Date Night at Zak's Cafe
I'm almost a month late in writing this post, but that is no reflection on the food or the experience I had at Zak's Cafe in Walker's Point. I had been on a few dates with a great guy, so this was our third or fourth time out. I can honestly say that I'm not really sure because what ultimately was our first date happened quite by accident! It was a situation of being out at an event together, having a wonderful time, noticing the chemistry, and then asking each other if that had been a date! We agreed that it had been, and the rest, as they say, is history.Our dinner at Zak's was relaxed and enjoyable. John was our server for the evening. When I handed him the blog card, he didn't even flinch! Turns out that he did share it with the bartender, Rosalyn (sp?). She came over with a glass of wine that she felt would pair really nicely with the "fantastic dish" they had chosen for me. It was a glass of the Dante Reserve Pinot Noir, and Rosalyn quickly obliged when I asked to photograph the bottle...
Typically, I'm not big on Pinots, because they tend to be a little on the light side. My date has the same taste in wine, so he shared the same skepticism. I quickly ascertained that Rosalyn was right, and I had jumped the gun on judging the wine. It had great flavor on it's own, but also paired really nicely with the food that was coming.We started off by sharing the crab stuffed mushrooms. Okay, mushrooms stuffed with crab meat, covered with cheese and baked to perfection? Who can pass that up! They were a wonderful start to the meal!
Next came a cream of mushroom soup. The consistency was perfect, though I felt it needed a bit more flavor. Black pepper to the rescue!
Finally, when my meal had been delivered, I was served up the short ribs. Braised and slow roasted, served in a red wine vegetable gravy on a bed of mashed potatoes. Melt in your mouth delicious!
It's hard to do this dish justice in photographs because it's not one of those "beautifully plated" dishes, but trust me...the flavor, textures, and overall meal were exceptional! My date had the prime rib, which he really enjoyed, but when he took a bite of my meal...an audible sigh of approval came out. He actually ended up taking the leftovers home for lunch the next day! And, then texted me about how delicious lunch was! :-)Not only was the food and wine fantastic at Zak's, not to mention my company for the evening (wink), but the service was superb. And, I love that Rosalyn mentioned that she would really appreciate if more "indecisive customers" would give her guidance like my blog card does! It's always nice to get some encouragement along the way!After heading out from Zak's, we didn't really have much of a plan. We ended up going to Bugsy's - a cool speakeasy downtown. My date and I had lots of great conversation, and no shortage of entertainment from the folks who had clearly been enjoying the libations for a while! After several hours of getting to know each other better, and of watching crazy non-sober people, we headed to our respective homes for the evening. Not before determining our next date, of course! ;-)If you have a chance to get out to Zak's and/or Bugsy's I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!Cheers!Ker