With a Side of Hope

Hi there!  Happy Tuesday to you!  I hope your week is off to a good start.  I don’t know about where you live right now but here in the Philly area it sure doesn’t feel like spring!  I had to scrape frost off the windshield of my car today!  It is freezing outside right now.  I don’t understand this weather especially since Thursday is supposed to be 80 degrees.  It’s been crazy weather wise.  I haven’t even tried to wear open-toed shoes yet in the fear I will get sick because of the temperatures changing so drastically.  I’m glad I decided not to wear them yet.  Hopefully it will warm up soon!

Anyway, I had mentioned yesterday that on Friday, Mike and I had the opportunity to try a new restaurant.  I didn’t want to throw it into my post yesterday.  I thought it deserved an entire post of its own because that is how impressed I was and couldn’t wait to share with you!  The restaurant Zoës Kitchen just opened up in the Bucks County area, Newtown to be more specific.  It is a restaurant that has a counter that you go up to and order your food and then you select a table and they bring your food out to you.

Zoës Kitchen was created by Zoë Cassimus who was born in the Mediterranean and raised in the South of the United States.  The entire menu at Zoës is inspired by her family recipes and her simple, and fresh from the garden sensibility.  One of the most impressive things about Zoës is the fact that all ingredients are delivered fresh daily.  They try to use as many local ingredients as possible.  The employees hand-wash, cut and prep all of the ingredients that go into the food every single day.  Their kitchen contains no microwaves, none of the food is fried, and the only frozen products they use are the seafood products.  Everything else is made fresh.  The kitchen contains lots of fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, olive oil, and lean proteins.  The kitchen is open so you are able to watch them prepare your food as you wait.

I love the food is contains no preservatives.  The menu is dietary conscious meaning that they are able to accommodate gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan’s.  The manager told us that Zoës is known for their chicken salad.  That is what really put Zoës on the map.  I will go into more detail about the chicken salad in a bit.  They are also known for their hummus which is prepared fresh every single day.

Something I thought that was interesting about the restaurant too is Zoës grandmother’s chocolate cake which they refer to as Yaya’s Hand-Made Chocolate Cake.  The manager said that all of the employees learn how to make this chocolate cake and they make it fresh every single day.  They sell it in containers and you can tell by looking at it that it wasn’t prepackaged, it really does look like a fresh piece of cake that was made and sliced that day.  I love the details that this restaurant takes into serving it’s guests.

Inside of Zoës

Mike and I knew that we had to order Hummus to share because we are hummus fanatics and the fact that it is prepared fresh every day really made me want to try it.

Hummus with pita

The hummus was smooth and tasted very fresh.  It was light and full of flavor.  I love the olives as a topping and I liked the fact that it wasn’t coated in oil!  I hate when restaurants top hummus with oil.  You don’t need that!  The hummus is plenty and I like that Zoës serves it just like that.  The pita was perfectly toasted and was a nice compliment to the hummus.

I was so overwhelmed when trying to order that I had no idea what I wanted!  The entire menu sounded great and I knew that if I liked it, I would be back so I decided to try 1/2 a Chicken Salad Sandwich and Greek Salad.

1/2 Chicken Salad Sandwich and Greek Salad

You might notice that the Greek Salad is dry.  That is because Zoës leaves their Greek Dressing on the table so that you are able to decide the amount that you want on your salad, yourself.

Greek Salad Dressing

I’ll first start off with the Greek Salad.  All of the ingredients tasted fresh.  The cucumber and peppers were crisp so you could tell that they weren’t sitting out for days.  The lettuce was fresh as well.  The dressing was delicious!  It had all the right amount of Greek seasonings that you think of when you think of a Greek salad.  I really liked the fact that the dressing was on the table.  It says on the bottle that it is prepared fresh in the store.  You can tell that it only contains natural ingredients because it tastes so fresh and is fragrant.  I loved the dressing.

The chicken salad, I could probably go on for days about.  I HATE when chicken salad is completely taken over by mayo.   Don’t get me wrong, I love mayo but I don’t love when it overtakes chicken salad.  This chicken salad only had a touch of mayo and it had to be one of the best chicken salads I’ve ever had.  It was light, and had celery in it.  It really tasted homemade.  I would definitely have that again when I go back.  You can even buy their chicken salad in tubs to take home with you!

Oh, before I forget!  I tried their Decaf Hibiscus Green tea and it was one of the best green tea’s I’ve ever had!  Plus, it was pink!

It had a light hibiscus flavor yet still had that green tea flavor you want.  I could have probably drank a gallon of it!  Lucky for me, they sell reusable cups that are bigger than their regular cups.  I think I need to purchase one so I can have a lot of this tea at once!  It was SO good.

Mike decided to try their Steak Kabobs which is also a popular item at Zoës.

Steak Kabobs

The Steak Kabobs were served on a bed of grilled potatoes and freshly roasted vegetables.  I don’t know if you can tell but if you look at the vegetables you can clearly see they are fresh and not frozen.  The broccoli was tender yet still had a crisp bite to it.  The carrots were fresh and the potatoes were wonderful.  Mike couldn’t stop talking about how great the steak tasted.  It was perfectly tender and soft to the taste.  I am not a red meat-eater anymore but I tried a small piece because I was curious.  In that moment when I tried it, I loved it!  It was cooked the only way that I like red meat.  It was nice and soft and the seasoning really made the dish.

We were just so impressed by this restaurant!  The funny thing was as we started talking to the Assistant Manager, Mike realized that they went to school together!  It was so random and funny!  It’s a small world!  I thought that was nice that they had a connection like that!

I don’t have enough nice things to say about this restaurant. It encompasses all the things that I want when dining out.  It’s healthy, uses fresh and as many local ingredients as possible, nothing is fried or oily, and they have a vast variety of items on their menu.

They also have an app that you can download on your phone and you can earn FREE goodies just for signing up!  I signed up after we left and I already earned, a reusable cup and a piece of Yaya’s cake!!  I can’t wait to go back to redeem them.  Also, if you sign up for their e-club, you receive a coupon for a free 1/2 pint of their chicken salad!

If you have a Zoës in your area, definitely check it out!  You will NOT be disappointed in any way shape or form!  Thank you so much Zoës for allowing us to try out your restaurant!  You definitely earned two new fans!

Have you ever been to Zoës?  Does it seem like a place that you would like to try?

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