after dinner sneeze

t says:  Ok, the title isn’t quite the most sensical (not that that’s a word, either), but it does quite capture how amazed I was at a recent visit to Zahav.

December 2012, Sunday Dinner, Party of 4.  g and I dined with two friends at Zahav … or rather, g dined with our two friends and I showed up an hour late.  C’est la vie.  The three of them ordered four people’s worth of food, so when I showed up, the table was completely littered with plates.  And yes, everything was quite delicious.  But the standout: Duck Heart.  Keeping in mind that only three of the four of us tasted it (g was reluctant), two of us were quite impressed.  First off, Zahav made no effort to hide the fact that you were eating heart.  As the slices of meat sat on their plate, it was clear to anyone who has had anatomy that you were staring straight at ventricle.  Literally.  The only thing that would have reminded me more that I was eating heart would be if it was beating on the plate.  g had had rabbit heart before (and I mooched off her plate), but when faced with an obvious piece of organ, she balked.  And you know what … it was delicious.  Think as tender as filet mignon, with a little bit of a duckiness (very mild … or maybe I was imagining it?).

As for the desserts, check this one out:

a block of awesomeness

So I forget what exactly that igloo-looking thing was, but it was kind of like a panna cotta but a little richer.  I loved it.  Add on a brulee’d crust or something and I would have ordered another one for myself (we were sharing)!

There were lots of delicious foods to be had at Zahav, and g and I were quite impressed with a lot of the dishes.  It’s true that some were kind of unremarkable (the meatballs), but the highlights were high indeed, especially when using unusual cuts of meat.  Similarly, their normal dishes were quite boring, meanwhile the ones pulling in non-traditional ingredients (e.g. chickpeas).  Even though the tasting menu is now more expensive than it used to be (it used to be $36), it actually seems closer to being worth it now than it used to be – and now their restaurant week pricing is a great deal!  So squeeze into here if you can!  I don’t know if it’s four-bell-material, but it’s close!