There are some impressive new things going on at Trilogy in Irvine, including a cool-weather menu and a couple of neoteric chefs with impeccable credentials.
What a treat to find Jim Strausbaugh now in charge of the kitchen. He came from the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in June, where, for the past seven years, he’d been chef of the Club Grill & Bar, which had garnered the AAA Four Diamond Award for exceptional cuisine. Before that, he had been chef of the prestigious La Chaumiere restaurant in the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. In addition, David Henninger, a 10-year veteran of the Ritz-Carlton, has joined Jim as pastry chef. David apprenticed at a trio of premier pastry schools in Europe.
Trilogy’s owner, Paul Caswell, has proved his serious intent since opening the restaurant in 1997, but never more so than with these latest talents. In the event you missed Paul’s track record before opening Trilogy, he had been co-owner of a highly regarded restaurant in Manhattan. The current menu of creative American food is a balance of classics given a unique flair and ’90s-style dishes we’d cry for were they not available. We also get beautifully plated food,not tall architectural towers, but sufficiently dramatic on the plate to garner several looks before the demolition by fork sets in.
During the winter months, my French grandmother used to roast beets in a hot oven until they were almost caramelized. I loved them and am pretty hung up on the ones at Trilogy. These are cubed and tossed salad-style with blue cheese, sprigs of fris & #233;e and a very light walnut vinaigrette. With a couple of slices of David’s breads, this is a happy beginning. He makes several crusty and soft varieties every day, including a wonderful flat bread, all presented with a trio of savory purees and sweet butter to slather on as you wish.
Dungeness crab cakes must remain on the menu for they are the chunky, full-flavored variety that have become a favorite with customers. Their whole-grain mustard dipping sauce gives an added dimension. A wintry onion and fennel soup has been slowly cooked to extract the rich essences of the vegetables. It is garnished with a julienne of smoked salmon.
At lunch, there are some nice entr & #233;e salads. One is a modern version of the Ni & #231;oise: blanched green beans, seared rare ahi tuna and Alaskan purple potatoes dappled with a trendy black olive vinaigrette. I really like the grilled seafood salad,tuna, white fish, shrimp and scallops,atop mixed greens. The vinaigrette in this case is perfumed with sun-dried tomato.
Dashing a few rungs up the sophistication ladder is the salad of Dungeness crab claws and Maine lobster surrounded with avocado and freshly roasted tomatoes. Sandwiches of interest include a fine curried chicken nestled in pita bread, ahi tuna with snow-pea sprouts wrapped in a flour tortilla with couscous salad on the side and a filet mignon and Bermuda onion affair on a freshly baked rosemary roll.
Pastas are a must anywhere and everywhere, especially for lunch. There are three of the new ones I’d recommend. Spinach ravioli, cooked correctly so that the pasta squares maintain an al dente quality, has the added enticement of not only sauteed exotic mushrooms on the plate, but an agile rosemary cream streaked over them. I’m told that the blackened chicken over penne is one of the most popular pastas with customers since its introduction. The reason is probably the good infusion of sweet roasted garlic and grilled vegetables. The lemon linguine with a vodka sauce dressed with strips of smoked salmon, asparagus spears and basil leaves is first rate. So refreshing. Then, there’s a really delicious risotto mingling happily with some freshly snipped herbs, bits of braised radicchio and toasted pine nuts.
That aforementioned lemon linguine can come as a nifty dinner entr & #233;e topped with grilled Baja prawns. I like having the option of a surf and turf combo: Maine lobster and filet of beef; this one’s gone uptown with truffled mashed potatoes and a lemongrass-Merlot sauce. A generous chunk of Chilean sea bass is delicately cooked in a pistachio crust. A wisp of orange-ginger vinaigrette highlights the seared Atlantic salmon served over braised winter greens that remind me of New England cooking. There’s a classy paillard of veal, and a flavorful grilled free-range chicken to try. The classic simplicity of a New York steak with shoestring potatoes speaks for itself.
Two other things that are better than ever at Trilogy are the wine list and the desserts.
There are at least 14 wines by the glass and the list itself is a study in good vintages from well-known and boutique wineries. I most recently had a St. Supery Cabernet that was emoting blackberry and violets at first whiff, then demurring to scents of leather and cedar and chocolate. Seriously good wine.
As for those desserts, David’s on a roll. The seasonal berry cobbler with oatmeal crumb topping is farmhouse classic. Warm, crispy apples and cranberries take heart from creamy Mascarpone cheese bathing them. Lastly, chocoholics take notice of the chocolate bombe (layers of the stuff with crackly cocoa bean nibs entrenched).
Trilogy just held its last food- and wine-matching dinner of the year, with Dawnine Dyer, winemaker of Domaine Chandon in Napa Valley who has been with the winery 23 years and is one of the world’s foremost female enologists.When you’re in the restaurant, be sure to put your name on the mailing list for the winemaker dinners that will resume after the holidays. And, at this time of year, you might want to talk to them about booking a special party.
The atmosphere at Trilogy is inviting, yet chic. Tables, naturally, are swathed in linen, the high-backed banquettes are fashionably attired, the sleek entry lounge (where on Thursday nights there’s live ’50s, ’60s, jazz and Motown music) is rather dramatic, and the art on the walls is very good indeed. One of its great charms is the beautiful bamboo patio on full view through a wall of glass. However, the restaurant is in no way pretentious. I think it has a great comfort factor.
For the uninitiated, the food and style will turn your head, I’m sure. For everyone, the new menu is very much worth a run-through.
Chao publishes Chao’s Dinesty, a food, wine and travel newsletter, in Irvine.
