Cafeteria 15L

When Mason's opening executive chef Philip Wang left Sacramento for Hawaii a couple of months ago, Mason Wong, who opened the edgy downtown restaurant with his two brothers in fall 2005, said he'd be cutting back on the more adventurous dishes that characterized Wang's style in hopes of stabilizing the business in these shaky economic times.

He's either changed his mind or the alterations have been slight. Now under the direction of executive chef John Gurnee, who had been Wang's sous chef since the start, the Mason's menu remains one of the more enterprising in town.

Thematically, the cooking is still Californian and New American. But the menu looks to be more seasonal, with fewer Asian touches. Prices haven't been appreciably reduced since my last review more than two years ago, though a few plates can be ordered as either starter or main, with the former costing about half as much as the latter.