Zitune

Sorry that I’m late to the party. I liked this place and I’m sorry it closed. It was an upscale place to have lunch with good food and excellent service. To be sure, it was pricey, but hey, the place was in downtown Los Altos and used very fresh ingredients.
There’s not much else downtown and I don’t know what’s going to happen to the space.

Yummy!!! Amazing tagines and fantastic service.
I’m heartbroken that they’re closed now!

Los Altos Town Crier bottom front page «Distinguished downtown restuarant Zitune closes suddenly»
TOLD YOU SO!!! except… the article is full of bullshxt and not taking accountability, on behalf of the Los Altos Town Crier AND the restaurant owners.
«Suddenly»? First off that is contradicted by quotes of the restaurant owners in the article. It was not sudden at all, they had been not getting enough business, ever. I can attest to this, walking by the restaurant and usually there would be the dismal site of 1 or 2 tables with people sitting out of the many.
Second, the town crier cites the Bay Area & Wine Country Restaurants 2011 rated Zitune recommended, and that it is a «distinguished honor». OooOohhhHH «recommended» what an AMAZINGGG honor! Never heard of Bay Area Wine Country either, not exactly a Zagat. So eh not really something to blatantly brag about… plus the Wine Country Restaurants 2011? aww too bad, the restaurant just closed before 2011.
Restaurant owner Kim Auerbach says the honor «was a reflection that even though we were struggling (financially), we never compromised»
perhaps never «compromised» after the fact, but perhaps because you compromised from the very beginning with mediocre dishes and high prices. AND even if you didn’t compromise, you never exceeded! Which is what you need to do to have a new restaurant flourish, especially in downtown Los Altos.
Auerbach said «We thought there were enough people who would appreciate our food and not go to San Francisco or Palo Altos for dinner…»
LMAO, of course we rather go to SF or even Palo Alto for dinner. Do you know the kind of restaurants they have in SF? They are innovative! They are exceeding expectations! Many pride themselves using local organic produce! They have unique and lively environments! And many at the same price you charge for your experience. Not to mention in SF, perhaps there would be something to do after dinner, instead of having to pop a valium when you look at the depressing ghost town downtown los altos is starting after 5 pm. Yes, maybe that last aspect is not completely controllable by the restaurant owners, but choosing to open in this shxthole of a downtown WAS.
She continues «Unfortunately not everyone came back frequently enough… People don’t come into town to support businesses enough»
Well first its pretty simple that when people didn’t come back enough they didn’t like it enough. That is like 1+1=2 or ABCDEF… hello?
And second, like I said above, people come, they want to come to support businesses… but two things… there is barely any businesses! Most places close after 5 because they are boutique stores, or random «typewriter stores» that are probably fronts for some shady immigration deal because they have stayed in business all these years and last time I checked, no one fuking uses typewriters anymore!
2^nd, there is one restaurant in downtown Los Altos that isn’t mediocre, it’s called Los Altos Grill (formerly Bandera), so you can blame all you want on «the Los Altos downtown revitalization we had hoped for never materialized» and all that jazz, but last time I checked, Los Altos Grill was packed to the brim, on a weekday!
Let me make myself clear, I never had it in for Zitune, I don’t mean to gripe about Zitune, but I do have a bone to pick with anyone who decides to march into downtown Los Altos open a mediocre restaurant charge embarrassingly unfair prices and cry all the way to the bank when their business fails, and Zitune did just that.
Let this please be the final lesson for any future potential businesses, especially restaurants, this is NOT the first time this has happened, and quite frankly, I am getting sick of it.

