What I Ate: February 12, 2010 (Zoot)

Dinner: For a pre-Valentine's Day dinner, I made a reservation for dinner at Zoot (11715 Bee Caves Road, Bee Cave, TX‎ - (512) 477-6535‎). The last time we were at Zoot, we had an excellent dinner, but that was back in April 2009 (about a month after they opened in their new location in Bee Cave).

We arrived a tad early and waited at the bar for our table. While at the bar, we ordered the Sweet potato / parsnip soup with apple, golden raisins and tarragon. Although it wasn't much to look at (most soups aren't), it was delicious. The soup was slightly sweet and slightly savory at the same time and was very well-balanced (a phrase that pretty much describes most of the food we had tonight). It was a great way to start our evening at Zoot and a quick reminder of how flavorful our first meal was.

After being seated, our server, Patricia, introduced herself and welcomed us back. (She has an excellent memory - remembering us from our first visit 10 months ago including that we sat at the same table before.) We ordered the Chef's Tasting menu with the addition of the roasted root vegetable salad after the escarole salad. An amuse bouche arrived - a strawberry gazpacho with ginger and salt. It was just a sip, but the chilled, fruity soup was very good (especially when taken with the salt).

Glazed pork belly with pineapple jam, pozole, pickled onions and cilantro. This opening dish was Zoot's take on Tacos al pastor. Each individual item was full flavored and delicious, but taken together it was definitely an incredible version of the classic Mexican street food.

Boggy Creek Farms escarole with poached pear puree, créme fraiche dressing, goat cheese and candied walnuts. The salty dressing, sweet pear, and earthy goat cheese made this a great tasting salad. We thought it was an excellent salad, but then we had the next one.

Roasted local root vegetables with butter lettuce, rhubarb vinaigrette and Dijon mustard. This collection of fresh (in this case, root veggies pulled from the farm on Wednesday, just two days ago) beets (candy stripe, red, and golden), parnips, baby carrots, butternut squash, celery root, sweet potatoes, and potatoes was simply amazing. The flavors of the vegetables were so good, neither of us felt that a dressing was needed. I did enjoy the rhubarb vinaigrette as well as the pleasantly spicy Dijon mustard which provided some variety (but if they were absent, I wouldn't have minded one bit). Best salad we've had in recent memory.

Grilled snapper on rice cake with green lentils, parsnips and red curry sauce. This was supposed to be a grilled Gulf shrimp dish, but they ran out of Gulf shrimp and served snapper instead. This was quite lucky on our part as we prefer the taste of snapper over Gulf shrimp (just can't get to enjoy the iodine/bromine flavor of shrimp from the Gulf). The grilled snapper was perfectly salty with just the right amount of charring. The rice cakes provided great texture, while the curry sauce gave the dish excellent flavor. This was the only dish where we felt there was some imbalance - with large parsnips, rice cakes, and lentils, we felt there were too many neutral carbs on the plate. The red curry sauce was excellent and having more of that would have been an easy way to remedy the imbalance. Alternatively, smaller rice cakes (even though they were small to begin with) and fewer lentils would have worked as well.

Roasted duck breast on braised cabbage with apple/walnut salad and mulled cider sauce. The sour apple strips contrasted really well with the perfectly roasted rich and savory duck. A great final course (but with the additional soup and salad we ordered, it was almost too much for Tina to finish).

Flourless chocolate cake with orange curd, brown butter cream and candied hazelnut. The chocolate cake was outstanding - rich and decadent. It was like eating a fluffy version of chocolate ganache. I especially liked the orange curd that was served with it. It was citrusy without being heavily acidic. I'm going to have to try making orange curds in the future.

Last time, I commented that the staff wasn't as well versed about the food as we had hoped, but there wasn't an issue this time. Our server, Patricia, was very helpful and knowledgeable about the dishes and ingredients. With great, pleasant service and wonderful food, there's no fault that can be found in our dinner at Zoot.

Afterward, we met Stewart Scruggs, the chef and owner of Zoot (and Wink). Stewart is a funny, pleasant, and down to earth - a great conversationalist who takes pride in what he's bringing to the Bee Cave area. If you see him, be sure to let him know what you think of his food.

Lunch: I heated a slice of BJ's Favorite Pizza (oven baked meatballs, pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, black olives, white onions and seasoned tomatoes). Tina had the pizza the previous night and commented on the doughy crust. When reheated on parchment paper in a convection toaster oven, the crust came out very crispy (the way I like it) but I could taste the doughiness that she was referring to. Otherwise, it was pretty decent. I should have put it on a different colored plate though.