Zea, that smooth Southern chain, had never really crossed my mind as a good spot to eat until I'd had my first dinner there. Mind you, I'd never been there, but I've pretty much just passed it by. Now it happened that me, my grandmother, and my best friend/second cousin Jeanne were going to a play together, and, being hungry, we decided to go out for a nice dinner at a restaurant beforehand. My grandmother asked, "How about Zea?" Jeanne and I said OK, Jeanne with a touch more enthusiasm, having already been there and enjoyed a good meal. I recalled that old saying, "Try everything at least once in life," and decided to play along and try it out. So we pulled into the parking lot of one of the Zeas, and strolled up the prettily lit walkway to the eatery itself.
After our friendly waiter had us comfortably seated at our table, placed our drinks beside us, and given us our menus, we sat back and browsed. Finally, I decided on the Southern Thin Fried Catfish, chose my sides (Zea's signature stone-ground grits and hush puppies), and sat eagerly awaiting my food. Jeanne got the Duck Empanadas, a favorite of hers, and Grandma got a half-rack of the Thai Ribs. We had plenty to chat about as we waited, and we watched others eat their food, eagerly anticipating the moment when we would be doing the same.
Our food came quickly, which I was very happy about; some restaurants I've been to in the past make you wait for your food for over half and hour, which is very inconvenient setup. We tucked right in when the waiter brought us our plates, and there was a cozy silence for the first few minutes, as we crunched, dipped, gnawed, and chomped, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My first remark on my catfish is that the menu lied. It said, "Southern Thin Fried Catfish," and in reality it wasn't thin at all. The fish was in the shape of chicken tenders, and was, well, pretty thick. But the coating was crisp, crunchy, golden brown, and well fried, and the fish was flaky and moist. Adding a good dunk of flavorful tartar sauce made it even better, and I crunched away. My hush puppies were very good, with a pleasant sweet flavor of corn on the fluffy inside and a shatteringly crisp browned outside. The grits are what I really loved. Most grits are just the classic dried ground corn, which is delicious, but Zea's grits had real, genuine, sweet little corn kernels in them, and they tasted like homemade. Apart from that, the grits were creamy and scoop-able, unlike some grits I've eaten, which were watery and looked like undercooked gruel.
After we all finished our delectable entrees, Jeanne and I decided to spilt a piece of strawberry cheesecake. It came, fantastically presented, on a white plate; a golden beauty of a dessert, with delicious syrupy strawberries lounging about the plate. On top there was an enormous piped puff of whipped cream, which added lots of charm. Our waiter put down three plates and three forks , and Grandma said, "I really don't need dessert, I'm really full from my ribs." The waiter said cheerfully, "Oh, it's just in case you do. It's really good cheesecake." Jeanne grabbed two of the forks and held them up, which made us all laugh. Then Jeanne and I got to work. The cheesecake was delicious, though still very average. It was crumbly, creamy, and melted in our mouths, but Jeanne and I didn't stop to "mmm." We attacked it has fast as we could (we were trying to eat before Grandma came back from the bathroom), and when she did, there was only the whipped cream left. Grandma took a swipe of that, and then Jeanne and I ate the rest. A perfect way to end a perfect dinner.
So all in all, I had a really fun time at Zea, and I urge you to try it out as well, if you've never been. I recommend the catfish and the strawberry cheesecake, but if you're one of those folks who talks a lot and only occasionally takes bites, keep watch, because someone will probably want steal it!
