Trio Kitchen Table

[viaChgo]

I know it's already been said, but, awesome post jeffj! Thanks for taking the effort in your review. One of the best ever.

[robyn]

<<In just over 25 hours, not only did we eat the TDF at Trio but we also ate at Harold’s Fried Chicken, Al’s and Johnnie’s Italian Beef, SuperDawg, and Gino’s East. Needless to say that by the end of the trip we were absolutely stuffed.>>

In what order did you eat at these restaurants? And all in 25 hours? Robyn

[jeffj]

REPOSTING EARLIER MESSAGE:

A great, great report. Can you talk a little bit more about vapors. I mean, do you eat it or do you just smell it? I still can't quite grasp the concept of tasting compared to, well, eating, but it looks like an interesting experience. I'm also interested in the salad. And do you leave Trio feeling stuffed, satisfied, or a little hungry?

Trio has utilized several iterations of vapor dishes in the past. Esentially, these dishes consist of carefully selected aromatics that surround the edible portion of the dish. In this case, the aromatics were hay, pumpkin, etc. and the actual dish consisted of pheasant with an apple cider nage. When presented at the table, hot water is poured over the aromatics and a wonderful aroma rises from the table. As you eat, the scented vapor should enhance your experience with the food. You don't actually eat any of the aromatics.

For both of my TDF meals at Trio, I have left completely full...not uncomfortably so, but very satiated. And I’m a relatively big eater.

Please tell me what 'harvested prematurely' means. You can extract the roe from a trout at the time it is ready to spawn by massaging the belly and the roe comes out the anal vent but that is not premature. The only way I know to harvest the roe prematurely is by cutting open the trout!

From my understanding of the description of this dish, I believe you are correct. The trout is slit open before it's ready to spawn.

Just wondering, how much was the bill for this amazing meal?

$350 for two TDF menus

$200 for two wine pairings

$21 for three bottles of water

$6 for two coffees

$62.50 for tax

+ the tip of your choice.

[jeffj]

<<In just over 25 hours, not only did we eat the TDF at Trio but we also ate at Harold’s Fried Chicken, Al’s and Johnnie’s Italian Beef, SuperDawg, and Gino’s East. Needless to say that by the end of the trip we were absolutely stuffed.>>

In what order did you eat at these restaurants? And all in 25 hours? Robyn

Here's a quick summary...all of this is was split between the two of us:

1:25PM Sunday: Harold's 1/4 Dark Dinner, Hot Sauce, Pineapple-Passion Soda

3:05PM Sunday: SuperDawg and a Whoopski Dawg, Root-Beer

6:00PM Sunday: Trio TDF

10:10AM Monday: Al's Big Beef-juicy-hot, Fries, Cup of Cheese, Lemonade

11:30AM Monday: Gino's East - Small Spinach Deep Dish, Diet Coke

2:40PM Monday: Johnnie's Beef-Dipped-Sweet, Italian Ice

-j

[docsconz]

<<In just over 25 hours, not only did we eat the TDF at Trio but we also ate at Harold’s Fried Chicken, Al’s and Johnnie’s Italian Beef, SuperDawg, and Gino’s East. Needless to say that by the end of the trip we were absolutely stuffed.>>

In what order did you eat at these restaurants? And all in 25 hours? Robyn

Here's a quick summary...all of this is was split between the two of us:

1:25PM Sunday: Harold's 1/4 Dark Dinner, Hot Sauce, Pineapple-Passion Soda

3:05PM Sunday: SuperDawg and a Whoopski Dawg, Root-Beer

6:00PM Sunday: Trio TDF

10:10AM Monday: Al's Big Beef-juicy-hot, Fries, Cup of Cheese, Lemonade

11:30AM Monday: Gino's East - Small Spinach Deep Dish, Diet Coke

2:40PM Monday: Johnnie's Beef-Dipped-Sweet, Italian Ice

-j

Ouch! How did you fit that all in?

[Holly Moore]

That Diet Coke makes a lot of sense.

Well eaten, though I notice breaksfast is missing. Next time might I suggest Original Pancake's Apple Pancake before the Italian beef?

[eem]

Your photos came out great! If it's not too off subject, what kind of camera do you use? I'm shopping for a small dig. camera for close up of foodstuff and yours gave excellent results, not to mention your engaging compositions.

Thanks!

[robert brown]

Jeff, that was a labor of love. It looks like there aren't more than five people preparing the food. Did you get a chance to watch the goings-on? Did you get up and watch from time to time? Could you get an idea of how much the chefs prepared ahead and how much was "a la minute" or made during the seance?

