Zolo Southwestern Grill

Now that I’m finally an official citizen of the Republic of Boulder, I decided to revisit a local favorite that I dined at several months ago:  Zolo Southwestern Grill.

We started with the Smoked Pork Ribs.  Now, when I was in high school, one of my father’s employees would make us homemade ribs every summer.  I thought they were the best ribs I ever had.  That is until I tired the Zolo’s.  You can immediately smell the smokiness, and the brine from the ribs when it arrives at the table.  A lot of love goes into making these ribs.  They are brined for 24 hours, infused with smoke, and then braised for 8 hours.  The ribs sit on top of a bed of a Picked Chile Salad, which is made from the same brine at the ribs.  They also have a few giant sized jalapeños, which, surprisingly, were more tart than spicy.  The tartness of the brine brings out the saltiness of the succulent pork meat. Brian Selbitschka, Zolo’s Mixologist, was on hand, and recommended pairing the ribs with the 2008 Paso  A Posed Tempranillo (La Mancha, Spain), or the La Floradita Daiquiri.

What I appreciated about Smoked Pork Ribs is that they aren’t over sauced, and the meat isn’t full of gristle.  You can actually taste the crispy pork; it’s like eating grilled bacon on a stick.  Bret Smith, the Executive Chef at Zolo, explained that the southwestern flavor profile is about big bold flavors.  He wanted to make sure that foodies like me could actually taste the ribs, rather than masking it in a swamp of sauce.

Not all the dishes have the big bold flavors that Smith spoke of.  The Colorado Tilapia Tacos, for example, taste very clean, and refreshing compared to the salty ribs.  The fish are satisfyingly meaty, lightly seasoned, and dressed with Tomatilla Salsa, and Avocado Crema, and sit on top of a corn tortilla served with a side of Black Bean Refritos.  Try pairing the tacos with either the 2008 Eric Montintin Sauvignon Blanc (Loire Valley, France), or just washing it down with a Silver Coin Chinaco Blanco Margarita.  I love the fact that the tortillas are made fresh at the restaurant everyday, and that the Tilapia is local.  In fact, Chef Smith is trying to incorporate as many local ingredients from local farmers and growers as possible.

Speaking of local ingredients, one of my favorite dishes at Zolo is Colorado’s Best Beef Ranch Steak, but it’s not just because of the steak. I think you can tell a lot about a chef from the type of steak they cook and how they prepare it. This dish is rustic, and each ingredient plays off the other to balance out the bold flavors.  The steak itself is lightly seasoned, again, so that the patron can actually taste the meat. The sauce is made of New Mexican Red Chile, which has a kick at the beginning that slowly dissipates at the end.  The steak sits on top of a bed of grilled chard adding a smoky, bitterness to the dish.  Mixologist Selbitschka recommended pairing the steak with an Añejo Manhattan, or the 2006 Bleadsale “Langhorne Crossing” Cab-Malbec-Shiraz (Langhorne, Australia).

My favorite part of the dish, however, is the Root Vegetable Pave, which is made of layers of several different types of turnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rutabagas.  This buttery, sweet gratin style dish immediately evoked a memory of a Greek Thanksgiving dinner I once attended.  I hope Chef Smith serves it as a standalone appetizer someday (hint, hint).

We finished off with a rice pudding desert designed by Erik Rollings, Zolo’s Sous/Pastry Chef.  It was like a summertime rhubarb pie in a jar.  Think of it as a deconstructed rhubarb pie a la mode with the strawberry flavor of rhubarb as the filling, the caramelized puffed rice acting as the crust, and the bourbon vanilla pudding as the ice cream.  This desert was genius.

The spring menu at Zolo is perfect for any foodie looking for southwestern comfort foods with big, bold flavors.

Zolo Southwestern Grill
2525 Arapahoe Avenue
Boulder, CO 80302
(303) 449-0444
www.zologrill.com

Executive Chef: Brett Smith

This entry was posted on Friday, April 30th, 2010 at 12:31 pm. It is filed under Recent, Reviews and tagged with Big Red F, Brett Smith, Brian Selbitschka, southwestern, Zolo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.