Most years, Valentine's Day is plain old awful. Watching happy couples exchange gifts of candy and roses and all those public displays of affection can send some into post-holiday depression. And while that certainly has happened to us in the past, we aren't about to have it happen again.
Since the two of us are going solo this fine Valentine's Day weekend, we decided to treat ourselves to some of the newest fine dining Charlottesville has to offer. What we ate in return was-- well, heaven.
To the Downtown Mall's newest establishment we went. Zo-Ca-Lo, which means "center of town" in Mexico, has been open since Dec. 9, taking the space previously occupied by the Moondance Café. This place calls you in from the Mall, its bright red sign showing off the almost hidden entranceway, which is lined with a bright tile mosaic.
Once inside, guests are treated to an array of style, texture and color. In what appears to be a renovated warehouse with exposed air ducts, unfinished floors and brick walls on one side, the 20 or so tables seem very out of place. However, one look at the finer details, and there is no doubt Zo-Ca-Lo has class.
With salsa music softly filling the background, guests enjoy subtle lighting from the unique fixtures, a nice glance of the kitchen and a full view of the fully-stocked, trendy bar. Looking even closer, we noticed how the finely polished utensils, which curved at odd times, seemed to echo the restaurants trendy quality -- a nice finishing touch. One more area, the Dining Room Stage, although quiet in our presence, is home to live jazz every Wednesday and Thursday night starting at 9 p.m.
Once settled, Zo-Ca-Lo's selections are fit to pamper any appetite, despite the petite size of the menu. Items are separated into three sections: entradas (appetizers), platos principales (entrees) and platitos (sides). And of course, we decided to sample from them all.
To start, we shared the mussels ($8) and the baby spinach salad ($9), both delicious. The generous portion of mussels was steamed and topped with a chili and tomato broth. The muscles were both tender and juicy, and the sauce gave the dish a nice kick, although it was not overpowering. Two welcomed additions were the flour tortillas, which served as sauce soaker-uppers, and the fresh parsley garnish.
The spinach salad was topped with warm bacon flakes and cider vinaigrette. The bacon added a nice smoky flavor to the salad. In addition, four masa (cornmeal) fried oysters lined the outside of the salad with accompanying dabs of chipotle remoulade (a form of tartar sauce). The oysters were outstanding, crispy on the outside and light and flavorful on the inside.
We could have stopped now and been happy.
For our main course, we ordered sea scallops ($22) and a N.Y. strip steak ($23). Four oversized scallops seasoned and seared cornered the deep bowl. Underneath each one rested a tostone (a sugared and fried plantain). Centering the plate was a bed of wilted spinach topped with tostitos shavings, a nice blend of cool and hot temperatures. Finally, a carrot vanilla sauce drizzled over top finished off the dish.
The strip steak was cooked to perfection, pink in the center, with a tasty pepper rub on the outside. Over top, a chipotle demi-glace made a sophisticated replacement for any steak sauce. Finishing the dish was a Jenga-like assortment of herbed polenta fries and a few grilled asparaguses. The fries were crisp on the outside and light and airy on the inside. It was the perfect starch to match the red meat.
In addition to our entrees, we ordered the smoked tomato grits ($3.50) as our side. Don't be fooled, however. These were not your typical southern grits, and the cheese and tomato sauce made them even less desirable.
Now, despite the fact that we each took a doggy bag home for our entrée, this is our Valentine's Day dinner, so dessert was a must. We chose to share the Mexican chocolate bread pudding ($5), the best dessert we've had all year. Imagine a slightly firm chocolate muffin on the outside and a cross between bread pudding and Arch's gooey brownie on the inside, and that's what it tasted like. Then douse the "muffin" with a Bailey's and espresso cream sauce, and you'll want to eat three more. Each bite was the kind you wanted to hold in your mouth for hours.
The service at Zo-Ca-Lo was top notch. Waiters were knowledgeable, efficient, friendly and punctual. In fact, it almost seemed to us that they had far more people staffed than needed -- all the better for us.
So, it's not really the "center of town," but Zo-Ca-Lo sure should be the center of attention this Valentine's Day. Although expensive, every bite is worth it, especially for your loved-one this "holiday" -- if you can call it that.
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