Zed focuses on simple yet alluring creations

SLIDESHOW: Zed Cafe

What a difference two years, three chefs and a few interior upgrades can make.

At the end of 2006, when I first wrote about Zed Café, the oddly placed, organically focused restaurant in Lakeside, my biggest complaint was that lowered lighting and votive candles couldn't turn this chic, daytime café into a high-end dinner destination.

While Zed's "farm to table" concept and menu were commendable, the service and ambience I experienced simply didn't live up to the evening hours' fine-dining prices, locally purveyed or not.

Not long after my review, chef Bill Foster took over, and rave reviews began coming at me from every direction friends, co-workers, bloggers and other critics. Yet I didn't make it back to see the improvements before Foster's move to Café Rustica last fall.

Besides my ill-timed notice of chef Foster's departure, what finally put Zed back on my radar, you may ask?

The arrival of chef Nancy Cohen, the former owner of Café Mandolin, the dearly departed, upscale bistro loved the city over by vegetarians hungering for vegan-friendly entrées dressed up with a touch of class.

Like Zed Café's minimalist décor, Cohen's menus have focused on simple yet alluring creations that highlight fresh ingredients and spirited flavors. The tarragon-scented crab cakes found on Café Mandolin's menu, for example, transition seamlessly to Zed's.

When we arrived at Zed's on a recent Friday evening, I was pleased to see some modifications had been made since my last visit. Where a deli case once stood, a gently arced, bamboo bar now gives the space the sophisticated edge it was missing. Rows of wine racks say "fine dining" rather than the "fast lunch" of Zed's early days.

I immediately noticed the improvement in wait staff, now sporting white button-downs, black pants and an obvious sense of confidence. Our server arrived quickly with the wine list ($22-$105), which includes a range of organic, sustainably farmed and locally produced varietals, and obligingly detailed the specials.

Zed's menu isn't large fewer than 10 appetizers and entrées each -- and neither are the portions. Depending on your culinary convictions, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Options are chosen thoughtfully, and portions leave room for tasting your way through all three courses, if your wallet allows, of course.

In all honesty, I was flabbergasted by our appetizer portions -- crab cake fritters and an autumn mushroom ragout in phyllo cup (both $9). While the three fritters' gently crisp shells gave way to creamy, filler-free interiors, they were literally no bigger than grapes.

The ragout was elegantly presented, complete with a whimsical fan of greens, but the mushrooms weren't nearly as earthy as expected. The buttery flavor of the phyllo was surprisingly dominant.

Entrées range from coq au vin ($16) and maple-glazed duck breast ($23) to a handful of Cohen's signature vegetarian dishes, such as butternut squash risotto ($18). We tried the pan-roasted pork tenderloin ($21) and hanger steak ($19).

Served in a rich pool of sherried, rosemary pan sauce, the pork was literally drunk with sweet undertones, a perfect complement to the creaminess of the sauce. And tender? Oh, yes. This is one entrée not to miss.

Topped with applewood-smoked bacon, scallions and grape tomatoes, the hanger steak flaunted smoky depth, which harmonized beautifully with the red-wine reduction. However, I was disappointed both entrées were served with standard sides, baby potatoes and green beans, rather than custom pairings.

We ended with banana chocolate cake and toasted coconut ice cream with chocolate sauce (both $5). The cake was on the dry side, but had vanilla ice cream been added to its luscious, dark chocolate sauce, it would have been lovely. The coconut ice cream was to-die-for, the perfume of pure coconut flakes wafting temptingly from the glass.

Zed has made leaps and bounds in the service and ambience department, finally feeling like the upscale yet sustainably focused restaurant I always felt it could be. With Foster laying the foundation and Cohen seeing it through, I foresee Zed fulfilling its self-sustaining philosophy.

Freelance writer and graphic designer Dana Craig considers dessert the most important food group. The Times-Dispatch pays for the meals on her unannounced visits to restaurants. Contact her at .