Pop quiz! What do two food obsessed people do to celebrate their first anniversary? “Badminton?” you ask. “Spelunking.” you might say. No, sillies! We go out and find some tasty and interesting eats, yo.
Austin has a lot of great restaurants that we haven’t been to (a problem we’re slowly attempting to rectify). One of them though, Zoot, has an intriguing little deal where the chef offers not one, but two tasting menus. Neither of us had ever had the pleasure of being brought a succession of tiny courses designed to not only complement one another, but also pair divinely with multiple, equally miniaturized, glasses of wine. No time like the present, so we took the fancy-shamncy plunge.
(If you want to check out a guy who’s made tasting menus into practically a full contact sport, look him up at tastingmenu. Unfortunately, envy doesn’t go with my suit. Oh well.)
Zoot has kind of a New American thing going on with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Everything was delicious, and overall we had a fantastic time, so any criticism is purely nitpicky and minor in nature – but that’s how we get our jollies. Because we’re bitter, sanctimonious jerkwads.
The two tasting menus were the Chef’s(c) and the Farmer’s(f), the latter being vegetarian. They each had six courses. Since I’m a linear thinker, I’ll take them in order from the top.
First were rabbit rillettes(c) and a blue cheese broccoli soup(f). The rillettes were moist and lipsmackable with an awesome tangy-sweet sherry gastrique (Sherry Gastrique would be a great porn name). The soup was served chilled and had an excellent texture and savoriness that got you revved up for the meal to come. It was served with a truffled crème fraiche that seemed kind of fancy for fancy’s sake. I know it’s tempting to throw a truffly sop to vegetarians, but maybe a blued crème fraiche would have tied the theme together a bit more – especially since the soup’s promised blue-ness really stayed in the background.
Second came the salads. Not to dis right out of the gates, but this was the weakest link in both menus. Mme. Pants had greens and daikon with a red pepper vinaigrette(c). It was good but exuberantly dressed. I had a baby spinach salad with feta buttermilk dressing(f). It was tasty and all, but it looked a bit like diner-salad-deconstructed. Maybe it’s my fault for not being more into tiny piles of cucumber and radish. Props though, for getting the greenery from the local Bluebonnet Farms. (I say that our lack of excitement re: the salads was because L. Pants’ salads are tasty beyond reason, so it blinds us to salads that are merely good. – Girlie)
Happily, the third courses were firmly back on track. The lovely lady was served escolar on a fines herbes risotto(c). The escolar was perfectly done. The fillet showed off these attractive concentric rings in the presentation. The risotto was also spot on with a rich creaminess accented by some fun little preserved lemon dealies (they called it nage, but dealies works for me).
I had an heirloom tomato bruscetta(f) that was surprisingly fresh tasting for something that’s been passed down through the generations. Ok. I’m sorry. Moving on. The highlight of this very straightforward dish was the ricotta that Zoot makes in-house. It had a super rich mouthfeel and an earthy sweetness that you just don’t come by in the store-bought stuff. For such nice tomatoes, though, they sure did chop them into itty-bitty little pieces.
Copious joy, for we have reached the entrees. Both were delectable. The meatful one was an eensy lamb chop with quinoa and demi-glace. The lamb couldn’t have been cooked better. Perfectly seared outside and just a hair above rare in the moist vibrant center. The tiny crunchy vegetables were quite complimentary, but Mme. Pants felt the demi-glace was a little overpowering.
The farmer’s menu featured a wheatberry risotto with a parsley emulsion. It was a totally different experience from the earlier risotto. The wheatberry has a lower starch level, so it wasn’t all about a creaminess. Instead, it had a fantastic toothsome texture that was enhanced by the verdurous parsley flavor. The whole dish said Spring all over it. Yum.
Next, behold the majesty of cheese. It’s hard to go into detail, since there are only so many superlatives. Suffice it to say that they were all f*ing fantastic; but what else do you expect to hear from a cheese-whore like me? Fine, stop begging - I’ll just tell you what they were real quick. From mild to pungent: Brillat Savarin(brie like), Buches de Causses(a tangy goat cheese), and Crater Lake Blue(mmmm…).
Finally, dessert. Not that we needed it, not that that stopped us. We had an enticing variety to choose from, but our server nudged us gently (and perceptively) towards the crème caramel. He said that they’d only perfected it a few days ago, which seemed like an odd thing to say, but whatever, because he totally wasn’t lying. It was a rich, velvety custard with a crisp, mouthwatering caramel top. We didn’t want to finish the whole thing, but the laws of men and gods demanded that it be so.
509 Hearn Street
Austin, TX 78703
(512) 477-6535
