I was recently invited to a special dinner to check out the new featured menu at Z'Tejas. Z'Tejas runs a special menu quarterly, it lasts for three months, and the theme this time is the hatch chile. The event was held at the Bethany Home Road location in Phoenix, but the featured menu is available at all locations, including our very own in Chandler. I had only been to Z'Tejas once before, it was so good the first time, and the second definitely didn't disappoint.
I attended with my Mac Kid sister from the Central Phoenix territory, it was an intimate meal with only 10 of us in total. This was such a nice treat, as we got to hear all about the time and effort put into creating these signature dishes, from the master creator himself. Both Julie and myself started off with a Prickly Pear Margarita, not only was it amazing, but it was too pretty to drink, well okay let's not get ahead of ourselves here. We also had fresh chips and salsa to nibble on, the green salsa is amazing. All of Z'Tejas food is made fresh right in the restaurants, and you definitely could tell.
Our first course appeared, a Chile and Watermelon Gazpacho. I had never tried Gazpacho before, and I was in for a treat. The cold soup was so light and refreshing, you could taste just how fresh the ingredients were: seasonal chiles, watermelon, onion, mint, cilantro, spices, tequila, and lime.
Our main course came out next, we were given three options to choose from: Calabacitas con Elote (zucchini, seasonal chiles, onion, garlic, Roma tomato, roasted corn, Cotija cheese, cilantro, seasonal rice, black beans with your choice of chicken, fajita beef or shrimp), Pan Poached Cod with Chile Sauce (cod, seasonal chiles, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, onion, lime juice, wine, spices, seasonal rice, chef's choice vegetable) or Tequila Glazed Ribs (brined and smoked baby back ribs, hatch chile powder, spices, tequila, pineapple juice, lime juice, chef's choice vegetable, mashed potato of the day). I chose the Tequila Glazed Ribs, I was a bit hesitant at first as I have sadly never had ribs at a restaurant that thrilled me. I always find them to be overpriced, with little meat and they are often dry. That was not at all the case at Z'Tejas, the ribs were amazing, they had a perfect crust that was sticky yet not dry. The mashed potatoes that came with the ribs were one of my favorite parts of the entire meal, I actually wanted a bowl full to go. They were flavored with hatch chile, garlic, and butter...I am getting so hungry typing this! Julie had the Calabacitas con Elote, she said the flavors were amazing, and the ingredients again were so fresh, you could tell the dish had just been prepped.
I needed a drink refill by this point, and I decided to try the Cafe Colada, it was as good as it sounded. This frozen delight was made with a swirl of Patron XO Cafe, and Coconut Cream. This brought us to my favorite part of every meal, okay let's not kid ourselves, I like food so every part is my favorite! But dessert sure ranks up there near the top that's for sure, and the amazing pecan pie with green chile ice cream did not disappoint at all. The dessert was of course made from scratch right at Z'Tejas and included house-made chocolate chip pecan pie with seasonal chile vanilla ice cream. I love pecan pie, and I was actually a bit worried that chile vanilla ice cream would ruin a perfectly good piece of pie, but that did not happen at all. The chile flavor was perfect, it was not overwhelming at all, and it actually balanced the sweetness of the pie perfectly.
I encourage you all to head out to Z'Tejas and try the Hatch Chile Fest menu before it's gone, I don't think you will be disappointed at all. I feel that a lot of these dishes were not necessarily things I would have tried had I not been invited to do so, and I am so glad I did. I have a hard time stepping outside of my comfort zone sometimes, I am scared I will be disappointed, but that did not happen at Z'Tejas. Hubby hasn't had the pleasure of visiting Z'Tejas yet and I can't wait to take him. He had to drool over all my pictures, without the pleasure of getting to taste it, I know I'm rude.
Check out the Hatch Chile Fest menu for yourself
