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• Sunday Chateaubriand for One – just $19

• On Sunday, August 1, 2010, Za Restaurant will be offering Chateaubriand for one priced at only $19.00 per person at their Sunday 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. supper seating.

  Za’s classic Chateaubriand is an 8-ounce, thick, center-cut from prime tenderloin steak, as was the original recipe created by Chef Montmireil for Vicomte François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848).

  Chef Mark Valenza’s Chateaubriand is char grilled to medium rare, thinly sliced, and served with a caramelized onion & wine reduction, crispy garlic roasted red bliss potatoes, and sautéed haricots verts.

  Chateaubriand is usually offered as a serving for two, but Za Restaurant will break this rule as an accommodation to those dining together who may have dissimilar tastes.

  At Sunday supper, Za’s full a la carte menu will also be available, which offers chicken, pork, lobster, vegetarian risotto, and two fresh filet of sole dishes in the restaurant’s unique cross cultural comfort cuisine style.

  Reservations are suggested. BYOB

• This offer is for a limited time and may not be combined with any other offer including: sideways sunday or restaurant.com gift certificates.

• Za Blog

• Left to right: Chef Mark Valenza, hen “Bertha” and chicken egg rancher Geordie Kerr.
• New Post
  Friday, July 16, 2010

  Kerr's Farm Fresh Eggs at Za

  Za Restaurant has offered a variety of egg dishes on their brunch/lunch menu since opening in 2006. Now, those eggs are a whole lot fresher.
  Kerr’s Farm, just down the road, is now providing Za with fresh laid eggs daily from it new roost of one hundred free range chickens.
  “They’re big beautiful brown eggs,” says Za’s chef Mark Valenza, “but more importantly they’re tasty eggs that haven’t been sitting in a refrigerator house for who knows how long.”
  Geordie Kerr of Kerr’s Farm & Kronstand started egg production earlier this spring. The chickens are now mature and laying enough eggs to satisfy the weekly demand for lunch/brunch at Za.
  Za’s lunch/brunch egg menu includes eggs Benedict in four varieties, one with sautéed spinach and goat cheese and another with an eight ounce tenderloin steak fillet. Za egg frittatas offer an assortment of fillings choices. And, for those who like their eggs with a south of the border flavor, Chef Valenza also cooks up his cross-cultural take on huevos rancheros with a spicy pico de gallo sauce.
  Za offers their lunch/brunch egg menu, along with its other lunch entrées, Monday – Saturday, seating from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
  For more information:
  Za Restaurant, 147 West Delaware Avenue, Pennington, NJ, 08534, 609-737-4400. Za is BYO, reservations suggested.
  Kerr’s Kornstand, 317 Pennington Rocky Hill Rd, Pennington, NJ, 08534
  (609) 737-2335, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pennington-NJ/Kerrs-Kornstand/122901791058824 .

  Posted by Za Restaurant, Pennington NJ at 12:21 PM   0 Comments

  Friday, February 26, 2010

  The Great Scallop Taste Mystery

  You, like me, may be reluctant to order scallops went you’re out to eat. You remember great tasting scallops you once had long ago, but since then the taste has been off or even just plain bad. You’ve wondered to yourself, “Is this the way scallops taste now or should I send this dish back?”
  
  On every seasonal menu since Za Restaurant opened in 2006, we have featured a seared, fresh day-boat scallop dish. On the current menu we offer Coconut Snow Scallops.
  
  Did you know New Jersey’s deep ocean waters offer some of the world’s best scallops? They have been large, plentiful and sustainable for decades, a species named Placopecten magellanicus.
  
  You’ll find scallops on many East Coast menus, but all scallops are not the same. The primary differences are ocean and bay; fresh and frozen; and day-boat (dry) and preserved (wet).
  
  Ocean scallops are larger then bay scallops. They can be both tender and tasty if they are neither frozen nor preserved. Bite sized, bay scallops lack the flaky texture and meaty month feel of their deep water sibling.
  
  Though frozen scallops may be of excellent quality, mishandling, especially in during the thawing process serves up an inferior morsel.
  
  But my wrath is saved for those processed scallops that are preserved (soaked) with sodium tripolyphosphate (STP), in order to keep their moisture content high during processing and shipping. But, unfortunately, this treatment leaves an offensive side effect.
  
  Have you ever had scallops that taste soapy or like iodine? Then you’ve had preserved (wet) scallops. Buying fresh scallops? If they’re as white as a toothpaste model’s smile and swimming in liquid, they’re probably preserved.
  
  Here’s the problem, many places play the game of passing off preserved scallops as day-boat scallops.
  
  This switch can happen at the fish market, wholesale distributor, at a local restaurant or restaurant chain. It’s been going on for years. The reason is cost and availability.
  
  I admit to being wary of ordering scallops, especially when the price is out of whack with what a true, fresh, unpreserved day-boat scallop should cost.
  
  Here’s why they call them day-boat and why they cost more: Simply put, they haven’t been on the boat for more than a day.
  
  Day-boats are the last scallops caught before the scallop boat returns to port. Then, they are packed dry, no preservatives, and delivered fresh to the wholesaler.
  
  True day-boat scallops can’t travel far and they won’t last long. So, we order only what we know we can sell quickly and we’re fortunate to be just hours from the Jersey scallop boats.
  
  At Za, we test each delivery of day-boat scallops to make sure they’re just that. We know, just by how they cook, if they have been treated with STP.
  
  Diners at Za have asked how long we will have these wonderful fruits of the sea on our menu. The answer is as long as we can assure we have the real thing.
  
  Mystery solved. We hope you’ll come and give real scallops a second chance.
  
  Chef Mark Valenza, FCI

  Posted by Za Restaurant, Pennington NJ at 9:45 PM   0 Comments

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