Had dinner with the Bay Area family before they departed back to The City at Zia's Caffe Kaneohe. I specifically mention Kaneohe because the original location in Kailua is a little different - the Kailua location also serves a weekend breakfast (if any town can support a breakfast joint, it's Kaneohe) and they also have Saturday wine tastings (Kaneohe is a Budweiser and Heineken kind of town). Anyway, Zia's serves Mediterranean cuisine and their Arrabiatta with chicken is one of the Mrs' main standby dishes and their bread pudding has won many a "Taste of Kailua" award. Since its been a while since we last visited, I was pleased to see the addition of thin crust pizzas and several heartier entrees.
My brother opened a bottle of Brogan Cellars Morning Dew Ranch Anderson Valley Pinot Noir. Winemaker/Owner Margi Wierenga is the daughter of Burt Williams of Williams-Selyem fame. This Pinot Noir was more Burgundian than New World with dried red fruit, dusty spices, earth and a solid acid backbone.
We started with the Margherita Pizza... Zia's Style. I guess it was Zia's style since it also had a red tomato sauce instead of simply layering fresh sliced tomatoes. The crust was like a cross between thin pizza crust and cracker. A good start!
Mom had the Veggie and Three Cheese Pizza with roasted garlic and topped roasted red peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, olives and parmesan, mozzarella and feta. I liked this pizza a little better than the Margherita.
The Mrs had the Porchetta or a roasted pork tenderloin stuffed with pork sausage. We first encountered this dish in Sausalito at Poggio where Chef McNee stuffs a whole boned suckling pig with home made pork sausage and roasts it rotisserie style over an open fire. Okay, maybe not the same prep at Zia's but Zia's is a neighborhood restaurant. Two large slices that were tender and not dry, served with roasted red potatoes. This was the best dish with the Pinot Noir.
I had the Chianti Braised Short Ribs served with Gnocchi and the beef reduction sauce. The short ribs were "tendah as buttah" and surprisingly, though the gnocchi were the shrink wrapped variety, they weren't really tough or chewy (like they usually are). This dish would've sung with a Super Tuscan red... oh well.
The Mrs had the Tiger Brownie which was almost like a blondie mixed with a brownie on a coconut crust. Sweet but good!
I tried the Pina Colada sorbet - very good pineapple and coconut flavors and a good texture... it just needed some rum!
Since the menu has expanded, we'll probably be back sooner than later!
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