Zimzala & Groth Wines

Saturday, May 14, 2011

New restaurant in downtown Huntington Beach at the Shorebreakers Hotel.  Zimzala, http://www.restaurantzimzala.com/, Found the notice on, http://www.localwineevents.com/ . Did not know what to except. Paul, Margie and I decided to check it out. Aside from hotel personnel, wine vendor it seems we were the only outside guests for this dinner. Could not access the menu from the website which is not good. People like to see a menu before they commit almost $100 to dinner. This was there first wine dinner. The hotel is very "hip" and young. Lets face it , downtown Huntington Beach is young. Hotel reminded me of the westside or South Beach. Attractive venue but young. Almost all the patrons in the bar/lounge area were under 35. In the dining room the age came out.

Event was advertised at having a wine/appetizer reception at 5:00 and dinner afterwards. Arrived a few minutes before 5 as its only a 12 minute drive from my "Casa". We were shown a lounge area beside the patio area. Too cold for outside tonight. They poured the 2010 Groth Sauvignon Blanc along with two very good appetizers. A crisp pita bread wedge with tomato jam and deep fried okra with a sauce which may have been some type of aoili. This "reception" before dinner was the hotels reception for their hotel guests also which was fine. But the big mistake they made was shutting it down at 6:00 and telling us dinner would be served at 6:30. Bullcrap. Not a good PR situation. Dinner should have been at 6:00. We sat around with nothing to do for 30 minutes. No wine, no nothing. I would  have showed up at 6:30 if I had known that.

At 6:35 we were seated for dinner. As I posted earlier we were the only "guests" for dinner. Matt Stuhl who is with JDV Hotels came and sat at our table. They had a basket of fresh made bread and served a small container of olive oil with it. We had to ask for butter which was rock hard. I find this happens a lot. Who wants to tear up their bread with rock hard butter ? But it seems that most places do this. Probably a "health" issue. But it seems to me that they could have a few containers set out of the cooler and be ready for the tables without endangering the world.

First Course: Diver Scallop Crudo with Avocado, Ojai Pixie Tangerines & Crispy Wild Fennel. This was a very good dish. The light acid/sweetness of the tangerines really set off the delicate flavor of the scallops and the buttery texture of the avocado was just the right touch. Served with a 2009 Groth Chardonnay. A little oaky but paired well with the food.

Second Course: Carnarolu Nano Risotto with Squash Blossoms, Lemon Verbena and Hand Made Mozzarella. Extremely good dish. The Mozarella was outstanding. They buy the curd and produce the cheese fresh everyday. Dish had great flavor and the risotto was cooked correctly. But they served this with the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc that we had at the reception. By now I have had my fill of this wine.

Main Course: Lamb Roulade with Cauliflower Olive Oil Puree, spring vegetables, morel mushrooms and lamb jus. This dish was good. I tried a few bites and had them box it for me to take home. We have dessert coming and I cannot finish both dishes. This was paired with a Groth 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. Good pairing.

They then brought a brique of 2009 Caberbet out. This barrique traveled down the coast  with the guest chef. It went surfing, bartered for fresh vegetables, had happy hour and "Barique" had a great time. What they should have done is have a slide show on a laptop of all the "events" " Barique" did on his trip down. They had pictures  on a cell phone but it would have been better to see them larger.  They tapped the barique and served the wine with dessert. The wine is very young and still have vibrant fruit and paired very well with a Strawberry Shortcake with  Albion Strawberries, Fresh Made Strawberry Ice Cream and Chantilly Cream.

The chef then brought out fresh made truffles. One was peanut butter &  jelly and was quite good.

Both chefs are young. The chef at Zimzala is Roy Henrickson. No formal culinary school but very good at what he does. The guest chef form Americano Restaurant was Kory Stewart who trained at the Culinary Institute of America I was impressed with their depth.

Susanne Groth was in attendance pouring her wines. They very generously filled a bottle of 2009 Cabernet from the barique and gave us each one to take home.

The regular dinner menu looked very interesting. The food is good. The place has a nice vibe about it. But it is noisy. This seems be the trend with the under 35 crowd. I find it irritating that you have to yell to have conversation. But I also think that having your cell phone attached to your ear or constantly texting is rude also. I sometimes wonder if they do this while they are having sex.

Dinner was $78 plus tax & tip. I am ok with that what really ticked me off was went I left the parking structure they charged me $16. The restaurant gave us a voucher for 2 free hours. I did not expect $16 for the balance. When I think about sitting around for 30 minutes twiddling my thumbs waiting for dinner it really irks me. I could have been ok with $5 to $8  but not $16.  Unless the hotel changes its parking policy I would not go back to the restaurant. Parking in downtown Huntington Beach is bad and that is why I do not go down in that area. Its a young person domain which I understand because of the beach and surfing. But I have a hard time with spending close to $100 for dinner and then get nailed for parking. I stopped going to the restaurants in downtown Long Beach for the same reason. There are too many good restaurants that I can give my money to that I do not have a parking fee.