| rev:text
| - Zinc Bistro needs a reboot.
Once delicious, light, precise and innovative, the restaurant has completely become complacent...and now proportionally too expensive. Scottsdale is a foodies playground. Diners are relatively sophisticated and frankly, Zinc is doomed on this path.
I haven't enjoyed Zinc Bistro for two years , and even then, it was only for lunch. Dinner with close friend willing to meet around Kierland plus a recent, perhaps overzealous, review in Phoenix Magazine put Zinc back on the agenda.
Hostess Desk and Bar: both are strong in service and perhaps the highlights that are keeping Zinc from the one-star category. Drinks are creative and the bartenders truly demonstrate they know their craft. But a perfect score in this category is hindered by the owners/managers that have decided straight bourbon pours should be $14 for a stingy 2oz and copious ice. Bar sales are the backbone of any restaurant profits. Selling volume is the better approach than this money-grab pricing.
Dinner/ Wait Staff: the menu is shallow. It does not sell technique nor invite the diner to be daring. The wait staff, even listening in on the adjacent tables, clearly do not command the cooking techniques nor have sampled the entire menu. Again, this is a managerial failure in poor training and probably an extension of the thrifty focus to squeeze a dime. Our meal was quite drawn out. Drinks took a very long time to arrive and it killed the usual impetus to order broadly. Partially defeated, we ordered a halibut that, now two days later, I can't even recall enough of an impression to comment further, salmon that twice came to the table dried out like smoked Norwegian fish and the chateaubriand. Buckle up, because I am going to rant hard about this dish they are overcharging and drooping folks called "chateaubriand." Classically, this is a thick French center cut roast for two or even three people cooked no more than medium, often served with potatoes. They got the potatoes right...in that they were served, but utterly flavorless. The not-even-two-inch-thick meat came cooked well done, no hint of pink nor juices on the plate and I sincerely question if it was even a center cut as one edge contained a partial rind of fat. This is one of the most expensive items on the menu and in no arena should it command this price tag nor such kitchen butchery of a French classic.
Dessert: We had no patience to try.
Waiter comped the salmon and "meat dish." Manager never was present. I left embarrassed that I suggested this place to meet. Cheesecake Factory performs better. Eat that.
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