The Webb Site: Zazio's

When I was a little kid, my dad used to take me on "date night" each week. I would get $1 to go anywhere I wanted, which was a lot of money when I was seven. I mean, there are dollar menus at almost every fast food place, and do you know how many different candy bars you can get for $1? Or you could get one of my favorite combinations - two zebra cakes AND a mini-donuts package! (It was the nineties...a dollar went a bit further than it does now). It doesn't seem like a lot of money, but when I was growing up I was positively RICH every Tuesday night.

After a while, I grew up and went to high school. I started going on real dates, and dates with my dad dwindled. Then I went to college, and I wasn't even ever home. After college I got married and moved to Nevada, so then I was separated from my family by over 2,000 miles. I hardly ever saw them.

After I moved back to Michigan, I had the opportunity to start hanging out with my family more often. While downtown with my family one day, I passed the fanciest restaurant in town: Zazio's. I offhandedly mentioned that it was on my bucket list to go there one day, and my dad said, "Really? That's an easy one to cross off. I'll take you there." He said we could eat at the chef's table, where the chef cooks the food right in front of you. It is so awesome! I asked if he was sure, positive that he hadn't seen the price ($70 per person!), and he said no problem - that he "owed" me lots of dollars from years of missed date nights. This was coming from the guy who wouldn't let me get something for $1.19 when I was a kid because it was "way too expensive" for my $1 limit. Alas. I guess a decade or two can change people.

I definitely took him up on the offer, and a few days ago we had a FANTASTIC five course meal at Zazio's. I was happy, he was happy, and Rex was super happy that now he doesn't ever have to take me there. :-) Here are some pics from the dinner:

This was the bread with two kids of dip - an olive one and a garlic one. Both were delicious.

Here is a picture of our chef and our waitress. They were both fun.

Course 1: "Mozzarella in Carozza" Mozzerella in a carriage of crumbs and spices, summer greens, lemon-anchovy sauce

Course 2: "Suppli alla Romana" Crisp baked risotto filled dome, capers, crisp country acres cherry tomatoes (This course was my dad's favorite)

Course 3: "Maccheroni all' Amatriciana" Housemade rigatoni pasta, guanciale, onions, tomatoes, peperancino, pecorino Romano (This course was my favorite)