KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A local restaurateur is being remembered by friends for his warmth, generosity and good food after his death from a motorcycle crash on Friday.
Zino Mezoui, 57, owner of Zino's Ristorante and Inn in Kelseyville, died from injuries sustained in a Friday morning collision with a vehicle at Highway 29 and Siegler Canyon Road.
Friends shared the news which they confirmed with family. Postings were being made on Facebook in memory of Mezoui throughout the weekend.
The California Highway Patrol and the District Attorney's Office were investigating the crash on Friday, with the driver of the vehicle fleeing the scene afterward, as Lake County News has reported. As of Sunday, no arrests in the case had been reported.
CHP Officer Dallas Richey said Friday that the motorcyclist – in this case Mezoui, who Richey didn't identify by name at that time – had been flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
“He was such a charming beautiful person who really contributed to what Lake County is,” said friend Maile Field.
Mezoui's death marks the second loss of a well-known and respected businessman this month. On Sept. 4, local Realtor Byron Whipple was killed in a boating crash on Clear Lake.
Tony Barthel, owner of Featherbed Railroad Bed & Breakfast Resort in Nice, found out early Saturday morning about Mezoui's death after seeing it posted on Facebook.
“He was someone you always looked forward to spending any amount of time with,” Barthel said.
“Plus, he was one hell of a cook,” Barthel added.
Mezoui had a passion for cooking, Barthel said.
That passion was in his blood – Mezoui's Web site noted that he came from three generations of French and Italian chefs and restaurateurs.
Mezoui was born in France and moved to the United States in the 1980s, according to an August 2009 profile written by JoAnn Saccato of the Lake County Community Co-op.
He and wife, Jan, arrived in Lake County in 2006 from Sonoma, where he had operated Zino on the Plaza for 25 years, according to his Web site.
While they had planned to retire, those plans didn't last for long, and they opened up their new restaurant at 6330 Soda Bay Road, overlooking Clear Lake.
In addition to working to create a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere, Mezoui crafted food using fresh produce purchased from local farmers, according to Saccato's profile.
Mezoui was a very warm and personable man, said Barthel, “a kind soul in the community” who was always there for people.
As innkeepers, Barthel said he and his wife, Peggy, were always happy to send visitors to Mezoui's restaurant.
The Barthels managed to get away from their own business for an anniversary dinner on Thursday night, with the restaurant being one of their favorite special occasion places.
“You always knew you were getting a hug going in,” Tony Barthel said.
After their dinner Thursday, the Barthels hung out and chatted with Mezoui, who shared with them his excitement about his motorcycle, which he said was finally ready to ride after being in the shop.
The ride on Friday that ended in Mezoui's death apparently was the ride he'd been looking forward to for so long. Barthel said that, having been there to hear Mezoui talk about the motorcycle made the news of his death from the crash all the more difficult.
“That was the end of the night for us” when they got the news at about 4 a.m. Saturday, he said.
Joey Luiz, another friend of Mezoui's, posted the news on Facebook.
Luiz said his roommate had come upon the crash before first responders arrived at the scene, and told Luiz that people were there trying to render first aid.
It was later when Luiz heard from another friend who had gone to the restaurant – which was open for business as scheduled – that Mezoui had died. That's when Luiz said he put it all together.
“I'm still numb about the whole thing,” said Luiz.
He had fond memories of dinners there and visits with Mezoui, who he remembered as generous and full of fun.
They knew each other personally and professionally, with Mezoui calling Luiz in 2007 about purchasing local wines for his restaurant.
Luiz said Mezoui was “probably one of the warmest, kindest people I've ever known.”
At a Clear Lake Chamber dinner last year, which coincided with the end of Luiz' tenure as president, he said Mezoui helped put on a fun event, providing for Luiz a throne, toy crown and robe.
Field, another of Mezoui's many friends, said she'd been e-mailing friends from New York to Hawaii over the weekend, and they all immediately expressed regret and remembrance.
“Zino had a magical ability to make his guests feel at home whether we were celebrating an afternoon on the lake and had come in dripping wet and windblown or if we were wearing our pearls and schmoozing out of town business people,” Field said.
“He somehow remembered that I had minored in French in college and always therefore greeted me in French. He was also fluent in Italian,” she said.
Field, who recently moved from Kelseyville to Washington, DC, said no one on the East Coast will ever achieve that balance of friendly and professional that Mezoui did.
“And did I mention the food? No words describe it,” she said.
Field, who plans to come to Lake County this week for harvest, said the suspect in the hit-and-run had better turn themselves in, because with her coming to town, “jail is the safest place to be” for them.
The loss is a deep one, said Barthel.
“I think that this community is really going to miss Zino,” he said.
According to Barthel, Mezoui's family is planning to continue with his work and keep Zino's open.
Mezoui's life, his friends agreed, was far too short, but one filled with passion.
“What a great life, to do what you love,” Barthel said.
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