We recently enjoyed a special dinner with friends at a restaurant we had heard a lot about in Sandusky, Ohio. Zinc Brasserie is located just off of the lake in downtown Sandusky. It is a cozy dining room with a bar along one wall. High tin ceilings and a large chalkboard of specials give it lots of charm. We had a reservation and were glad we did – (thanks Open Table).
We started off with a Crispy Oyster Spinach salad from the specials list which was served on a long rectangular plate with four lightly-battered fried oysters atop a bed of greens. I ordered Cioppino because I had never even said that word before! It was a spicy tomato broth over squid ink pasta topped with shrimp, scallops, salmon, calamari and a few mussels.
David ordered the Berkshire pork entree because it was highly recommended by our friendly and very helpful waitress. Wow – what a serving of pork. It was served on a thin layer of what the waitress described as “cheesy potatoes” with mushrooms and blue cheese. He shared a bite and it was tender and juicy and he enjoyed every bite.
How does a family cope after loss? Beloved son and brother, Leo, was captured and killed while working in Iraq as a journalist and his parents are bringing his siblings, their families and his widow and son together for a memorial ceremony on the Fourth of July a year later at their idyllic summer home in the Berkshires. But the reunion is all but idyllic. Leo’s death has crazed the veneer of normalcy and each character brings extra emotional baggage to the gathering. The family dynamics Henkin illuminates ring true and are as explosive as the backdrop of the fireworks on the cover image. Although I began to feel mired in the middle, I woke up early to finish this great summer novel. To see what else I have been reading visit my book blog at myreadinglife.blogspot.com.
