The Father's Day Meal at Zizzi's

So... just got back from Father's Day lunch and here's my report on our meal at Zizzi's.
Firstly, it was in a beautiful setting, which I really think helps to set the mood.

We shared a starter, which was a vegetarian mezze platter, featuring a mixture of olives, aubergine, artichokes, mozzarella, dough sticks (which disappeared very fast!), sundried tomatoes and peppers, served on a beautiful wooden platter. It was all very fresh and tasty and the sharing element really added to the mood... although there was one piece of mozzarella left over but being Father's Day, there was really no debate about who got that...

Following this, my dad had a pasta dish with chicken, red pesto and creme fraiche, which he described, and I quote as "chicken heaven" - so a big thumbs up there! The waitress wasn't stingy with the grated parmesan either!

My mum had a lovely fresh - and ginormous! - vegetarian pizza with a thin, crusty base and lashings of mozzarella and green pesto. 

Meanwhile I opted to create my own meal and ordered off the menu for penne (my favourite type of pasta because it allows the accompanying sauce to really invade it) with green pesto (really, should there be any other type?) that was bursting with crushed pine nuts and garlic - beautiful! I also added pancetta, mushrooms (one of my favourites - more on that later!) and green beans, which were perfectly al dente.

A quick note on dessert: frankly we were all too stuffed from the first and main courses to even contemplate dessert but we did manage to force down a lemon tart which was tangy and sweet along with a capuccino in the cleverest cup I've ever seen - easy to handle as you were insulated from the heat but pretty enough to show the drink itself.

Finally, I think Zizzi needs to be complimented on their recent efforts - they have clearly invested in refreshing their menu and training their staff and are also keen to share their other activities with their customers, such as searching for new talent in music as well as cuisine, which gives us an interesting, well-rounded eating experience.