Bistro Zinc

56 Church Street
Lenox, MA 01240-2554
(413) 637-8800

On my last day of my five day retreat, I planned to treat myself to lunch at Nudel, a new restaurant in Lenox where the shtick is that the menu is planned regularly around available local ingredients. People seem to love this place, and it's tiny, so I figured a lunch before the season started would be perfect. Alas, due to construction around the corner, they closed for lunch today! Alta across the street was bustling and although I am very fond of it, I decided to try something different and headed down Church Street.

Bistro Zinc is just a minute away and although I had a disappointingly mediocre experience there several years ago, I figured it was time to try it again. If there is one thing I have learned on this trip is that if I have a mediocre memory of a restaurant, listen to my gut and leave it a memory!

As I remembered, it is a pleasant, bright space, with white butcher paper tablecloths, lots of lights, a polished tin ceiling - very bistro-esque. There were a few parties although it was not crowded, and there were two women seated in the window who appeared to be on the board of some cultural institution as several other diners came over to say hello (yes, I do eavesdrop when I dine alone). So it's that kind of "ladies who lunch" kind of vibe.

The server was a super nice young woman, but although she took my order promptly, it took about 15 minutes for my glass of rose to appear, right before my moules frites. The frites were excellent and the mussels were fine - although if you take the trouble to prepare them properly, I don't think it's magic to produce mussels in a nice broth. The broth was acceptable but nothing to write home about - in fact, as I am sitting here writing this five hours later, I really can't speculate on what was in the broth except perhaps for some coconut milk. After a few minutes, the server came back and asked if I would like some bread for the broth and after hesitating figured why not - as this is a French bistro, why not see what the baguette is like?

And this is where the food took a headlong dive down. In an area featuring Richard Bourdain's Berkshire Mountain Bakery, which produces truly fine breads, including wonderful baguettes, there is no excuse for the sad, stale role I was presented. It was cut in four pieces, and was so stale as to be nearly a crouton. Even if it was not stale, it seemed to have a consistency closer to a farmer's white than a French baguette. I don't know if this was their special "stale bread for dipping in moules broth" but I doubt it. You call yourselves a French restaurant?

And then there was the final insult - the pot de creme. I ordered a cappuccino (excellent, by the way) and the espresso chocolate pot de creme. I always order it when I see it on a menu, as I see it so rarely. It arrived, more of a pot de fudge than a pot de creme. When your spoon hits resistance on a little terrine of pot de creme, you know you are in for trouble. Rather than the delicate, barely-set chocolate custard it should have been, it was dense as a piece of Fluff quick fudge. So disappointing. Again - anyone check the recipe from a real French bistro?

I am happy to pay for a good meal. I felt very disappointed in Bistro Zinc and that $33.50 plus tip - just not worth it. I should have walked a few blocks down to Haven Bakery and had one of their transformative grilled cheese sandwiches instead.