I can honestly say now I have been to this Moroccan restaurant located in the heart of Los Altos that my dear friend loves so much. It did not disappoint.
I made a last minute reservation via opentable. As such, I was able to get reservation within the last 30 minutes. It probably was because it was a late Sunday nite on a wet, cold nite. Surely enough, we were overly dressed even for Zitune. As we made our way to the hostess, she gave us the choice to be seated literally anywhere given probably because it was a Sunday nite.
The ambience was nice and warm. The staffs were very nice and inviting which made our first visit not the last. I decided to have ice water and my friend got the alcholic drink… Tanqeray tonic I believe. Given the fact we had a light dinner prior to coming here, we ordered two appetizers each in place of a main course. Of course, I got the ever so popular duck confit pastilla. That was absolutely delish because it was crispy on the outside and the duck meat just melt in your mouth. I also got the brussel sprout salad, interest choice of salad but nontheless, yummy!
My friend ordered the squash soup along with the scallop dish. The richness along with the creaminess of the soup, pleased my friend. A definite plus is that it was piping hot just like he likes it. He wasn’t as keen with the scallop dish because they overcook it.
Overall, a very good choice of selections of dishes that we enjoyed. Service was reasonable. We definitely come back to try their many scrumpitous dishes along with their wine and cocktail lists.

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 and well deserved. The finest lamb shank I have ever experienced. Tender, falls off the bone, tasty, lovely spices, and in a reduction sauce to die for. Lovely setting and presentation.
Handsome restaurant on Main St. in Los Altos. Sharp interior with bar on right upon entry, and tables/​booths for dining to the left. Very nice encounter with friendly greeter. We were seated promptly.
Excellent service all around. Nice wine selection. The Cab by the glass is really super with the lamb shank. Had the mixed green salad for starters. Lovely presentation of lettuce, olives, feta chees, onions and a superb dressing. Tasty for sure!
Following the lamb shank feast, I had the date cake. Yummy and very tasty. Chef got written up in the Metro as one of the 5 in the area to watch. I would agree with that for sure. Will be going back for some of the Moroccan dishes.
Great dining and great experience. Highly recommended!!!
ps: the photos on Unilocal are accurate.

I came here for the Silicon Valley Restaurant Week, so they had an appetizer, entrée, and dessert for $ 35. I tried some of my friends’ food too, so here’s a review of all of it:
BRUSSELS SPROUTS SALAD: Great brussel sprouts salad served with chorizo, julienne carrots, pita croutons and a cumin vinaigrette. The dressing wasn’t too heavy, so it was a nice start to the meal.
DUCK CONFIT PASTILLA: This is highly recommended on Unilocal,so we had to try it out. The duck was very flavorful, but the sauce was a little too sweet for me. I’m glad I only had a few bites of it. I’d probably be sick of it if I had ordered it myself.
MATBUCHA TART: This was a combo appetizer served with matbucha, spinach bekoula, eggplant, goat cheese, and pita bread. I enjoyed it because there was a nice selection.
SALMON TANGEROISE: This was pan roasted salmon served with escarole and clams. The salmon was a good size, and wasn’t overcooked so it was very tender.
M’ROUZIA TAGINE: Lamb shank spiced with prunes, honey, raisins and almonds, served with couscous on the side. Similar to the Duck confit pastilla, the sauce was overly sweet which made it hard to enjoy.
PANNA COTTA: Very good, especially with the persimmon sauce. I love persimmons, and I don’t usually see it on the menu, so it was a nice choice.
ORANGE BLOSSOM MAHALBI: Good dessert, too bad I coudln’t tell what it was that I was eating.
Overall, it was a nice meal, where everything was good, but nothing was really great or made a strong impression. At the same time, nothing was bad either, so I would come back, because it’s a nice place with good décor.

This is one of my favorite restaurants, and it is right here in my neighborhood. It is probably the fanciest restaurant in the entire town. The décor is lovely, but it is the food that we come back for almost every month!
What got my attention at the first place was their famous house specialty — the lamb tagine, but what truly impressed me was their fois gras. To me, it was the dish to die for. So it was a big disappointment to me to find out earlier in the summer they had taken the fois gras off the menu temporarily. But there are other dishes we would come back for.
With a visit at least once a month, my husband and I have tried almost every dish on the menu, and not a single one we don’t like. My new favorite appetizer (since fois gras is not available) is the duck confit pastilla, our favorite salads are the Zitune salad, and from the summer menu, the heirloom tomato and water melon salad. Who would ever thought putting water melon with tomato together? Simple yet absolutely delicious, you can even duplicate that at home.
Their menu really doesn’t change much, occasionally there will be a special of the day. The chef/​owner is changing the presentation of some dishes to give them a new look and a slight change of flavor.
During a visit last week, I was thrilled to hear that the fois gras might be back on the menu very soon! I can’t wait to return!

