ZZ Pizza offers international and casual flair
Take a top chef and put him in a casual pizza parlor and you come up with a different type of eatery.
Chef Stan Zilinski is the owner of ZZ Pizza & International Eatery, a new business in the North Fort Myers area. The business is located off Orange Grove Boulevard near the corner of Pondella Road in the Coral Gate Commons complex.
Zilinski came to the area after owning a restaurant in South Beach, Fla., worked at several 5-star establishments and has 35-plus years experience in the culinary field. He studied at the Culinary Institute of America and worked under renowned Sous Chef Pierre Chambrin, who was executive chef for the White House under two presidents.
He describes his business as “your friendly, family-owned, neighborhood restaurant. Our dining room is your dining room.”
Although pizza is one of the most popular offerings at the eatery, other interesting food is served as well, hence the addition of “International Eatery” in the name. “Not only do we serve pizza and Italian food, we also serve Mediterranean and other international cuisine. Sometimes we run specials, and at our Chef’s Table we can serve anything from Chinese to Italian to American faire, food from across the globe.”
The Chef’s Table is a dining -and social – experience. It’s a six-course dinner offered for six people.
“The way that works is that you may be sitting with people you don’t know, you don’t have to come with six people, couples can come, too,” he said. “It makes for great conversation, people can get to know other people in the area. Business people can network with other business people.”
The experience takes about an hour and a half, he said, and they usually try to do it for first-timers as a traditional Italian dinner. It starts with a pasta dish, the second course an antipasto – a salad after the pasta. The third course could be a soup or seafood dish, then an intermezzo like a sorbet. Then it’s on the the main course.
“The entree could be any number of things, like a Pork Cutlet a la Cappola,” he said. “It ends with a very special dessert, a flaming baked Alaska. We flame it right out in the dining room in font of the guests.”
If someone has a special occasion and has a preference for faire, he said they can do different things, like a New England dinner or French cuisine.
“We can do it all.”
You need to call ahead for the Chef’s Table. The cost is $35 per person.
For simpler faire, there are ZZ Street Dogs for 99 cents. A slice of pizza is $2.50 and it’s larger than most slices.
“Most places that serve pizza by the slice use a 16-inch pizza with eight cuts, we only do six,” he said.
“Buffalo Balls” for $1.49 are his own creation.
“We take a garlic roll, scoop it out, put one of our homemade meatballs in there and use medium wing sauce, which makes it Buffalo.” Then garlic sauce is added and it is baked in the oven.
“They’re really good,” he said.
Pastas start at $3.49, and then you can add your own sauce. You can get ZZ Tomato Sauce, a cheesy alfredo, a vodka sauce or ala Rachel Ray, an EVOO, garlic and basil and more.
Different sauces are also offered for chicken or pork Italian cutlet dinner.
Zilinski said ZZs is the home of original, healthy hot wings.
“A lot of places deep fry their wings and they’re greasy,” he said. “We make our wings and dump the grease off and put on same spices you are used to.”
He said he himself is a healthy eater.
“I’m about 95 percent vegetarian.”
Zilinski wanted to stress it is a casual atmosphere, even with his tremendous background, and the restaurant welcomes all local workers as well. There’s parking for large vehicles, including dump trucks and tandem trailers.
A beer and wine license is coming soon. Look for the Budweiser sign in front when that is ready.
“We’ll also have six-packs to go,” he said.
Breakfast is also coming soon, he said.
ZZ Pizza & International Eatery is located at 5171 Orange Grove Blvd., with the Web site zzpizza.net. Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. There’s also free delivery with a $15 minimum purchase.
Call 997-6669 for more information.