Last week I visited Zeus Gallery. Well, actually, it was me aaand a pretty large party of ladies. The small restaurant had an instantly cozy feel to it when I walked in and they were nice (and smart) enough to put our big group in a second, semi-private room.
There is one unique feature about Zeus Gallery that still leaves me undecided. There are no menus… at least not in the traditional sense. The dinner menu for the evening is written on a child-sized chalkboard and placed at the end of the table for all to view. The wine list is on a large wall-mounted chalkboard, intended to be seen by the entire room. While I applaud the intimate rustic feel the restaurant seems to be going for, the practicality and ease-of-use just isn’t there. Fortunately, our group had pretty good eyesight, but I could imagine the set-up being incredibly difficult for those who struggle with reading menus. Even with good eyes, we had to pass the somewhat clumsy dinner menu board around the table, which made for a funny, if not mildly awkward, experience. As for the wine menu, it was on the wall behind my head… so I could not see all but the bottom right corner. So as not to make a fuss, I ordered a generic “sauvignon blanc” and called it a day. All this as a long way of saying loose the chalkboards- or make cheap printouts that are easier to pass around and see along with the cutesy boards.
But, I digress… on to the food. I was lucky enough to steal a bite of salad from one of my fellow guests and it was really quite good. A special that evening, it was an arugula-based salad with marinated tomatoes, homemade croutons, and a charred tomato vinaigrette. The dressing really had a great punch to it that elevated the appetizer from just another ordinary salad to something special.
After tasting the salad and smelling all of the great smells floating around the restaurant, I had high hopes for my entrée. I was having a difficult time deciding between shrimp and grits, scallops over white bean puree, and a homemade pasta (as noted in the Enoteca Sogno review, I am a total sucker for homemade pasta in any form). Based on our waitress’ recommendation, I went with the scallop dish. However, I must admit I was a bit disappointed when it arrived at the table. I am sure plating 15 dishes at the same time is no small task, so it’s not that I was expecting mine to be perfect. The scallops were definitely a little overdone, with one seared side and one “gently kissed” side. I found the white bean puree and the collared greens to be overly salty and overpowering to the dish. And, although the bacon in the greens could have been a nice touch to enhance the dish, it just seemed to be rather aggressive for a plate that seemed like it lent itself to a bit more finesse.
Our server went completely out of her way to accommodate us, from separate checks to splitting the cost of a bottle of wine 4 ways on said checks. She definitely put more work on herself to make it easier for us and I totally appreciated the gesture.
I do plan to go back and try Zeus Gallery again… this time, maybe with a slightly smaller crowd.
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