themed brunch," she said. "I want this to not only be a restaurant but a cultural venue. Northeast Philly doesn’t really have exposure to art the way Center City does, and you can get here from anywhere."
Oliveto, 52, knows the Northeast. She grew up in Holmesburg and bought her first Holy Communion dress at Cramer’s, just across the street from mozaic. As a young bride, she lived on Adams Avenue, between Ruan and Leiper streets, before moving to Tacony and still calls Northeast Philadelphia home.
"(The avenue) was the mall," she said, referring to choices that greeted shoppers. "(Today), I feel this community is underserved and I wanted to offer a place where you can sit down, be waited on by a server and order a meal. We needed a place where you can feel like you’re downtown in your own community."
Oliveto has received a lot of support and positive feedback from Frankford residents and the business community. So much so that the Frankford Group Ministry has put heirloom dishes from two Frankford churches in Oliveto’s care.
While Oliveto’s professional experience has been in the adult-education field — she directed a beauty school and day spa — she’s been cooking since she was 7.
Though she’s not classically trained, the homegrown chef believes that is a good thing.
"It gives me the opportunity to think outside the box with recipes. I cooked for friends for years who told me, ‘You should open a restaurant,’" she said.
Oliveto brings her own sense of style and a multitude of tastes to her tables. With avocado egg rolls, African kelewele (a fresh plantain dredged and fried in a spicy ginger batter), salmon mousse, chicken or shrimp satay, pterodactyl (slow-baked turkey) wings and catfish, her offerings are what she calls "wallet-friendly fine dining."
Under Oliveto’s direction, Frankford resident Joseph Kelly and John Cashen, a Hurricane Katrina evacuee, will prepare her recipes, including Aunt Joan’s meatloaf and beef Wellington with Gorgonzola cheese. A variety of homemade soups, salads and sandwiches are among the simpler fare. There’s even a starving-artist menu, featuring $6 entrees available during certain times.
In addition to regular coffee and tea, Oliveto will offer Frankford Roast coffee in a French press. The beans are roasted in a neighborhood warehouse.
The restaurant that aims to bring artistic flair back to Frankford Avenue has been a long time coming — almost two years in the works from conception to fruition.
"I felt a lot like a mouse in a maze," she said. "You’d bump into a wall and have to find another way to get to the cheese. I finally got to the cheese." ••
Reporter Diane Villano can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dvillano@phillynews.com