The zinc bar at Zink American Kitchen is the inspiration behind the restaurant's name.

ZINK AMERICAN KITCHEN Location: 201 N. Tryon St. in the IJL Financial Center Phone: 704-444-9001 Fax: 704-342-4599 Catering: 704-444-9001 Details: Reservations suggested, separate bar area, private dining rooms, takeout, large wine-by-theglass menu, full bar, corkage fee, coat check area, free parking in the IJL deck after 5 p.m., one hour free during the day, late night bar menu, children's menu. Prices: Lunch prices range from $7 to $12; during dinner, small plates range from $5 to $12 and entrée prices range from $18 to $25. Hours: Monday and Tuesday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m.-midnight; Friday, 11 a.m.-1 a.m.; Saturday, 5 p.m.-1 a.m.; Sunday brunch, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; Sunday dinner, 5-10 p.m. For more information: www.zinkamerican.com

All that glitters this holiday season is not gold; sometimes it's zinc. Zink American Kitchen, one of Uptown's newest dining venues, is the youngest member of the family of restaurants operated by Tom Sasser and the Harper's Restaurant Group. Tom Condron serves as executive chef, as he does for Zink's sister restaurants Harper's, Harper's ToGoGo, Upstream, Arpa and Mimosa Grill. Working under Condron's direction, Kelsey Sukel is the Chef de Cuisine at Zink, which opened in early November in the IJL Financial Center in the ground-floor space formerly occupied by Bijoux.

I have found the better portion of fare offered on the menu to be excellent, with only one or two caveats. Service and wait staff are still new and learning; but what they lack in experience, they make up for in enthusiasm. Given the track record of the ownership and culinary team behind Zink, I feel confident that, with time, the place will run like a well-oiled machine.

For now expect a few faux pas along the way, especially during the holidays, which is a busy - sometimes overwhelming - season for any restaurant, let alone a new one.

Precious jewels
The menu begins with small plates - a perfect start if you are up for a big meal, or delightful on their own if you're just stopping in for a quick bite. Top-notch selections on the list include a hearty french onion soup with braised Angus beef, topped with a thick slice of sourdough bread and a hefty cover of melted Gruyère; and a bacon-wrapped Texas quail, tender and delicious, served over a bed of stone-ground Anson Mills grits blended with warm blue cheese and drizzled with sherry butter.

The crispy calamari fries, undoubtedly some of the best calamari in town, are a unique presentation. The fish is cut in long strips like french fries, instead of in the usual rings. Lightly battered and quick-fried, these seafood fries are tender and flavorful. The same can be said of the jumbo lump crab cakes. The golden brown cakes are packed full of crab with little or no breading or filler. The accompanying creamy mustard sauce is rich and not too spicy - a good foil for the soft, rich, flaky crabmeat.

The rabbit tacos, four bite-sized shells filled with a puree of braised rabbit, were beautifully presented. Served with a crunchy jicama slaw and four salsas, the tacos offered an interesting blend of texture and flavor.

If you are looking for a little green, the crisp goat cheese salad composed of wilted, baby leaf spinach with raisins, candied pecans and light sherry-bacon vinaigrette is also a winner. The roasted beet salad is light but nice. In addition, Zink's oyster bar caters to those who have a taste for the fresh flavor of raw seafood. Choices include market-priced oysters on the half shell, Littleneck clams, Maine crab claws, steamed mussels, fried oysters, homemade chowder, sashimi and ceviche, a marinated raw fish salad.

Nightly features and main courses change weekly, as do some of the small plates, but generally the menu features a lot of seafood, some beef, some poultry and a good bit of game.

Without a doubt, superlatives go to the seafood. The excellent pepper-crusted tuna served rare with portabello mushrooms, lentils and a pinot noir au jus became a quick favorite, while the roasted trout stuffed with Crab Imperial, served with a creamy winter succotash and a lobster pan sauce, finished a close second. The pan-roasted sea bass with a Spanish piperade (a tomato- and olivebased sauce) and fork-mashed olive oil potatoes is also good. But top honors go to the rum-and-pepper-painted Florida Mahi, served with fire-roasted peppers, mango and chunks of spiny lobster all atop a soft, tasty plantain cake. Slightly less impressive was the maplecrusted venison. It might as well have been a beef fillet, although the side of butternut squash flan made the plate a bit more interesting.

