Atlanta Midtown Restaurant Week: Trois
It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year: Atlanta Midtown Restaurant Week. A large number of restaurants in the area offer 3 course tasting menus for $25. We try to take advantage of the cheaper eats. Our first foray this year was to Trois, a place we’d been meaning to visit for quite some time. Located at the corner of 14th and Peachtree, Trois is one of the latest offerings by the same restaurant group responsible for One Midtown Kitchen and Two Urban Licks. We’ve had excellent food (and mediocre service) at both locations and we’d heard that Trois was the best of the three.
We arrived quite early in terms of the evening and our reservations so we grabbed a drink at the bar. My wife ordered a mint julep and I ordered their signature martini. The mint julep was definitely good but the Trois Martini was perfect for the end of a hot summer day. Green tea and mellowed taste of gin with just a bit of mint, yum. We sat at the bar which though empty felt overstuffed as it was crammed with chairs. The lighted floor and comfortable looking tables would have been a better bet. Despite the liberal use of metal, like the starry lighted aluminum floors, the place still felt pretty relaxing. That would have to wait as we headed up to the second of three floors to the restaurant.
The main dining area is surrounded by large windows that were open to views of downtown Atlanta and the surrounding buildings. I’ve always been a fan of glass art and I especially liked how the looked in the fading light of the day. The exposed kitchen was tucked off to the side but clearly visible from most anywhere. I’m not certain who we offended but were were stuck smack in the middle of the floor with other tables within much less than arm’s length. The wait staff had quite a few problems navigating over to us which led to a few issues with serving. The ladies were often served last from the left side, etc. Not a big deal but noticable. We were immediately presented with a glass of sparkling wine and an amuse bouche, a small taste of pureed watermelon which while refreshing was a bit too sweet. My dining companions thought the mirepoix spread for the bread was tasty and perfect for the slightly rustic loaf. In a break from most Restaurant Week dining we weren’t presented with any choices for our meal. They had a selected a couple of items off the regular menu and presented smaller portions of each tapas-style. The heirloom tomato salad they brought out first far exceeded my expectations. The freshness of the tomatoes was exceptional and the balsamic they had with the goat cheese was a great match. The hanger steak with bearnaise and fries was a let down. The steak was tough and salty and the fries lacked crispness. It should be said that I’m not a fan of bearnaise so that did them no favors. We also added an order of the burgundy snails and “Toad in a Hole”. The snails were a nice change of pace from the traditional overly garlicky presentation. I could actually taste snail, how ’bout that? The real winner to everyone was the goat cheese ravioli with tomato nestled among the snails. The “Toad in a Hole” was a fun trip though many textures with tuna tartar (nothing special), brioche and egg (yay childhood treats) and wasabi caviar (more wasabi please). It’s fun to eat but its taste feels a bit jumbled.
For the main course we were presented first with Flounder Parisian. Eh. The flounder lacked any sort of crispness though it tasted fine. It was served on a bed of green mush with some baby cauliflower lounging around. It had promise but I think they may have been phoning this in for the “cheapskates” of Restaurant Week. The duck breast was a different story. I’m a huge fan of duck. I order duck everywhere. This was my second favorite duck ever. (It loses out to Mario Batalle’s chipotle duck sloppy joe… lots of yummy chipotle taste, yet still very much *duck*). The confit served alongside was quite excellent as well. I’m definitely going back just for it!
Dessert was a flourless chocolate cake. I’m no chocoholic so this wouldn’t have been my first choice in dessert but the home made mint chocolate chip icecream was the real star. Like the other Concentrics restuarants ice cream is a focal area. More ice cream needs fresh mint, though ever since everyone went mojito-crazy I’m getting my wish.
We popped up to the third floor to check out their other dining room, usually held for private parties. It looked quite similar to the floor below, but the real goal for going up there was to check out restrooms. A very intriguing part of the fine dining experience. The “M” and “W”s marking the door were easy enough to figure out… and colored lights let you easily find an open bathroom “pod” but you can’t shake the feeling that you’re really in some weird in-flight spaceship bathroom complete with a weird toilet with a very well hidden flushing mechanism. They helpfully include a sign that informs you that the button is on the “right”. Which is a complete lie if you’re not sitting on the toilet while you flush… who does that unless they have to? Freaky. There’s a right nice futuristic waiting area for the men to sit around in while the lady-folk spend 5 minutes trying to figure out how to flush.
I’d definitely go back to Trois. They have an interesting French inspired menu, a great wine list and a bevy of interesting cocktails. Aside from being stuffed into an inconvenient table our waiter was excellent… oh and they validate parking. That’s always a nice touch in Midtown.
Comments
Leave a Reply
