Restaurant Review: Zero Bar and Cafe (Charleston, SC)

The night of our tasting menu at Zero George's restaurant (Website, Yelp) was finally upon us, and after all the "drama", I was still looking forward to what Chef Vinson had in store for us. We opted for the 5 course tasting menu for $115 (including 4 alcoholic beverage pairings). I was tempted to go with the 9 course to try more things, but realized I would probably burst from overeating. Since I don't really drink alcohol, I had mine without the beverage pairings, but I think that only knocked off $15-20 (I remember thinking the pairing was good value!)

The dining room is the same area that is used by the hotel for breakfast in the morning, but they throw some white linens on the tables and light candles, so it's very romantic. The lighting is very low, though, so if you are a keen food photographer like I am, you may struggle a little (ISO 12800 for these pics O_O)!


Signage


Deviled Eggs with Poached Black Truffle, Pickled Mustard, Bacon and Eggs, Caviar


Beef Tartare with miso sauce, carrots, and puffed sorghum


Roasted bone marrow with radishes and mini toasts


Roasted Striped Bass on chanterelle mushrooms, slow cooked heritage pork shoulder, peas, crispy forbidden rice (seems to be the same as black glutinous rice), served with a ham and pea broth (french pressed at the table). This was my favourite dish from the night.


Beef wellington with potato puree, truffle sauce, and mushrooms. This normally comes with foie, but I always ask for no foie when I eat out. I'm a little surprised it was simply omitted, instead of being substituted with another ingredient, but I could hardly finish it as it is, so I'm not complaining (that much).


Dessert was a super rich dark chocolate cremeux with caraway cream foam and some dehydrated cocoa/milk cookie things - I'm a really picky dessert eater, but this was outstanding.



Bottom Line: Highly recommended! Make sure Chef Vinson is there that night for the tasting menu.