Ristorante Kaz/Restaurant Kazu

FIRST VISIT

Shrimp and crab croquette.

Salmon and spinach pasta with cream sauce.

Shishito pepper pasta with mushrooms and yuzu pepper.

Rating: Two thumbs up, gold star potential
Date: 11/4/12

Time in: 6:20 PM

Servers' recommendations: Salmon and spinach pasta with cream sauce; pasta with crab meat and creamy tomato sauce; cod roe, seaweed, and shiso pasta

What we ordered: Shrimp and crab croquette, salmon and spinach pasta with cream sauce, shishito pepper pasta with mushrooms and yuzu pepper

Number in our party: 2

Final check amount: $35.56

Notes: 

• We realize that a Japanese-Italian restaurant sounds odd, but they really do know how to make their pasta. 
• Are they going to follow their sister restaurant (Izakaya Sakura)'s example and not have a sign?  That's so ballsy!
• The restaurant is very pleasant and cozy.  Ideal for nice dates.  The music is super-romantic.
• The olive oil that they serve with the bread is good stuff.
• The servers are enthusiastic, friendly, and competent -- we've come to expect less from a Japanese restaurant!
• The croquettes are so yummy!  I was worried when I saw that they didn't come with a sauce on the side, but they didn't need one.
• The pasta dishes are also delicious, and the flavor combinations are creative and unusual.  They're not greasy or heavy; the cream sauce is nice and light.  The spaghetti is cooked perfectly -- al dente, but not chewy.   

SECOND VISIT

Potato soup (left) and corn soup (right).







Caesar salad.







Caprese salad.







Carbonara (with cream, why?)







Tomato, garlic, and shrimp.

Rating: One thumb up, one sideways
Date: 11/17/12

What we ordered: Fixed lunches: carbonara + corn soup + caprese (Miko), garlic tomato sauce with shrimp + potato soup + Caesar salad

Number in our party: 2

Notes: 

• We know that this place is going to end up with a gold star, but not for their lunch special.  They do pasta beautifully, and they are a perfect dinner restaurant.  It is lovely for an evening date, where you stare into each other's eyes over glasses of wine.  For lunch, I want something easier and less fussy.
• I also just happened to order a dish that I didn't end up liking.  Jenne's garlic tomato sauce with shrimp was delicious!  Their carbonara, however, proved disappointing. Their salmon and spinach in cream sauce is so light that I could happily finish a plate of it every day of my life, but the carbonara was really heavy.  It reminded me of why I don't usually go out for Italian -- it sat in my stomach like a bag of wet cement, and I had eaten barely half.
• Their salads are also kind of meh.  The tomatoes in the caprese were not ripe, and Jenne suspected that the croutons were from a bag.  Surprising in a restaurant that seems to focus so much on detail!
• Also, we would really have liked a little dessert included in the fixed lunch.  Just a single piece of chocolate.  A tidbit of panna cotta.
• They don't have x-factor, which makes a restaurant cozy and homey, but what Ristorante Kaz DOES give us is the feeling that we're on a romantic getaway.  It's a lovely place, and we'll be back again for dinner soon -- I've been eyeing the uni (which is one of my favorites at Izakaya Sakura, their sister restaurant) and the crab pasta.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION
Address: 3904 Convoy St, Ste 105 
Website: Whoa, these guys aren't even on Yelp yet.
Accepts credit cards? Yes
Parking: Shared lot with a good number of spaces
Ideal group size: 1-4
Available vegetarian options: Oil and pepper pasta, tomato and garlic pasta
Who not to bring: People on a budget, first dates
Noise level: 2