I am more than a little behind in posting to my journal. Finally catching up and wanted to share a great night out we had back in September. The weather had cooled off and I thought it would be nice to have our dinner “alfresco.” When I looked for options, I came across Z Bardhi’s Italian Cuisine which is located near the entrance to the Killearn Lakes subdivision north of Tallahassee. It seemed the perfect setting for our September “date night.”
Z Bahdri’s is just north of Bradfordville off of Thomasville Road. They have parking all around the building. When we arrived at 6:30 it was about half full. They seated us at one of the outer tables on the patio. Our server Whitney came over to welcome us and take us through the menu. We ordered a split of the Zonin Prosecco which is very crisp and dry. Whitney gave us insightful guidance to make our dinner choices. It is really nice when the staff knows their menu like she does.
Cozze
For our first course we had the Cozze. This was a dozen fresh mussels sauteed a white wine,tomato, and garlic sauce. You can also get it prepared with marinara or spicy marinara. It is served with grilled Tuscan bread. The dish was prepared well. The broth was really flavorful.
Gnocchi with Grilled Italian Sausage
For our second course we had the homemade potato gnocchi prepared in a white wine, tomato, and mushroom cream sauce. Our server said we could add the Italian sausage which we had also considered as an appetizer to this dish. We decided to do this so we could try both. The sausage was good, but the gnocchi was really fabulous. The sauce had us looking for more bread to sop it up.
Veal Marsala
We looked at a couple of choices for our third course. Whitney guided us to try the Veal Marsala. This dish is veal sautéed with mushrooms, garlic, marsala wine, and a demi glace with sides of fresh vegetable & cheese ravioli. It is a very classical preparation that reminded me of dishes I have had at the best restaurants in the North End of Boston. The veal was cooked perfectly, the veggies were crisp, and the ravioli was very rich. The sauce was very deep and flavorful.
Dessert
We decided to splurge and order two desserts. Teresa ordered the Limoncello Cake and I ordered the Tiramisu. The Limoncello Cake was moist with just the right amount of tart. It is a really great dessert.
Relaxed Under the Stars
We didn’t finish our meal until after 9. Whitney set a great relaxed pace for us all night and we really enjoyed this great Italian meal out on the patio. Z Bardhi’s is definitely on our “try it again” list.