Zatinya – Context Matters

Zatinya is a new restaurant in Las Vegas by Jose Andres. I have been to almost all of his Vegas offerings and enjoy most of them. Bazaar Meat is always a good choice for steak, and Bazaar Mar was well executed. e is for those who want a unique tasting menu experience. As a result, I had high expectations for Zatinya which is his new Mediterranean offering. The evening did not start off well as our table was not available till about 9:30 even though our RSVP was at 9pm (although we were 10-15 minutes late, there were other groups waiting on tables also). There were a lot of tables available, and some were not cleaned so I knew they were short staffed. No problem, we grabbed a drink at the bar. One of the reasons the wait did not bother me was that I saw the hosts and what seemed to be the GM running food and drinks out so I knew they were trying their best. That’s why the title of this post is “Context Matters”. I hate places that run behind AND give you an attitude about it like YOU are lucky to be dining there, or even be on the list. This was NOT that kind of place. Anyway, when we were finally seated by the guy I think is the GM took our water, drink and food order, even before our server was ready to come by. He even accommodated a table change request I made, all without the least bit of annoyance.

We decided to go with the tasting menu.

Shortly after ordering, some visually appealing fluffy pita was delivered to the table:

Although the bread was warm, fluffy, and delicious, I found it odd that it was served without any type of dip. When I asked our server, he brought out some olive oil and pomegranate.

After some time, the first courses were served:

The hummus was good but not outstanding. However, I did appreciate the silky smooth texture, and the unique addition of harissa chili crisps. The babaganoush was very smoky. After this came the second courses:

Here was the final savory course:

Everything was delicious. Well cooked, but nothing was elevated in this part of the meal. This is probably a good thing as these types of food, like many Asian dishes, are best served traditional. The desserts were disappointing:

The olive oil cake was more like a lava cake and very average. I did not like the texture of the yogurt dish. My benchmark for Greek yogurt dishes is Milos and this wasn’t even close.

Overall, this was still an enjoyable meal. Other than being seated late, which I completely understand, service was very good. Our actual server and all support staff were very friendly and kept apologizing for the wait. We had 2 drinks at the bar which did not transfer to our tab and when I alerted our server to this at the end, he told us they went ahead and comp’d the drinks. Food for the most part was good. The ambiance and restaurant itself is very nice. This is a place you will want to dress up for a night out at. However, I don’t think the dishes are as creative as they are at Bazaar Mar, or as memorable as Bazaar Meat. These would be my top choices for Jose Andres restaurants in Vegas. If you are craving Mediterranean food, my top choice would be Milos.