A diamond in the rough
Originally the menu at Zink changed daily, making new dishes a challenge for the novice staff.

At one recent Zink dinner with friends, the barbecue wild boar spareribs served with sweet potatojalapeno pierogies sounded intriguing, and so we bit. But the order of ribs that came to the table was sorely overcooked, dry to the bone, with the ancho chile glaze burnt onto the meat. Never having served the ribs before, the waiter had no idea what they were supposed to look like.

To his credit, he turned to management when we inquired whether this was how the chef intended them to be. The manager was quick to investigate, explaining that the ribs apparently had been finished too quickly in a hot oven, instead of being slow-cooked at a lower temperature to their desired fall-off-the bone degree of tenderness, as was intended. Another portion of ribs was offered, but by that time it was late, and we were full. We declined but will give the ribs another try in the future.

In addition to the vegetables and starches provided on each plate, the menu offers market vegetables and seasonal sides. The fries, dusted with Reggiano Parmesan and chopped herbs, are delicious, as are the candied fall carrots with basil. Other offerings include more pedestrian fare: plain grits, mashed potatoes and an uneventful mushroom risotto.

Personally I'd pass on the additional sides and save room for dessert. The list probably will change seasonally, but for now don't miss the pumpkin cheesecake. It's superb, as is the melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake.

For lunch, the menu at Zink is a scaled-down version of dinner offerings and then some. Look for a daily "meat and two," a variety of sandwiches, and a half-dozen or so snacks like the cone of french fries, soups, hummus, bruschetta and those wonderful calamari fries. There are salads in two sizes: small starter salads and large main course salads. In addition, there are a couple of seasonal entrees, such as crab cakes, meatloaf, a 10-herb roast chicken, and tasty lobster and duck spring rolls, which also are offered as a small plate at dinner.

On Sundays, Zink serves brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Again, the menu is ever changing but features favorites such as crab cakes served with poached eggs, a cedar-plank roasted salmon and shrimp and grits. A children's menu is available, as well.

It's all in the name
Zink gets its name from the restaurant's wonderful zinc bar. The large bar, imported from France when the former Bijoux restaurant was built, is typical of the zinc bars found in the bistros and brasseries of Paris. It is the only bar of its kind in the eastern United States.

The bar area, which is separate from the dining rooms, offers stool seating as well as a few tables and booths. In the upstairs dining room, the staff can reconfigure the flowing, silvery-gray curtains at the guest's request to create more intimate dining opportunities. Downstairs the space is large, open and inviting.

Zink's patio dining overlooks Tryon Street and the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, situated across the street. Guests also can access the restaurant through the IJL Financial Center's lobby.

Parking is a bit tricky as the entrances and exits of the building's parking deck are not well marked, but there are entrances off Sixth Street, just behind the Dunhill Hotel and behind the deck off Church Street. To help you remember where you parked, levels of the IJL deck are denoted by large murals of vintage automobiles. Access the lobby of the building at the third level, home to the 1931 Arrow.

Crispy calamari fries available at lunch and dinner top the list of favorite starters at Zink American Restaurant.

Well-known Charlotte restaurant critic, food writer, cooking instructor and connoisseur of food and wine, Heidi Edidin writes "The Charlotte Weekly: Culinary Corner," a restaurant review or food feature that appears weekly. Contact Heidi with questions and restaurant, food or story ideas by email at heidi@thecharlotteweekly.com.

CW photos by Melissa Cherry.

This article first appeared in "The Charlotte Weekly" on December 27, 2004. "The Charlotte Weekly" is a free, locally owned, independent newspaper that's "About the Community, For the Community," available every Thursday in North and South Charlotte and Uptown.

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