Zazios Modern Italian Restaurant-Kalamazoo

Let me first apologize to those of you in the Chicago area because the restaurant that I am about to share with you is located in my beloved hometown of Kalamazoo. And yes, I will still HIGHLY recommend that you check it out!

This past Christmas, my mother gave Brad and myself gift certificates to The Chef's Table at Zazios Modern Italian Restaurant in Downtown Kalamazoo, connected to the Radisson's hotel. It wasn't until our anniversary were we able to take advantage of our gift (which was this month).

And Oh.My.Goodness. Let me tell you, this experience was, hands down, one of the best culinary experiences that Brad and I have ever had, if not THE best. Each month, Chef John creates a 5 course menu based on a particular theme then prepares each course right in front of you! The Table is also very interactive plus gets taped and some "episodes" get broadcast on one of the local t.v. channels. It was like being a part of a Food Network T.V. show!

Our group at the Table ended up being 6, including Brad and myself which means we all got to have front row seats! Chef John was extremely personable and did not hesitate to answer any of our questions regarding the menu or his inspiration. The menu this month was based around Italy's region of Umbria. I have to be honest, upon looking at the menu, I was a little nervous since I am what some may call a "picky eater" and am not a fan of mushrooms or cheese and almost every course had both components in it. But I made the resolution that I was not going to try to pick things out and more importantly I did not want to offend the chef. And I am so very glad I did! I'm not sure how Chef John did it but he made me love and eat cheese and truffles/mushrooms like non other.

 (Extremely delicious hummus...so flavorful!)

Also, Chef John used a lot of fresh, local ingredients, not cutting any corners when needing to find Michigan components for Umbrian classics. At the same time, Chef John was sure to get the highest quality ingredients that he needed from Umbria to create his dishes.

Did I mention that Chef John let us lick the bowl after he prepared the pan with the torte batter? Shh...don't tell anyone ;o)

Okay, now to the menu.

Asparagi- grilled asparagus & pancetta, balsamic, Umbrian black summer truffles, local salad greens.

This asparagus was so flavorful, so tender, so delicious...and though it is hard to distinguish, mixed in with the black summer truffles is a Smoked Sheep cheese infused with it's own black summer truffles.

Trota- grilled rainbow trout, summer truffles, sage & lemon, farro & arugula salad
Again, very good and very fresh. Brad and I have never cooked fish on the grill before but it is a must now.

Farro will also be going on our grocery list in the future.(uncooked farro in the picture above)

Stringozzi- semolina pasta twists, mushrooms, truffles, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, pecorino.
Home.made. Pasta. Michigan morel mushrooms. Fresh Parmesan cheese. Absolutely delightful.

Cinghiale- grilled wild boar chop, lentils, pancetta, onions, sage & rosemary

Yes, Wild Boar. Yes, it was great. Chef John created this nice, flavorful crust along the outside. The pieces towards the center of the chop had a slight gamey flavor but still oh so good.

(Chef John preparing the boar)

By this time, we were all slowing down and left portions of this course on the plate only because we knew we had to save room for...

Fragole e Cioccolato- fresh strawberries, chocolate & olive oil torta, crema, gelato

Who knew that a torte made from Olive Oil would taste absolutely devine? Chef also sprinkled Cocoa nibs on the freshly made whipped cream to add a little crunch.

Chef also tossed the strawberries with balsamic which just enhanced the flavor of the whole dish. (Note: According to Chef John, there is a difference between balsamic vinegar and balsamic, though real balsamic vinegar can be substituted.)

I was fortunate enough to be able to snag the recipe for his olive oil torta which you bet I will be making sometime in the future.

Now as we were all enjoying our last couple of bites of our dessert, the tornado sirens began to wail. We soon got the message that hotel security was asking all of us to wait out the storm in the basement (which is actually large conference rooms). The people we had sat with joked to Chef John to bring down some bottles of wine to help us wait out the storm.

We all laughed then headed down the stairs. Shortly after Chef John appears in the conference room we were ushered to with..you guess it...two bottles of wine. Tornado like weather isn't what most people would call a good end of the evening but hey, we were all too content and reveling in the after glow of such a delicious and heavenly meal that nothing could bring us down.