Adventurous ordering is virtually obligatory here. It'salso lavishly rewarded. David declines it, afraid it willbe too spicy and too sweet, but intrepid Stewart says he's nevermet a soup he didn't like. This soup is a triumph of subtlecomplexity, an intensely flavorful reduction, crystal-clear,bejeweled with crunchy Asian vegetables and cubes of creamy tofu. Maybe so, but we eat everybite and scrape the plate clean of red-pepper sauce.
Main plates are brilliantlyoriginal compositions, each one different.
The aforementioned seascallops are paired with bok choy and snow peas on the sameplate, with sauce enough for all. Grilled duck breast, moist andrare, comes with plum sauce, herbed spaghetti squash andwhite-yam mash, a refreshing interplay of color, texture andtaste. But the buttermilk-friedonions piled high on top are so tasty and light we rationalizeeating them all quickly lest they blow away. Zinc's dessert listdazzles. We swoon over a par fait of coffee ice cream,caramelized spiced bananas and bitter chocolate sauce.