Sweet & Savory

Zibibbo

A and I went to Zibibbo last Sunday for lunch and we LOVED the experience. We sat in the beautiful serene courtyard and ate delicious Meditteranean food, what is there not to love? :)

We arrived at promptly at noon to find the restaurant fairly empty. The hostess motioned for us to sit wherever our hearts desired. We picked a table for two in the middle of the courtyard next to a rectangular pond with a view of the entrance, the seating by the bar, and the lush vine climbing on the wall.

I, in my never-ending quest for delicious beignets, ordered the beignets of course. The delicious dough balls (hot from the fryer, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and served straight to our table with a little cup of lemon curd for dipping) tasted very much like the beignets we had at Boulette's Larder.

A ordered the combo of three small plates. From left to right:

The eggplant caponata was a wonderfully-spiced cold stew of eggplants. The eggplants were not soggy, as I'd expected of a stew, but had a firmer texture which made the dish resemble pickled eggplants with just the tiniest hint of mint.

A "BLT salad" - bacon, butter lettuce, and heirloom tomato slices, topped with a lemon aoili and minced chives. The tomato slices along with the few crisp lettuce leaves did well to cut through the lemon aoili.

Grape leaves wrapped around a mixture of spiced rice and ground lamb to form dolmas. These were topped with a sauce of currants and balsamic vinegar.

All three small plates were DELICIOUS. I was initially a little dubious with A's decision but he proved me wrong on all three counts. The eggplant caponata ended up being my favorite because it was such an interesting eggplant dish that I'd never had before and it had such well blended flavors. :) Zibibbo, I am happy to say, is definitely a keeper. We will have to go back again in this fine California weather for some more fine food. :)