Trio makes beautiful music as new duo takes reins

Nation's Restaurant News, Sept 16, 1996 by Carolyn Walkup

EVANSTON, Ill. - Trio Restaurant has won back its original strong reputation following the unceremonious and widely publicized departure of its opening celebrity chefs last fall.

Owner Henry Adaniya's appointments of Shawn McClain as executive chef and Della Gossett as pastry chef have proved successful, as the restaurant has kept its high critical ratings and solid customer counts. Both McClain and Gossett trained under opening husband-and-wife chef team Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand who parted ways with Adaniya after a disagreement. They left shortly after opening their own restaurant, Brasserie T, a more casual eatery in north suburban Northfield, Ill.

Before becoming sous chef and chef de cuisine at Trio, McClain was sous chef at Tuttaposto in Chicago and Betise in suburban Wilmette. He is a graduate of the Culinary School of Kendall College in Evanston.

When news of the change became public knowledge, Trio experienced reservation cancellations and negative local press coverage that implied the restaurant would not remain as good as it had been, McClain said. Some people mistakenly thought there was new ownership or that the restaurant had closed.

"We concentrated on the day-to-day and made sure every day was good," he said. While a few kitchen staffers left with Tramonto and Gand, most stayed on, easing the transition.

Gossett was an art teacher before she switched careers and studied at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. Her artistic bent is evident in her pastry work.

Although the pair have retained a few of their predecessors' creations, almost all of the menu has evolved to reflect their own ideas. "What you see today is more Asian influence along with French and a smattering of Italian, and more complexity in flavors. There are more layers of flavors and textures," Adanlya said.

In an era when many fine-dining restaurants have suffered as the casualization trend has proliferated, customers from throughout the Chicago metropolitan area as well as visiting guests from all over the world appear to be supporting the restaurant. Prime-time reservations for Saturday nights are booking about six weeks in advance and the kitchen table books as far ahead as six months for Saturday nights, Adaniya said. Reservations for other nights are easier to get.

Dinner checks average $75 in the 77-seat restaurant, which is designed with wood-and-stone paneling and a large brick fireplace. A prix-fixe degustation at the kitchen table which seats four in the kitchen, is priced at $100 each.

Adaniya, who has some silent partners, explained his philosophy of running Trio. "Fine dining can be intimidating," he said. "Here it's fun yet professional and committed to making something wonderful. It's that delicate balance.

"We aren't trying to do big numbers or break sales records. We're trying to express art, commitment and passion for dining. After I distill everything out, I like to entertain and make people happy," said Adaniya, who formerly worked at Ambria in Chicago.

In spite of his own commitment to excellence, Adaniya said he tries not to be too serious about it. "We tell people to make a mess of a dish even though it's awfully pretty. We tell them to dive in and enjoy it with vigor," he said.

The dishes are indeed artfully presented, continuing and expanding upon the plate-presentation style used at Trio since it opened. Meals begin and end with eye-catching miniature arrangements of appetizers and desserts on various serving pieces, including granite and marble slabs and mirrors.

Two of the most artistic-looking appetizers are a Japanese bento box filled with an assortment of delicate sushi and accompaniments and a domestic-caviar platter arranged on a painter's palette. Seafood courses typically are layered sculptures of such ingredients as sauteed skate wing, baby artichokes, oven-roasted tomatoes, fennel and smoked tomato bouillon. Another colorful creation is poached halibut with wild-mushroom crepe, peekytoe crabmeat and red wine-crab essence.

Examples of meat courses are roasted New Zealand venison loin with summer vegetable fricassee, molasses-cured bacon and dry sherry sauce and cardamom-crusted rack of lamb with goat cheese, spiced basmati tart, tomato confit and natural juices.

Gossett's desserts often carry some whimsicality, such as coffee-flavored creme caramel served with warm caramelized bananas nestled in a coconut- and- mac adami a nut cookie baked in the shape of a wave. Her version of a miniature root beer float, which Gand also served here, is accompanied by morsels of a cookie-and-caramel corn on a child's Peter Rabbit plate.

The polished wait staff describes each course as it's brought to the table. Adaniya, who honed his front-of-the-house skills at Ambria, credits that restaurant's partners Richard Melman and Gabino Sotelino with teaching him the importance of staff development. He also found that pooling gratuities helps to achieve the desired level of service.

"Trio was a dream for me for many years," Adaniya said. "We went through changes and tribulations, but I feel proud to have a restaurant of this caliber."