Bethany Jean Clement Reviews New Restaurant Zoe

The Stranger's Bethany Jean Clement reviews Capitol Hill's Restaurant Zoe this week, and says that unlike the focused, high-end Belltown Zoe of old, this one is "all over the place." Clement says that the two-month old restaurant needs to up their service level: on one occasion, dinner took close to three hours from seating to the check drop-off. She also says that the enclosed patio-like space has "a violently changeable microclimate." Clement concludes that the menu "feels like it's trying to have it both ways—a little at the Quinn's gastropub end of the spectrum, a little from the old, formal Zoë."

During her review, Clement takes issue with her chocolate orb dessert made with Belgian chocolate commenting, "to reduce the work of the Belgians back to cocoa grit seemed sad." There's an entertaining exchange between Zoe pastry chef Andrea Terrenzio and Clement, where Terrenzio accuses Clement of not understanding her dessert and of failing to fact check: "Sable is French for sandy - perhaps advanced pastry vocabulary that the average diner might not know, but easy enough to translate when fact-checking." All concludes amicably between Clement and Terrenzio, but the exchange is definitely worth a read.

· Neither Here nor There [The Stranger]
· All Zoe Coverage on Eater Seattle [-ESEA-]