This past Friday I went to Green Zebra with vegetarian bf, which I've been wanting to visit ever since it opened since it suits my desire to have a contemporary dining experience once in a while but not so fancy that vegetarian bf complaints of the "too trendy" and "not vegetarian friendly enough". I was surprised that it was still a pretty busy restaurant, with a handful of people waiting for tables at the bar. The entire feel is different from what I felt at Spring (I went there a year, maybe 2 years ago?). Granted, I went for a much earlier dinner at Spring, but Spring felt elegant, relaxed and serene, while Green Zebra had much more of a hip feel with tables being much smaller and closer together like it was the VIP area of a modern clubby lounge. As I was being seated, "Sexy Back" was playing. The tables were so small and closely spaced- and all the tables were 2 and 4 tops (thanks Diner Dash!) - that there was no way anyone could fit their coats unless they were in one of the 4 tops and were teeny, so coat check is essentially a must. A.
We had the Chef's Tasting, which in retrospect I would not have gotten. I was under the impression the Chef's Tasting would be whatever the Chef felt was new and fresh that week. Apparently, the chef believes that the Chef's Tasting would consist the chef's picking each course off of the normal menu of the season. If I knew that would be the approach, I would have just picked something out of each section on my own, thanks. The food wasn't bad, but perhaps I had expectations of a more planned palate experience by giving the chef the command of the meal, especially at $55 a person. The chef's tasting came with an option to be matched with wine ($35) or non-alcoholic drinks ($20), and we chose the latter, but I did not see how the selected beverages necessarily complimented the dish at all. The non-alcoholic beverage selection, as you will soon read, was still very intriguing though and a highlight. I appreciated the creativity of using almost solely veggies for multiple dish and combinations, but in term of flavor profiles Spring had been more impressive for me overall while Green Zebra only had a few hits and the rest were more like bunts. I just don't think the current chef carries it like it used to be. Sorry for the dim pictures, obviously a dim restaurant.
Anyway, the first course after the amuse was roasted Spring Valley beets, kohlrabi, horseradish foam and crisp potato and then a noodle with cucumbers, currant, and dill vinaigrette. Both were served with a hibiscus iced tea which was very good. Between the two, the beets was much better because the dill vinaigrette gave the other dish a refreshing but strongly sour taste. I was digging around trying to separate ingredients to try to moderate that sourness (only got one roll of bread, before first course, and was not offered more until fourth course which was too far in). The second courses, the soups, were a creamy apple soup with thyme and chives and drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar. The outstanding soup was the spiced squash soup, with meringues and toasted squash seeds- what is pictured below (didn't photo the other one). The meringues were genius melts in your mouth with the soup, clever way to add texture. Too bad this marvelous soup was lukewarm and it was the other one that was at the comforting heated temperature. The beverages were Pink Peppercorn Thyme Soda and Honey Spice Soda.
Green Zebra chef tasting- amuse
Green Zebra chef tasting- First Course
Green Zebra chef tasting- First Course
Green Zebra chef tasting- Second Course
Third course was the best- Crispy sweet potato dumplings with bok choy in a dandelion miso broth and Warm Blue Cheese Cake, pea tendrils, almond sorbet and reisling reduction. The savory flavors mixed deliciously. This blue cheese cake was not on the printed menu, but I know it was a recent dish off of their menu and was just a variation of what they did have on their current menu, which was "Blue Cheese beignet with whole roasted pear, bearnaise, and port wine". I might have even preferred what was on the menu to what I had, since the almond sorbet was a bit jarring with the blue cheese cake- it was more cold and ice and not so much almond. Both of these flavor combination dishes I've heard of before as products of Green Zebra, they are well known chef specialities, so I was particularly pleased to get these. The beverages were Brown Sugar Orange Zest and myself with the Pink Peppercorn Thyme Soda, which I just thought was too grassy. Then again, I also feel the same thing about beers with too much hop
Green Zebra chef tasting- Third Course
Green Zebra chef tasting- Third Course
The less impressive fourth course was parmesan caraway gnocchi with brussel sprouts, mustard, and hedgehog while mine was the special of the day, a seared sea scallop in a Thai curry and daikon. At least the fourth course came with a a beverage I had been curious about- walnut soda. I discovered that I liked it less than the banana walnut smoothies I can get at Meli's. The flavors of the gnocchi were just too much lighter than the third course so the flavor progression didn't work (impression of blandness). Although the scallop might have worked following the blue cheese in strength of flavor, the flavor of the curry itself I found lacking (which personally had too much lime in it), possibly because of having so many better curries. What would have been a good progression if this had been spicy didn't turn out well since I was back to too sour, just like the first course. Oh well.
Last, for dessert, we both had mulled cranberry juice, with Pear Strudel and pear sorbet served with chai infused tea and a berry cake with blood oranges and sorbet that I don't recall (it's main purpose was to counter the super-tartness of everything else). In the end, the five courses, though each course was the size of a palm, added up to comfortable fullness.
Green Zebra chef tasting- Fourth Course
Green Zebra chef tasting- Fourth Course
Green Zebra chef tasting- Fifth Course
Green Zebra chef tasting- Fifth Course
Overall though, I was satisfied if I had to bring a vegetarian for a fancy meal, this wouldn't be a bad choice. Implied in the what you saw above is that we both ordered the chef's tasting (though his was completely vegetarian and I told the waiter I had no constraints) and we both got different tastings. It wouldn't necessarily be for the best tasting vegetarian food available, but at least a dress-up opportunity like normal folks