Mesa, Weinbergstrasse, Zurich

I’m getting pretty good at blind dates. A contributing factor might be that they’re all males and hence somewhat less complicated. In the process of meeting up with David from the enticingly named blog Das Filet I also learned that the Au Premier Bar was closed on Saturdays. We agreed on a dinner at the Mesa Restaurant where Antonio Colaianni has moved on after a stint at the Clouds. Excited to have a knowledgable dining partner to discuss culinary developments we take a seat and I am excited to see what’s coming. Back in the day Erlebnisgastronomie was all the rage in Switzerland (think of it as dining with a twist). With the small delicacies served prior to the meal along comes a ballon bread and the instructions were to smash it with a knife. I like playing with my food and smash it into pieces with great delight, a perfect way to engage the diner into interacting with the food.
The amuse was a rather weird combination of a citrus gelee, some dried citrus fruit rind, duck breast and what seemed to be milk rice. Not only was the bitterness of the rind too much, the milk rice was plain weird and muted all the flavors. A sexy looking tin filled with albacore (White) tuna was next, which visually was a very pleasing experience. Again the flan layer masked the flavours slightly, especially the announced saffron failed to register. On the side of absolute greatness, was the scallop covered in some potato strips served in a lollipop fashion.
A combination of Ormalinger pig, green apples and smoked eel was delightful, I liked the balance of smoke, sweet, fruit and hearty fat. A stack of scampi on top of a crunchy piece of bread on top of some pulpo was a good combination, with the ramiro pepper again a tad too bitter, throwing it off balance. I was looking forward to the Lasagnetta with onions and porcini, but the small pasta dish was on the very heavy side and I didn’t get much porcini taste out of it.
I went for the vegetarian main course, which was a showcase of different textures and preparations of potato, whole parts of porcini and egg yolk. Somewhat broad and not as an exact dish as I would have liked, but there was quite some thought. The different pieces of potato intertwined with the two different mousses made it like a small treasure chest to dig through. Desserts didn’t fascinate me enough, quite frankly I never got the idea of using real gold on a dish and will leave it to others to judge. Overall the place is not quite in the same league as under the prior chef. It’s a solid performance but to move back up the ladder, it will need more precision and more attention to detail in its culinary vision. Money wise you’re paying top dollar nevertheless.