[jeffj]

Your photos came out great! If it's not too off subject, what kind of camera do you use? I'm shopping for a small dig. camera for close up of foodstuff and yours gave excellent results, not to mention your engaging compositions.

I used an Pentax Optio S camera...one of the smallest digital cameras available (it fits in an Altoids tin). I like the size and it's perfect for restaurant photography. But if you want to have more manual control you'll have to go with a larger and more expensive camera. I shoot without flash so as not to disturb other patrons. By doing so, you have to have a really steady hand because the shutter needs to be open for an extended period. I usually take several shots and often only one or two come out decent. As for the compositions...chefg's food just cries out for great photography. It's food art at its finest.

[robyn]

Jeff, that was a labor of love. It looks like there aren't more than five people preparing the food. Did you get a chance to watch the goings-on? Did you get up and watch from time to time? Could you get an idea of how much the chefs prepared ahead and how much was "a la minute" or made during the seance?

At almost all restaurants - there's a lot of time devoted to "mise en place" which - translated - means "to put in place" (ahead of time). At its extreme - for example at 3 star restaurants in France - you will see the kitchen prep people hulling strawberries at 9 am. But you can also observe it at your local Chinese restaurant at 4 pm - the kitchen staff sitting down at a table and removing the strings from snow pea pods. If you want an excellent cookbook which describes some of the techniques used in professional kitchens - I recommend The New Professional Chef published by the Culinary Institute of America. Robyn

[malarkey]

$350 for two TDF menus

$200 for two wine pairings

$21 for three bottles of water

$6 for two coffees

$62.50 for tax

+ the tip of your choice.

holy mary mother of god. this is more expensive than the French Laundry.

Awesome, awesome review. Really, one of the best I've ever read on egullet. Now I simply HAVE to go to Trio.

[ronnie_suburban]

Here's a quick summary...all of this is was split between the two of us:

1:25PM Sunday:  Harold's 1/4 Dark Dinner, Hot Sauce, Pineapple-Passion Soda

3:05PM Sunday:  SuperDawg and a Whoopski Dawg, Root-Beer

6:00PM Sunday:  Trio TDF

10:10AM Monday:  Al's Big Beef-juicy-hot, Fries, Cup of Cheese, Lemonade

11:30AM Monday:  Gino's East - Small Spinach Deep Dish, Diet Coke

2:40PM  Monday:  Johnnie's Beef-Dipped-Sweet, Italian Ice

-j

You are my new hero!

=R=

[chefg]

Could you get an idea of how much the chefs prepared ahead and how much was "a la minute" or made during the seance?

We employ 10 in the kitchen including myself. This number is usaully bumped by 5 due to stages, and externs which are unpaid. Of course a great deal of preparation is required throughout the day but all dishes are cooked, finished and plated ala minute.

[D. Peckham]

Chef Grant just wondering what kind of turn over of staff you have on a regular basis?

[eem]

I used an Pentax Optio S camera...one of the smallest digital cameras available (it fits in an Altoids tin). I like the size and it's perfect for restaurant photography. But if you want to have more manual control you'll have to go with a larger and more expensive camera. I shoot without flash so as not to disturb other patrons.

Thanks for the camera info. I saw that one in American Photo's August Editors picks.

Thanks again for sacrificing the temperature of the food in order to make some photography.

[Truffle]

What a beautiful portrait of your experience! Having spent a good deal of time in a top kitchen not long ago, the photo-captures of 'a night in motion' in the inner world of a splendor such as Trio are bittersweet to me. Thanks for the view!

Truffle

[chefg]

Chef Grant just wondering what kind of turn over of staff you have on a regular basis?

We have been fortunate to have very little turnover in the two and half years I been at Trio. Three of my original hires are still on board. Only two people have left short of one year, which is rare in the world of 16+ hour days.

[SethG]

I want to add my thanks for your wonderful report on Trio.

I was also pleased to see that you put Harold's Chicken Shack in its proper place among all of the places you visited: first among equals!

[speidec]

I also must say the photos were great and well focused. I have to ask , though, in some of the pictures there was a small dish containing a perfetc quenelle of a yellow substance; was it butter? and if so what kind of bread was served? ChefG posted a while back about tinkering with taditional bread service. And why was it so yellow?

[VeryApe77]

I think it probably is butter - To add my 2 cents, when I had the TDF our waiter told us that the butter comes from a purveyor who only supplies butter to the french laundry and trio. He explained why it was so yellow, but I will not try to explain it here as I would probably get it wrong! I will say that it sticks out in my mind as the best butter I have ever tasted in my life!

