Paella - ZuZu back in the tapas game

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Paella – ZuZu back in the tapas game

A decade ago, when one asked friends if they’d been to the new tapas and paella bar in downtown Napa, a smirk often preceded the inevitable rejoinder: “There’s a topless bar in downtown Napa?”

Mick Salyer, proprietor of ZuZu Tapas Paella, the downtown bar and restaurant serving small plates of Spanish-style cuisine, heard it all back then. Today, however, he’s being congratulated for having the foresight and courage to open a tapas joint at a time when First and Main wasn’t exactly boomtown. For the moment, he’s deservedly taken on the mantle of something of a culinary prophet.

Napans, as well as visitors, fell in love with tapas and paella from the get-go, and the intimate eatery at 829 Main St. fed eager crowds of diners, some of whom, especially on weekends, patiently waited curbside for an opportunity to dine.

Salyer and his staff are celebrating ZuZu’s 10th anniversary this spring, as well as a facelift dictated by a government-mandated seismic retrofit of the Main Street property. During a break between lunch and dinner the other day, Salyer took a few minutes to discuss ZuZu’s facelift. He said the paella restaurant closed for six weeks shortly after the first of the year.

While a construction crew pulled off the building’s facade and installed a number of steel girders in the existing structure, he led a group of the culinary team and staff to northern Spain to find inspiration for ZuZu’s menu. He returned to find a new “burnt cedar facade” installed on the front of the 100-year-old building, one that does double duty as a fireproofing technique. The relatively small restaurant kitchen was modernized at the same time, Salyer said. “We redid the floor, replaced a kitchen wall and added a new walk-in (refrigerator).

“As far as the (dining room) interior was concerned, we wanted to keep it the way it was. There are a few cosmetic changes and we removed the arched windows upstairs. That allowed us to put in floor-to-ceiling windows, opening up that upstairs dining space to the park and river across the street.” Salyer said the 10 days he and his employees spent in San Sebastian, Spain, is reflected in ZuZu’s new menus.

A chef’s determination

Armando Ramirez is the relatively new executive chef at ZuZu, although he’s been employed there since the paella restaurant opened.

Ramirez was hired as a dishwasher when Salyer and opening chef Charles Webber first brought tapas and paella to the attention of hungry Napans a decade ago. A native of Oaxaca, Mexico, Ramirez has been a resident of the United States for 11 years.

“I lived in Sunnyvale when I first moved to California … (where) I worked as a housekeeper,” he said.“Because I used to farm in Mexico, I decided to come to Napa to work in the vineyards. But it was not the best time when I came. … It was raining and there was no work. I saw that ZuZu was opening, so I applied for a job. That was when I wasn’t speaking much English. I was hired as a dishwasher, then asked to do some prepping and then help (cooking) on the line.”

Ramirez worked with Webber and his successor, Angela Tamura. It was Tamura who saw Ramirez’s potential and offered him the job as one of her sous chefs. When he wasn’t working at ZuZu, Ramirez was learning what he could from chef Jeff Mosher at Julia’s Kitchen and also spent time with the culinary team at Hog Island Oyster Company at the Oxbow Public Market. After a few years in the ZuZu kitchen, Ramirez brought on his parents, Marisol and Armando Ramirez, to help with various tasks at the restaurant. They are still on the payroll, as is his brother, Carlos. “I convinced my brother it was important to finish school, and he graduated from Napa High and just graduated from the engineering program at UCLA,” Ramirez said. “He’s working with us for a few months so he can pay his bills. … It’s not that easy for college graduates to find jobs today.”

When Tamura left ZuZu last year to accept the post of executive chef at the Pebble Beach restaurant, Peppoli at the Inn at Spanish Bay, she asked Ramirez to take over as executive chef. Today, he’s being assisted by sous chefs Thomas Hartwell and Lindsey Glasson.

Basquing in the kitchen

“We were inspired by the bright seafood dishes we found in San Sebastian,” Salyer said of the ZuZu group’s 10-day trek through Basque country in northwest Spain.

He was particularly fond of paella made only with seafood, compared to the paellas of southern Spain that incorporate a variety of meats.

Newly added to the ZuZu menu is a calamari paella, with the rice colored by squid ink, and freshly sautéed seafood layered over the earthy “arroz negro.”

