Zaya 1943 is sleek. Glossy. Polished.
In a list of “things I’d expect to find at a Chattanooga-area restaurant,” a two-story dry-age meat locker was not on my bingo card.
And yet, on the North Shore, you will find a steakhouse with black marble, individual table-top grills and hundreds of handmade origami paper cranes floating above the bar.
The restaurant is almost austere in its formality. With its low lighting and deep booths, it feels like the right environment for a date night, but cozy couples and families alike gather around tables to share banchan.
Owners Carlos and Eunice Kal bring a lot more depth to the experience of Zaya than meets the eye. The Kals Group owns not only Zaya, but Totto Sushi and Grill, as well as the Hamilton Place location of Rodizio Grill.