Renowned Chef Roland Passot now boasts a trifecta of restaurants at San Jose’s Santana Row. Joining his LB Steak and Left Bank Brasserie, his new Meso opened its doors in November in a newer section of the mixed use complex right near tech firm Splunk.

The modern upscale Mediterranean restaurant not only sports an elegant design by Oakland’s Arcsine, the firm that also created the look of Duende in Oakland and Wursthall in San Mateo, but a head chef with an impressive background. Executive Gregory Short spent many years working at The French Laundry in Napa before taking the helm of Masa’s in San Francisco. He even lured fellow French Laundry alum Pastry Chef Eva Wong to join him at Meso.

While a master at French food and techniques, Short acknowledged there was a learning curve for him when it came to Middle Eastern cuisines. But as he told me a few weeks ago when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant, he combed through a myriad of books to hone in on the distinct flavors of the region.

Meso, which means ”middle,” immediately transports you to that area with its color scheme of cool blues of the Mediterranean sky and sea. Patterned metal screens, curved archways, and a blue-purple lighted fountain divider in the spacious dining room give the air of modern Morocco.