Seeing as I'd dissed Zimzala's management before even setting foot in the place, I thought it fair to actually check it out (anonymously, of course). I'm glad I did.The setting--within HB's groovy new Shorebreak Hotel--is unlike many other hotel restaurants. This is a destination restaurant, with a highly regarded chef, not an afterthought.The Executive Chef is Vincent Muraco, formerly of Vix in Miami Beach. He has created the Mediterranean menu in collaboration with award-winning chef Joyce Gol
When he enrolled at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco at the tender age of 17, Vincent Muraco was its youngest student ever. Since then, his culinary career has taken him to the Park Hyatts in that city and in LA, as well as Vix in Miami. Muraco is now Executive Chef at Zimzala, the restaurant within Huntington Beach's groovy new Shorebreak Hotel. In devising the Med menu, Muraco worked with James Beard award-winning chef Joyce Goldstein, and the results are impressive. Put it
Courtesy of Vincent Muraco and Joyce Goldstein at Huntington Beach's Zimzala restaurant (within the Shorebreak Hotel), this is a gorgeous, easy-to-assemble salad that you can get away with for another month or so, while the weather's still warm enough. Apparently also known as emmer wheat (although I'd never heard that term), farro makes a toothsome change from deathly-dull pasta or potato salad.And, as an extra bonus, it looks mighty pretty in the bowl.
To mark the occasion, the eagerly awaited 157-room hotel/restaurant is running two specials that will run for 100 days (until July 21), in honor of HB's centennial.The Summer of the Century package costs $100 excluding taxes and is for guests who live within a 100-mile radius. A driver's license is required as proof of address.You must book online at least 30 days in advance, using the code SBK100.That's a pretty good deal for this self-described "sexy-surfer-chic" property owned by the Joie de