Moroccan flavors tempered with classic French technique, Zitune is a downtown Los Altos gem. The dining room is comfortable, warm and intimate; the perfect foil to the flavors to come.
And, speaking of those flavors, they are presented to precision and restraint, which can be a challenge considering how strong Moroccan spices can be.
Among the dishes tried were:
Pastilla (duck wrapped in phyllo dough): A fantastic starter. Crispy exterior and warm, moist duck confit interior. Complimented with caramelized onion and sweet reduction sauce.
Mezze (selection of olives, eggplant dip, hummus and pita bread)
Octopus and squid: Intensely smoky and with just the right amount of chew.
Lamb Tagine: Probably the most traditional of all the dishes sampled, this was served with prunes, honey, raisins, almonds and couscous.
Alaskan Halibut: Perfectly seared and served a top a summer succotash and couscous.
Zitune also features an amazing list of original cocktails, notably the Lavender Blood Orange Cosmopolitan, Cilantro Margarita, Raspberry Thyme Lemon Drop and the Cucumber Martini.
Service was merely «OK». Our server didn’t seem to be into it and was merely going through the motions.

This is probably the only place so far that’s deserved my 15 dollars for lunch in Los Altos. The «downtown» area here is notorious for being over priced but I felt comfortable paying for the quality of food and service I got here at Zitune.
I came here with two of my coworkers and the first thing I noticed as soon as we all got our food was that everyone became completely silent. That’s always good sign when food is concerned; we were all too busy enjoying our lunches to drum up chit chat. Since this was my first time here I went simple and order chicken so next time I come by I’ll be more adventurous and give one of their lamb dishes a shot.

My wife and I went here for our 10^th anniversary. Neither of us had ever been here before, so thought it was a good reason to try a new restaurant.
We made a reservation for 2 for 7:00 and showed up about 6:45. The restaurant wasn’t busy at all so we sat at the bar and had a few drinks. They had a happy hour special for $ 3 for any draft beer and while they only have three beers on tap, the choices were good… a Belgian White, a Porter and a Pilsner.
We sat for dinner about 7:15 and ordered appetizers and dinner. It was slow enough that the bartender was also serving as the waiter. Service was good and the menu has a wide variety of interesting choices from fish to lamb to steak to vegetarian options. My wife had an appetizer of some sort of spinach/​mushrooms/​goat cheese in a pastry shell and I had the sweet corn soup appetizer. Both were excellent.
For dinner, my wife had the rock shrimp risotto and I had the sea scallops with parsnip purée, a saffron sauce, and interestingly enough watermelon ball garnish. I thought the risotto was good but not extremely interesting. My sea scallops were excellent and the dish had a great combination of flavors. The only thing I’m not sure about is the watermelon. When I tried including it with the scallops it would overwhelm the flavor of the scallops. So while interesting on the plate, I don’t think it worked in the same bite as the scallops.
We passed on dessert as nothing on the menu really caught our eye. Total bill for dinner and drinks including tip was about $ 105 so not a bad value for the whole evening. I would certainly go back and try this place again!

This is one of the best restaurants I have ever been to. We were welcomed in by what seemed like the entire staff. The waiters and manager were hilarious and joking about each other around our table. Made the night very entertaining.
The wait staff is very knowledgeable with the menu and made excellent suggestions based on your taste and what it is you’re looking for. We all decided on traditional Moroccan food.
Everything was delicious and the head chef even came out to wish my boyfriend a happy birthday.

