My wife and I have dined at Zazou in the past and found it to be rather good. First a few quick thoughts on service. We showed up for our 7:30 reservation a couple minutes early, but were told we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. It was another 8-10 minutes after seating before our server appeared tableside. It took 20 minutes after we ordered our wine before the waiter finally decided to bring it to us. I can understand if they like to time it closer to delivery of our entrees, but if that was the case I don't think the waiter would have opened with ""I'm sorry this took so long"". There were two interesting things on the menu: one was ""Sicilian Lifeguard Calamari"" the other was Pappardelle with Wild Boar Ragu and Portabello Mushrooms. Sicilian Lifeguard Calamari is a dish created by uber-chef Mario Batali. There is not style of cooking called ""al la Sicilian Lifeguard"" - Batali made up the name as a marketing gimmick to move more plates. So it appears that the chef/owner(s) at Zazou are co-opting at least some portion of their current menu from other more successful restaurateurs. Still I still ordered the Pappardelle, frankly expecting it to be Batali's recipe with some mushrooms. I learned to make this dish in Tuscany, and have cooked it several times in my home kitchen. There are as many different ways of making the ragu as there are cooks who make it, but one thing that's fairly consistent across the spectrum is the actual use of boar in making the boar ragu. No doubt about it, what was on my plate last night was braised beef. I suspect the ragu was cobbled together with leftovers from the night before and placed on the menu as a 'special'. Highly disheartening, to say the least. The melted brie appetizer and my wife's duck with risotto and a wine reduction was well cooked and delicious. However, I'm not sure where they got the recipes. We'll probably go back at some point. But I certainly won't be getting anything Italian.
Pros: No one spilled food or wine on us
Cons: Unoriginal and deceptive menu
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