Restaurant week is upon us! Last week being the official week, and these next couple being the extended weeks. I picked wisely this year and decided to make my first stop at Zola on F street. Located right next to the Spy Museum, the restaurant invites guests in with a hip, modern decor. I met my friend and we started off the night with a phenomenal drink called the blue sting. It was a rum drink with fresh blueberries, apples, mint, honey, cranberry juice, soda water....etc. It was so crisp and refreshing, we easily downed two each.
After some delicious house bread, we were served a yummy amuse bouche of a toasted pita point, hummus and a roasted red pepper coulis. Very flavorful, and vegetarian friendly for my friend -- major points :) Definitely whet our appetites.
I was very pleased to find out that Zola was offering their entire menu for restaurant week, but it did seem a little hectic. I started with the veal sweet breads chop salad, with hard boiled quail egg, saint andre cheese, and a apricot-mustard vinaigrette. Sounded promising -- but actually lacked flavor. I found the whole dish needing salt and pepper, and expected more acid from the dressing. Still, crispy sweetbreads were delicious.
My friend started with the cheese and mushroom fondutta, served with crusty bread. Although I love mostly everything, mushrooms have always been a sore spot for me. I did try the morel and the flavor was amazing. The cheese was kept hot and my friend described it as rich and fresh, almost a meal in itself, with a variety of hearty mushrooms -- she would definitely get it again.
My second course was a seafood hotpot with a quinoa salad. Unfortunately our entrees came out when we were only halfway through our appetizers, but we quickly finished them up, anxious to move on to course two. The hotpot came recommended by our server and I can see why. This dish was phenomenal. Filled with perfectly cooked, melt in my mouth salmon, meaty shrimp (maybe slightly overcooked but still delicious), clams, mussels, and scallops. The broth was the star, with fresh crushed tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, basil, etc. So flavorful I think I could have eaten anything soaked in that sauce. The quinoa salad was also heavenly. With crisp sweet corn, fresh tomatoes and bits of asparagus, I ate it up in seconds. The bread was also the perfect utensil to sop up all that left over broth.
I ended my meal with a pear crisp. Warm and crunchy, with spiced ice cream and a dried pear chip, it was very good. I was looking for a lighter dessert on the menu, but most were very rich and heavy.
Overall, the meal was pretty good. I have heard a lot of great things about Zola and will definitely be back to try it again.
Remember: “A well-run restaurant is like a winning baseball team. It makes the most of every crew member's talent and takes advantage of every split-second opportunity to speed up service."
*foodie love