Ramirez advised that diners are enjoying house-cured California red anchovies that he places on grilled bread, topped with pequillo and piparas peppers, as well grilled Pacific sardines complemented by fresh herbs, lemon and a pickled fennel aioli.

Salyer has high praise for the kitchen’s take on dishes they enjoyed in San Sebastian, like braised cod cheeks, an escabeche of seared scallops finished with Basque apple cider vinegar, as well as lamb’s tongue pancetta on a bed of frisée topped with a poached Hudson Ranch egg.

“A new focus for us is using a variety of pig parts … pork jowls cured like pancetta, pork escabeche that will be added, and we just featured a dish with pig tails. Suckling pig is also making an appearance on our menu.”

Salyer noted that ZuZu has its own garden at Copia and, with some crops purchased from Boca Farm, the restaurant has a larder full of peppers — from the padrons that are sautéed and sprinkled with salt for a tasty appetizer, to the espelette, piquillo and piparas that are used in a variety of dishes.

At present, the culinary crew is serving pan-roasted asparagus with spring garlic, almonds, manchego cheese and sherry vinegar; white asparagus soup garnished with truffle oil and crème fraîche; shaved artichoke and portobello mushroom salad with lemon-truffle vinaigrette and Sao Jorge cheese; chilled avocado and cucumber gazpacho with bay shrimp and jalapeños; and a ceviche that would be enjoyed as much by a native of San Sebastian as a native of Mexico.

Prices at ZuZu range from $4 for the red anchovies plate to $15 for Sonoma Coast lamb chops with Moroccan barbecue glaze.

The restaurant also offers traditional wood-fired paella for off-site parties of 20 and up. Salyer said he’s the contact for all private events.

Lunch is served at ZuZu from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Dinner is offered from 4:30 to 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. For information and reservations, call 224-8555.

ZuZu Sea Scallop Escabeche

Aramando Ramirez, executive chef, ZuZu Tapas Paella

Preparing the marinade:

1 pound carrots

1 pound onions

2 jalapeño peppers

4 piquillo peppers

2 ounces sliced garlic

1/2 ounce red chile flakes

1 cup apple juice

1/2 cup Spanish apple cider vinegar

Makes 1 quart, which will marinate at least 20 scallops, about 2 ounces in size.

Julienne carrots, onions and peppers, and thinly slice garlic.

Heat a large sauté pan and add a little oil of your choice.

When pan is ready, lightly sauté all vegetables and garlic. Then add remaining ingredients and simmer for about 6 minutes, remove from heat and strain vegetables.

Set vegetables aside and reduce remaining liquid by half. Save 1/4 cup of escabeche reduction to marinate seared scallops and pour remaining liquid over vegetables.

Preparing the scallops:

Scallops (2 ounces each)

Sea salt

White pepper

Olive oil

At the restaurant, we usually serve one scallop (about 2 ounces in size) per person. You will have plenty of marinade, at least enough to serve 20 portions or more.

Clean scallops and pat dry. Season with salt and white pepper.

Heat sauté pan with 1 ounce of oil until just smoking.

Add scallops and sear until nicely browned, about 1 minute on each side. Remove from pan and let rest.

When cooled, thinly slice scallops and place in escabeche reduction. Marinate for 2-5 minutes.

Remove from liquid and serve over escabeche vegetables at room temperature. Garnish with sea salt and olive oil.

Zuzu House-Cured Red Anchovies

Armando Ramirez, executive chef, Zuzu Tapas Paella

1 pound fresh red anchovies

1/2 pound kosher salt

2 ounces sherry vinegar

2 ounces fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. espelette pepper powder

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Roasted piquillo peppers and pickled Basque piparras chiles, for garnish

Fresh black pepper, to taste

Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Filet all anchovies and rinse. Pack in kosher salt and let cure in refrigerator for 12-24 hours.

Rinse very well, letting cold water run over them for 10-20 minutes. Once rinsed, pat dry and marinate in sherry vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil and espelette powder.

Anchovies are now ready to serve and will stay fresh and delicious in the refrigerator for up to one month.

Serve on grilled baguette slices with roasted piquillo peppers and pickled Basque piparras chiles. Garnish with cracked pepper and olive oil.

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