For 12 years La Provence’s exclusive French cuisine was the pinnacle of fine dining in the Flathead Valley.

As the recession dragged on, though, diners found it more difficult to afford the high-end fare. Restaurant owners Marc and Caroline Guizol knew it was time to reinvent their Bigfork business.

 Voila — Mosaic was born.

The Guizols’ new restaurant, located in the same spot on Bridge Street, features the blending of several cuisines from around the world, “with menu pricing that better reflects today’s struggling economy,” Caroline Guizol said. “Our main focus was to bring prices down, so entree items went from $20 to $30 to $12 to $23.”

The transformation is working well.

“We’ve had the busiest end of April and May in at least five or six years,” Caroline said. “It’s been a great reopening.”

Faithful patrons of La Provence will find some of their old favorites on Mosaic’s menu, such as saffron risotto with shrimp and Chef Marc’s signature chocolate souffle. But they also will find a broad selection of interesting appetizers and main dishes such as Cuban pork loin with sofrito and fried plantains or savory duck curry in a garam masala sauce.

“One of the things Marc used to do [before the move to Bigfork] is a lot of fusion cuisine,” Caroline said. “He loves blending styles.”

Marc Guizol grew up in Southern France and studied cooking in Montpelier, France, before heading to London to hone his culinary skills. Later he was recruited by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Naples, Fla., and later was recruited to Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Caroline was trained at Johnson and Wales University, an institution known for its culinary arts program and business and hospitality programs.

The Guizols hope to broaden their customer base with the varied menu, and already have found that menu items such as the green curry duck wings are appealing to a younger crowd.

La Provence’s exclusive French cuisine could be intimidating for some diners, Caroline said. “We needed to break out of that.”

Mosaic’s menu will feature many more local products from Montana and the Northwest in a concentrated effort to support local agriculture.

Throughout their culinary tenure in Bigfork, the Guizols have focused on the freshness of their ingredients.

“We grow our own herbs and many of the summer vegetables at our farm in Creston,” she noted. “Most of the beef is being raised in Polson.”

In the new lounge, diners will find local craft beers on tap and several specialty cocktails using products from Montana distilleries, including Bigfork’s own Whistling Andy.

The restaurant interior got a facelift that features mosaic tile accents, and there’s an area in the front by the large atrium windows that has “big cushy chairs where guests can sit back in comfort and watch Bigfork go by,” Caroline said.

The Mosaic Lounge will feature a happy hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays when all tap beers and appetizers will be offered at half price from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The popular Wednesday evening musical entertainment on the deck will start in a couple of weeks.

The Guizols settled in Bigfork in 2000 after looking for a close-knit community where they could raise their family. At the time they opened La Provence their twin boys were not even 2 years old. Now they’re 13 and the couple has two more children, a 10-year-old son and daughter, 5.

Mosaic’s immediate popularity in Bigfork allowed the Guizols to hire three new employees who had been unemployed and were struggling to raise their families.

“We have 12 employees now and will bring in another five to six over the summer,” Caroline said. “We have 24 children among us and the employees. It’s nice to be able to provide these jobs.”

Mosaic will have a strong social media presence on Facebook and a new website, www.mosaicbigfork.com, that will debut in a couple of weeks. The phone number remains the same: 837-2923.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.