Soigné. Immediately, it is evident this is a boutique restaurant with a focus on pampering its customers. While it is easy to get caught up in the style, you can remove all the extras and at its heart, it is still a tremendous restaurant.
I've spent many years in Charleston, but after joining the military in the late 90s, now only visit occasionally. The restaurant scene boomed after I left. Mike Lata, Jason Stanhope, and Sean Brock have transformed it into a national destination for the food, rather than just the usual offering of accessible tourist-friendly mainstays that dominated the landscape pre-9/11.
Chef Vinson Petrillo caught my attention on Top Chef Masters and Chopped. He clearly has the passion of an artist. He stands out among hundreds of other competitors; something about his sincerity is impossible to ignore. It is typical for people to quickly write off chefs dedicated to artistry as "style over substance," this is lazy and not true at Zero Restaurant.
Our tasting menu consisted of:
"Donut"
- While I'm not 100% certain, I believe these were butternut squash "donuts" with salmon roe and edible flowers. They were caramelized perfectly and slightly sweet. I prefer these to actual doughnuts. I don't have a sweet tooth, so these were a delightful addition to the meal. I could've eaten a half dozen.
"Foieffle"
The waffle was crisp and the foie gras was luxurious. It felt indulgent and left me wanting more. I tried a bite of the vegetarian version, where the foie gras was replaced with goat cheese. Different, but just as tasty.
Deviled Egg - I enjoyed the caviar russe ossetra topping each egg.
Potted Plant - Radishes in edible soil. I can't recall what the waitress said the soil was made of, but I believe she said a type of butter below the faux-dirt. This was an interesting concept and fun, but I didn't like the taste. It was one note, fatty. No real flavor. But I do appreciate the whimsy.
Lightly Cooked Sea Scallop - Truffle, Yuzu, and Curry
These were terrific. The citrusy bright yuzu scallop was clean and very good, but I was surprised by how much I liked the curry scallop. It seemed the least appropriate in concept, almost like pairing cheese with seafood. But the curry was so redolent and exciting that it brought the scallop to life.
Wagyu Beef Cheek Anolini with the White Truffle supplement.
The kitchen generously served a mountain of white truffle shavings on top of the anolini. Pine Nut emulsion, Dried Leeks, hen of the woods mushrooms, and elegantly prepared pasta...honestly the beef cheeks went almost unrecognized. I was blinded by the more impressive ingredients. This dish is savory, gentle, creamy, and perfectly sized. The pasta was perfectly al dente, not too soft and not chewy. The ideal level of bite.
Lobster Grilled & Glazed in Yuzu & Chili with various textures of rutabaga and celery root
This dish did not stand out as much in flavor as it did in concept. I love that the chef used a root vegetable like rutabaga instead of pasta. It's inspired and ode to healthy alternatives for breads/pasta. But, despite the yuzu & chili, the dish lacked a little punch for me. I wanted more seasoning, something to wake it up. It felt like it was missing one element to really make it memorable.
Beef Wellington - Foie Gras, Carmelized Onions, Wild Mushrooms, and aerated potato
I was concerned this would be too heavy for a dish in a tasting menu, but I all doubts vanished when the dish came and the beef was textbook medium rare. The pastry flaky and light. I loved the aerated potatoes, since I'm not a fan of starchy, heavy mashed or baked potatoes. This was truly a surprise, given I rarely eat beef and almost never order it anymore.
Tres Leches - I tried a bite of the honeycomb. I liked what I tried. It reminded me of a crunchy honey graham cracker. My mother who was with me said this was her favorite dish. She loved the milk ice cream.
In closing, most tasting menus enjoy the freedom to go over the top and serve people food they wouldn't enjoy more than a few bites of because they're expensive small plates most people only eat once. However, I would go to a restaurant and order these dishes again and again. The donuts, the foieffle, the beef wellington, scallops, and beef cheek annolini are all competent dishes that stand on their own. These would fit just as well outside a tasting menu and in an al a carte setting. That's not common. I was wow'ed by the food.
The service is top notch. Very professional, courteous, and knowledgeable. You'll be treated well by staff that are genuinely invested in the success of the restaurant. read more