By: Laurie Wallin
Capital Cooking Contributor
Looking for a fresh taste of the
Mediterranean served with a side of Southern Hospitality? Then look no further
than Zoës Kitchen, with locations popping up all over the DC area. I visited
the Ballston location and was pleased to find a family-friendly eatery that prides itself on simple,
convenient and tasty recipes that embraces the Mediterranean way of life – that
a fulfilling, happy life is one that is shared with family, friends, and eating
wholesome, fresh ingredients.
Zoës Kitchen is based on Zoë
Cassimus' lifetime of cooking for family and entertaining friends. Zoë was born
in the Mediterranean and raised in the South, and Zoës Kitchen’s menu is
inspired by her family recipes and simple, fresh-from-the garden perspective –
75% of the menu features recipes from her home kitchen. I had the opportunity
to sample a number of dishes from Zoës menu and they certainly live up to these
standards. I began with the hummus and pita bread – Zoës is a light garlic
hummus that is light and delicious, and the pita bread was nicely toasted but
still soft.
Zoës Kitchen features a number of
sandwiches on the menu. The Pimento Cheese sandwich on rye with lettuce and
tomato was a nice version of a grown-up grilled cheese with the heat of the
pimento cooled nicely by the lettuce and tomato. The Chicken Salad sandwich
featured a lightly-dressed mayo-based chicken salad with all-white meat
chicken. This chicken salad was nice in that the mayonnaise was not
overwhelming but just enough to hold the chicken salad together. I also sampled
the Gruben with grilled turkey, swiss, slaw and spicy mustard on rye, which was
grilled and nicely elevated the sandwich. All sandwiches come with a fresh
side, and I sampled the quinoa salad, braised white beans, potato salad and
pasta salad. I loved the lemon vinaigrette that perfectly complemented the
earthy quinoa, the rosemary that accented the beans, the olive-oil potato salad
that didn’t make me miss mayo one bit, and the feta that added creaminess to
the pasta salad.
Zoës also features entrees. I
sampled the Chicken Kabobs, which were incredibly juicy and nicely seasoned.
The Spinach roll-ups were crispy (grilled, not fried) and I had mine with
chicken, although these are vegetarian-based. One of my favorite dishes was the
Shrimp Kabobs, which featured sweet shrimp alternating with grilled zucchini on
top of an Orzo “Tabouli” salad (this salad also comes on its own).
While Zoës is great for lunch,
they sell wine and beer, which provides an additional reason to visit for
dinner. The Ballston location is decorated in sunny stripes, which is a throwback
to the Founder’s son’s nursery. The location is airy and bright, decorated with
images that are unique to the Ballston location, and features an airy patio. Going
along with “live Mediterranean,” they feature ‘real’ plates and silverware, will
bring your food to you, clean up when you leave and encourage you to linger and
spend time with family and friends. For those who are unable to linger, they offer a number of items "to go" to increase the convenience for their customers. I definitely plan to “live Mediterranean”
more often after this visit!
No comments:
Post a Comment