[jeffj]

I also must say the photos were great and well focused. I have to ask , though, in some of the pictures there was a small dish containing a perfetc quenelle of a yellow substance; was it butter? and if so what kind of bread was served? ChefG posted a while back about tinkering with taditional bread service. And why was it so yellow?

Yes, it was the butter. Although I didn't try it on this occassion, it is the most wonderful butter that I've ever tasted. It comes from Animal Farm in Vermont. It's primarily served at The French Laundry (where I have tried it). It's definitely a great carryover from chefg's time at FL.

The bread served were small rolls. In order to save room for the meal I didn't try it.

[FoodMan]

What a fantastic post!!!! The best ever. Thank you so much. I loved the Chefs-at-work pictures as well. I cannot waite to dine there.

Elie

[malarkey]

$350 for two TDF menus

$200 for two wine pairings

$21 for three bottles of water

$6 for two coffees

$62.50 for tax

+ the tip of your choice.

holy mary mother of god. this is more expensive than the French Laundry.

Actually I guess this is about the same as FL now that I think about it. The photos go a long way toward telling the story. Truly, this place has moved to the top of my list. Now how & when can I get there.. hmmmm

[tammylc]

Had dinner at the kitchen table last night. It was fabulous, astounding, wonderful, and most of all fun! Chefg's sense of whimsy shines strongly through his food, and I went with a group of people who were really able to embrace that whimsy. At times I worried that we were disrupting the kitchen with our laughter!

Our menu was nearly identical to the one Jefff had, as I expected. There were a few differences in both the content and the order of execution. I'm not going to aim for a course by course run down necessarily, I'll just comment on our observations and the few new dishes.

Our menu:

Pear-Eucalyptus-Olive Oil

Pacific Sea Urchin; puree of orange rind, peppers, licorice

Puree of Chestnuts; quince, bacon, potato ice cream - We were all utterly amazed by the potato ice cream - utter confusion between what your brain was expecting and what your mouth got!

Tempura of Rock Shrimp; vanilla, cranberry, Meyer lemon - Absolute favorite dish of 2 of our table of 4, and in the top 3 for the rest of us. An amazing combination of flavors and textures - the crisp of the tempura shell and fabulous fruity hit. Wow. So, so good. And smells great too, thanks to the vanilla bean.

Spice Water

Black Truffle Explosion - I think I'd heard about this one a little too much. I was really looking forward to it, and while it was great, I wasn't as awed as I expected to be. The concept and technique is astounding of course, but I think that I just prefer my truffles as a part of other dishes rather than all on their own.

Extra course - Smoked sturgeon with pumpkin, pumpkin seeds, matsutake mushroom (same one Jeffj had, and like for him, not printed on the menu) - The dried mushrooms had such a wonderful intensity, and the sturgeon was remarkable.

Elysian Fields Farm Lamb; chanterelle mushrooms, coffee, catmint - I don't like coffee, but this still worked for me!

"Pizza" - What more is there to say? Truly astounding, even more so given that we'd all eaten pizza for lunch. This was better.

Ribeye of Prime Beef; banana, celeriac, malted barley (ours was beef, where Jeffj's was venison) - The combinations here worked better than I could possibly have expected. M couldn't stop raving about the beef/chocolate reduction sauce that was also a component.

"Cheese and Cracker"

"Salad" - "This is a prank of the first order" declared one of my companions. We were all very impressed and delighted by this one.

Pushed Foie Gras; Dolga crabapples, honey gelee - My favorite of the evening. I'd had something similar on my trip to Trio last year, but this was even better. The apple cider sorbet was great.

Mountain Huckleberry Soda; five flavors gelled - We were all utterly awed by the smoked cream. So much so that we asked how it was done, and got our answer towards the end of the meal (it's just cold smoked, no tricks, although I can't remember what kind of wood she said they used). The sage gell amazed me by being so totally transparent, and while I found it didn't have much flavor on its own, I found that it had the most impact on the flavor of the soda. Neat alchemy!

Pineapple-Mustard

**extra course: Kumumoto oyster with sesame foam - Unfortunately, none of us really like this one. I generally really like oysters, but I think this variety just didn't work for me. The oyster was already loaded on a spoon, with a sesame foam over the top. A one bit dish.

Michigan Brook Trout Roe; ginger, soy, papaya - Every flavor in this dish is really, really intense - the roe is of course remarkable, but the ginger and soy also really express themselves. I didn't _dislike_ it (a couple people at the table did, though) but it was just too much intensity for me to finish it. I also found that as we entered the second progression I was feeling overfull and suffering from some palate fatigue.