Not being the most adventurous eater I wasn’t particularly thrilled when my friends decided we had to check this place out, but was delighted to find that I really enjoyed the meal.
The service really took out experience to another level. Our server, Mo, was extremely knowledgeable about the menu and was able to make wonderful suggestions without being pushy or making me feel bad for my limited culinary knowledge. When we return we will be sure to request his excellent service again

I love lamb. I love spices. I love dates. I love all of them combined! And what cuisine has all that? Moroccan food! Zitune really takes a place in my heart!
I came with a large group of coworkers so get ready for the breakdown of almost the entire menu:
— Cucumber martini: I’m not much of a martini fan, so yes this was good, but not my ‘cup of tea’
— Lavendar blood orange cosmo: I’m a bit wary of lavendar in foods /​drinks since it can easily taste like drinking soap, but this was amazingly delicious! I couldn’t get enough!
— Monterey calamari & octopus: Not your traditional fried calamari, but nicely done and tender.
— Dungeness crab cake: This was BIG! One could probably be enough for 3 people. Also very flavorful and perfectly fried — one of my favorite appetizers.
— Duck confit pastilla: Wow wow wow. That’s all I have to say. This was, hands down, my favorite of the night! The caramelized onions lend a fabulous sweetness to the duck and the almonds /​pastilla added a great crunch.
— Duo of Morrocan Spiced Lamb: I really wanted to get the M’rouzia Tagine (which is the lamb shank cooked in a tagine). However, the waiter convinced me and several colleagues to get the Duo of the Spiced Lamb (which was similar to the shank) and kefta (Moroccan meatballs). It came out on a plate with couscous on the side. The lamb was good — tender and well-​spiced, but it wasn’t in a tagine and it wasn’t bone-​in! I was REALLY feeling like having bone-​in shank with meat that melts off the bone, but unfortunately this wasn’t it. The kefta had nice flavor, but I couldn’t get over the fact that the spices weren’t ground enough because I kept getting crunches between my bites. So, although this wasn’t what I was expecting, the food itself was good, so I didn’t deem the annoyance enough to dock a star.
Vanilla bean Panna Cotta: YUM! The vanilla bean flavor was incredibly pervasive and I loved it!
Briouats: These are the Moroccan version of baklava. I have to say they’re not my favorite. I found them a bit too sweet, but they did have a good orange blossom flavor. I ate more of the ice cream that came with it than the briouats themselves.
Date cake: My favorite dessert! It was wonderfully warm and moist. We had to order more for the table.
Pot de Crème: This was rich, creamy, but not cloying. Not my favorite, but I really liked it. What made this even better was those Moroccan cookies. I don’t know what they used to flavor it, but it was so delicious that I couldn’t get enough!
Overall service: The host was funny and even offered to take our group shot at the end. The waiter was helpful, but his personality was a bit stiff — didn’t really crack jokes… or get our jokes. But overall very attentive and knowledgeable.

Come for the appetizers, ambiance and great service.
Seared Foie Gras was heavenly and literally melted in my mouth bursting with flavor. It was so decadent and you know something that rich has to be bad for you but who cares! Amazing…
Lamb Kefta was flavorful and really juicy. Nice accompanied with the mint yogurt cucumbers and pita bread.
Crab cakes were good. I feel like crab cakes are either good or blah anywhere you go. These were good.
Main Dishes: Eh. They didn’t blow me away as the appetizers did. Unfortunately a bit on the salty side, but maybe it is just because I typically like my food bland. The portions were good and there was a lot of flavor but it was salty! We had the salmon and the cornish hen. Cornish hen was pretty good but the salmon was a little boring. Maybe it was because I was comparing again with appetizers.
Great wine list! Great place to take a date, especially for a last minute intimate, comfortable, non-​busy like atmosphere! But be careful to keep your conversations low and people friendly because the voices echo across the room and you can hear other peoples conversations. ;)

Good food and service. Clever idea with a lunch special that is priced based on the Dow Jones Average the day before. Had a good and healthy lunch for $ 10.09 today based on Friday’s close. Another Bob and Gary Excellent adventure.

I tried a few things (see my photos):
duck confit pastilla appetizer: very good duck flavor, but the pastry wrap could have been thicker /​crunchier. It’s $ 12.95: just a bit overpriced if you ask me.
medjool date cake: very good, better than average.
The mint tea comes with almond cookies that are meh.
Overall, it was very good, but not worth a trip.

I’ve eaten here twice for lunch now since on my first visit I was so pleasantly surprised by the food and service. I didn’t expect for find such a interesting array of items and frankly I had no idea «middle eastern» food entailed more than roasted lamb and rice.
For the money, it’s a pretty gourmet exotic experience.

