EatingOUT: Great (Cafe) Zeus!

This from the top of their dinner menu: "Have you ever gone to a great restaurant and only want to order the appetizers? Or wish that you could have two or three servings of the main courses? Well at café Zeus you can! Our menu is designed to allow you to try as much or as little as you wish. Please feel free to pass your plates around." That announcement precedes a menu that is loaded with delicious sounding choices of little plates.

While reading the menu don’t neglect to notice your surroundings. You’ll enjoy the pure, vibrant colors on the walls: turquoise, lemon yellow and tangerine with a navy blue border. Your eyes can linger on a custom made mobile that was designed and made by artist Neil Hotchkiss to perfectly fit a special niche in the ceiling. It’s beautiful and enchanting to watch. As a counterpoint to the walls, John and Charles themselves upholstered the booths in soft pastels which complement the palette of colors. You might want to dine or just have a drink on the wonderful outdoor patio which has beautifully tended gardens.

The signature drink, Zeus Tea—a combination of ginger tea with vodka, Cointreau and lime—seemed just the thing for a warm summer night, and Susan was happy to have ordered it. I had the more moderate version, just the ginger tea and found it was most refreshing.

Susan and I relied on our server, Robert, to guide us through our selections. We thought we were ordering too much but Robert assured us that we weren’t, and he was right. The portions are just the right size for sharing and allow you to taste a variety of different things.

From the appetizer section we chose fried ravioli and chilled paté with crustini. The round little ravioli just burst with flavors of cheese and spinach and begged to be dipped in the slightly picante sauce of extra virgin olive oil, blanched eggs, Parmesan and fresh oregano.

The paté had a touch of whimsy in the entwined letters CZ piped on its surface. It was a tasty rendition of chicken livers, cognac, sherry and garlic accented with a touch of chutney sauce.

As an interim we had a salad of ripe tomatoes fanned with thick slices of mozzarella and sparkling fresh basil and mint. Just the right thing to clear our palettes for the slow roasted lamb chops, tender and savory with spice rub and chilled tuna steak with aioli sauce which followed. Both were beautifully presented—the chops stacked and fanned, the tuna little rectangles that looked like temptingly edible picture frames with pink centers. They were equally delectable.

We certainly didn’t forget our vegetables and couldn’t resist ordering the fried potato straws, which was a perfect mixture of russet, and sweet potatoes their great flavors enhanced with a smooth remoulade sauce. Next came grilled eggplant and peppers with focaccia. The yellow tomatoes were the perfect addition. The vegetables were smoke flavored and glistening with olive oil.

To top it off, Susan ordered the Assorted Exotic Sorbets and exotic they were: peach and blueberry orange blossom. Intensely flavored, the sorbets were icily smooth and touched with the scent of perfume. I chose the chocolate coconut ice cream, and if I had more room would have asked for seconds. It’s freshly made right on the premises and well worth every carb-loaded bite!

There are many, many more dishes offered at Café Zeus, and they all sound great. We saw a number of them go by our table and judging by the reaction of neighboring tables they tasted as good as they looked. There are lots of reasons to go back.