Friday, September 2, 2016.
A First Taste Of Trinity.
The day I heard from a radio caller about the opening of Trinity, the reporter was effusive about the place, particularly about the surroundings. The owners performed a deep renovation to a space that was already a nice environment. For some twenty years it was Maximo's, a stylish place with a forward-looking Italian menu. Its narrow room ran about a half block from front to back, with enough other gourmet bistros nearby to give off an aura of roguishness.
The most noteworthy change is the heavy used of black-striped marble throughout most of the restaurant's tables and even on the extensive countertops. Those who remember Maximo's will recall that its kitchen was entirely open. It still is. People sitting at the counter can watch all the chefs' labors, and in lulls in the action might be able to engage the cooks in conversation about their cooking ingredients and techniques. Very cool if you're a foodie.
The tall server with her brilliant smile messes with us in a repartee that lasts all evening long. Very entertaining if you like kidding around. But joking about is eclipsed by her advice about the food, all of which is quite adventuresome. The creations range from three-bite appetizers through substantial platters.
With Mary Ann here, it's inevitable that we will run through two sets of pommes frites as the beverages arrive. Mary Leigh has gnudi, a dish that may or may not someday become a staple in restaurants. It's basically a rearranged gnocchi that is barely held together with ricotta. The name means something like "naked gnocchi." The only other place I've seen it locally was during the short lifespan of A Mano, where the dish was prepared with polish by Adolfo Garcia and his kitchen.
A number of wildly various oyster dishes is advertised in a stripe across the top of the menu. My first pick is cold, raw, shucked oysters in gazpacho. In this we have two of my favorite foods, but this is the first time I've seen them brought together. About a dozen oysters are in the fresh, crisp, chilled tomato-based soup. I was surprised that the oyster component wasn't lost in the soup.
Mary Ann is now indulging in pork belly, strongly urged upon her by the waitress. That doesn't take much: MA loves her fatty cubes of near-bacon.
Dining with us tonight is Mary Leigh's cousin Hilary, who is also to be the maid of honor at ML's wedding. Hilary now has an entrée-the biggest dish on the table-of polenta with what strikes me as sort of an Alfredo sauce, but I didn't get a good enough bite to go into details. Along the same line is a large boat of squash au gratin, which gets passed around to stand as a side dish.
Before me now are four baked oysters that come across as a cross between oysters Bienville and Drago's oysters. Good, rapid treat. A lot of cheese here-too much, I'd say. But I have something else to work on. I haven't seen lately the big marrow bones that were very hip about three years ago. I didn't understand the appeal of it then or now. The marrow inside the groove in the bone is tasty enough, but it goes down very quickly. The biggest main course is a braised pork shank. I never got a taste of this. The Marys and their minion pack it all away.
Shifting back from the past to the present: I took photos of all these dishes, using my big new wireless phone. Trouble is, I have yet to discover how to download the images from the phone to the computer, that I may present the visuals to readers. I owe all our readers a lot of photographs, and I will present them if I ever dope the thing out.
Back to Diary Daylight Time: the restaurant's manager picks me out of the crowd. I already had an interesting, multi-level dessert with a dulce de leche flavor. To that, without our asking, he adds a bowl of mango sorbet. I never thought of dessert being turned into a baksheesh to my critical mind, and it isn't tonight.
Trinity. French Quarter: 1117 Decatur St. 504-325-5789.