Food is great here, especially if you’re looking for Mediterranean flavors. It’s a fork and knife dining place, not your sit on the floor, eat with your finger type Moroccan.
Service was wonderfully prompt and helpful. As soon as a we were seated, they brought us the best olive bread with a dual spread of grilled eggplant spread and hummus.
We started with the Olive Tart, which was served with a side salad of mixed farmer’s greens. Tart was wonderful with bits of spinach, onions, tomatoes and goat cheese.
For dinner, I highly recommend the Moroccan Cornish Hen. A grilled boneless hen is served on a bed of sauteed gnocchi. The green herb topping was superbly Moroccan. Just wish there was a bit more gnocchi.
I also recommend the Chermoula Salmon served on a bed of spinach with saffron broth. The salmon has a crispy outer grill with juicy flaky meat. Just had to finish off that tasty broth.
Don’t miss the Mint Tea w/​Cookies and Medjool Date Cake. Our waiter did the traditional high pour with the teapot. Cookies and date cake were just to die for.
Go here for the Moroccan flavors without the fuss of belly dancers and burnt fingers.

The hostess looked a little like… a hostess swirl cake. Unflattering body in an unflatteringly tight, sleeveless black dress and chunky tall boots. Zing, I said it, I mean seriously, not appropriate attire for a restaurant like this.
There are a LOT of employees here. Customers (me + 2) were outnumbered 5 fold by employees, which you’d think would guarantee quick and attentive service — however, it did not. No points docked here because the manager was so nice. Check opentable for 1000 point dining!
The food was solid, my favorites were the beef tenderloin which was thick, juicy and flavorful served over a bed of rich pureed potatoes. The leg of lamb was good too (I’ve never had a bad one yet) and I loved the cous cous, cooked in chicken broth I think?
Dessert:
I hate to admit it, but I’m a chocolate pot de crème SNOB. I like it creamy, rich, not too sweet… none of that 3 ounce ramekin business. I want a POT of cream. Miette, that’s right, I’m talking to you and your tiny portions. The toasted, crispy hazelnuts was a nice twist.
The date cake was warm, moist, and tasted like it had a touch of molasses. It’s something I’d never have ordered had I not seen the rave reviews here, but I highly recommend even if you don’t like dates.
I guess Los Altos is now more than a public library and Satura Cakes! Make reservations, dinner picks up at around 6:30pm.

Only open a short while, the folks at Zitune are eager to please and doing a great job.
The bartender, Josh, is an artist. REALLY knowledgeable guy… makes his own syrups, infusions and what not. Don’t miss the specialty cocktail list. Lots of tasty treats.
The wine list is small but steadily growing according to the management and we were happy with our choice of St. Innocent Pinot Noir. The Torii Mor Pinot Gris is also good, as is the J Vintage Brut Rose. The complimentary bread with hummos and eggplant dip is also a nice start while you contemplate the menu. Careful not to fill up.
The food is excellent if a little rich due to the French influence on the menu. It’s hard to pass up some of the interesting twists on Moroccan classics though. For example, the duck confit and foie gras bastilla. (Bastilla is usually stuffed with squab or chicken.)
I passed on that this time, and went for the Lamb Kefta — which was delicious, but with it’s rich demi-​glacé like sauce I was glad my entrée was lighter. In between, I tried the White Asparagus and Beet Salad… which was not necessarily unique in that this type of salad is common on many menus these days… but it was a welcome refreshment. For my main I had the Star Anise Sea Scallops with parsnip purée, mushrooms and saffron sauce. This was delicious and I highly recommend it for anyone who loves scallops.
We skipped dessert this go round but I look forward to returning to try the Almond Bastilla (dates, cardamom honey sauce & lemon lavender ice cream). I will report back. ;)
This is a great addition to Bay Area dining (nevermind Los Altos in particular). It’s high time we had an upscale Moroccan restuarant on the Peninsula/​Southbay. Gorgeous to look at, with it’s warm tones and granite counters… plus excellent service, great food and drinks. What a gem.