Zest Cafe Gallery

LOCATION
Glenelg.

PROFILED by DE GROOTS
Zest is just a few steps from bustle of Jetty Road, but the menu is miles from the mainstream Mediterranean menu that can be found at every second restaurant in Glenelg. For lunch I tried the rare beef and avocado salad; slices of beef – so thick they could choke a lion – were draped over a salad of roasted almonds, Spanish onion and green salad leaves. While I admired the generous portions I couldn’t work my knife through the beef, making the meal a bit too much like hard work. My iced chocolate was a bigger disappointment, wronged by a frothy white ice-cream that tasted like it was sourced from a Mr Whippy van.

That said, there are many winning items on the menu, and the artistic take on dishes is a good reason to visit Zest. Take for instance The Hottie; a homemade spinach, basil, pecorino and risotto cake topped with sliced chorizo sausage and a sauce of roasted capsicum and tomato, served with ciabatta toast to wipe up the spicy sauce. Unlike many cafe/galleries the artwork that adorns the walls is quite nice, a shell pink Japanese inspired artwork gazes over the room, quite serene in its beauty. On busy days you may have to wait for a table, but outside there is a low pillow-padded bench to sit whist waiting for idling diners to vacate their tables.

Jennifer Miller