Topaz Cafe at Bowers Is a Gem

There we were, finishing our last bites of breakfast when the waiters started buzzing around like bees on a rosebush. Clutching our plates, we shooed them away. But they came back again and again.

We had planned to linger in the elegant Southwestern atmosphere at Topaz Cafe in the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art. But we were too busy swatting at servers to fully relax. Let this be a plea to restaurateurs: Please allow customers to eat slowly, without the staff hovering to clear the table before guests have finished.

That complaint aside, Topaz offers a brunch with a panache you would expect at a restaurant inside one of the best museums in Southern California. This is a lovely setting for brunch either before or after viewing the exhibits.

Sculptures hanging from the ceiling and a sweeping, cherry-wood bar give Topaz a sophisticated look befitting its cultured setting. The sleek dining room overlooks a courtyard, which is decorated with cactuses and succulents that look as if they were once planted in Toon Town.

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Designer cuisine is trendy now, but in this setting it seems appropriate rather than gratuitous. Dishes are garnished with fanciful touches: cinnamon is swirled in ringlets around a dessert; sour cream is zigzagged across an omelet. Chopped yellow peppers and pureed chipotle cream sauce surrounds grilled seafood. It all looks too good to eat.

Thankfully, the food doesn’t just look good, it tastes good too. The restaurant--one of the many John Sharpe enterprises that include Aysia 101 and Bistro 201 in Newport Beach--offers what the menu describes as “unique fusion of food and culture.”

A recently revamped menu offers World Bistro dishes such as grilled salmon in a corn husk with cilantro pesto; sweet corn tamales with black beans and grilled chicken breast; and macadamia nut and coconut crusted sea bass with a citrus glaze. These can be ordered at brunch, lunch or dinner.

Topaz is offering special events on Saturday nights that reflect the changing exhibits at the museum, including a wild game dinner and Chinese meals to coincide with “Secret World of the Forbidden City: Splendors From China’s Imperial Palace,” which runs from Feb. 6 to Sept. 3.

Brunch includes about six entrees, six appetizers and a handful of salads and sandwiches ($8-$15). Generous portions usually include tortillas, salads or corn cakes as side dishes. For $2 more, you can order unlimited champagne.

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Although many of the dishes could have come to the table hotter, most were tasty and innovative. The wild mushroom and chicken quesadilla with grilled corn, jack cheese and guacamole was a flavorful mix, but it was wedged between slightly stale wheat tortillas. The chicken taquitos with avocado sauce were a flavorful blend.

Other picks include the grilled ahi club with tomato, bacon and lettuce; a smoked salmon and dill omelet with cream cheese blended with capers and red onions; and huevos rancheros with spicy sauce, thick bacon and corn tortillas. Eggs benedict are served in traditional style with ham and a good fruit salad. Desserts include hazelnut cheesecake and bread pudding, a luscious hunk of chocolate brownie swirled with whipped cream.

Topaz Cafe, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana, (714) 835-2002. Sunday brunch, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Monday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; Thursday-Friday, 5-9 p.m.