Puffed Lobster; grapefruit, lemongrass

**Salsify Wrapped in Bread; shellfish, Buddha's hand, dried parsley - Two pieces of salsify breaded in brioche crumbs and fried crispy, with some fish and shellfish. I can't remember the main sauce, but the secondary sauce was a bright green parsley sauce. The "dried parsley" in the name refers to a translucent sheet of dehydrated parsley oil - I don't know how they make it, but it was really neat! It also included some bright Buddha's hand gellee, and a fresh Buddha's hand was zested over top of the dish. For those unfamiliar with the fruit, it's a type of citrus that looks like a whole bunch of bright yellow fingers - it had a great aroma and flavor.

Iowa Pork; figs, truffles, fennel - Delightful, but I was really starting to feel full. So I tasted all of the components, but only ate about half.

**Frozen Yuzu-Tosaka Seaweed - Just when I really needed a palate cleanser, along came an astounding one. A frozen wafer of Yuzu juice, with a beautiful frond of red seaweed pressed into one side.

Breast and Leg of Wisconsin Pheasant; late autumnal fragrances - This is the current vapor dish, and the three city dwellers in the group loved it. One of our party, however, had grown up on a farm, and the late autumnal fragrances smelled just a like a barn to her! And since one just doesn't eat in a barn, she had a really hard time with this dish!

Hereford Hop; Guiness, onions, fresh yeast

Mango-Olive-Pistachio - I liked the pixie stick concept, but the filling just didn't work for me.

Tapioca of Roses; raspberries, clove, cream - Wow, wow, wow. We all adored it, and loved the fun of slurping it out of a tube.

Liquid Mijao; parmesan, quinoa, hazelnuts - "Watch it jiggle, see it wiggle..." Loved the look, but the flavor and the combinations didn't really do it for me. Interestingly, we had a lot more garnishes than in Jeffj's picture.

Tripod Hibiscus - Another wonderfully whimsical dish that also tasted great!

And the chocolates of course!

It was really neat to be in the kitchen and see all the dishes coming together. It was a quiet Sunday night and the kitchen team was working away on some dishes for the upcoming switch to the winter menu, including something to do with a cured goose breast. Sadly, we didn't get to sample anything! After seeing the "Into the Fire" episode, it was cool to see some of that playful creativity in person.

The wine service was great, and the pairings were inspired, as usual. Lots of unusual wines, like a white wine from Sicily and a red wine from Austria! Never any typical pairings - everything was really creative. I'd been wine geeking with our server all evening, and as we got talking about ports, he got inspired and brought me out an Amontillado (sp?) dry sherry to taste. It had a very nutty finish that you wouldn't really expect. Very interesting, and a nice treat.

Service overall was great. Many of the dishes were explained by members of the kitchen staff, with the sous chef coming up for a few, and the pastry chef for another. Being in the kitchen definitely takes the pressure off of providing picture perfect service - the atmosphere doesn't necessarily demand it, and you get so distracted by what's going on that you wouldn't notice service gaffes that would be apparent in the dining room. But that said, I didn't have a single complaint about the service.

We were the last table in the place (dinner took about 5 hours total) and Chefg came over to talk to us at the end of the night. We sort of talked his ear off, we were so excited about the experience, and eager to share our favorites! Hope he didn't mind too much!

Despite my palate fatigue at the beginning of the second progression, by the end of the meal I wasn't at all overly full and felt really rejuvenated.

The whole team at Trio is doing just utterly remarkable work. Only a couple of course out of the 27 didn't work for us, but not through any flaw in execution, just a reflection of our tastes. Chefg is doing a lot of really exciting things with combining sweet and savory tastes in dishes - as somone else mentioned, almost all the desserts had a little bit of sea salt to them, which added a whole new layer. But I was most impressed with the combinations of hot and cold, both in individual dishes and throughout the meal as a whole. No simple sorbet intermezzos for Trio - all of the cold/frozen dishes were just as thought out as the warm and were among my favorites time and time again.

Thanks Chefg and team for a wonderful night! Truly an experience to remember! I can't wait until next time.

[summertruffle]

Whether or not Trio is your cup of tea, I don't think that there is a restaurant in the US (maybe FL) that continually offers such an eye-opening, almost emotional experience. Sure there is the [rare] negative review, but the vast majority of people that dine there seem to come away with an almost life-changing experience.

It makes it seem sort of magical, in a sense. Which obviously appeals to many diners. Myself included.

Thanks for another wonderful review, tammy!