Tre

As we drove up to Tre, Mom told me that Chevy's, TGI Friday, and El Torito used to be known as the venereal triangle. I'd been to that El Torito, and I wasn't expecting the ambiance we encountered in the new Haines brothers restaurant, Tre. It was beautiful inside! There was a scotch bar, a cigar lounge, a dance floor, a wine bar... I also really liked the decor in the main eating area, with long curtains providing some privacy between tables and lovely glass orbs hanging from the ceiling.

I was anxious to try it, because I love 33rd Street Bistro. Then there was a good review in the Bee. I decided it would be my brithday dinner with my mom... and my dad! On both visits, they had to get the high chair from the back -- it was clearly not intended to be a family restaurant. Still, they were very solicitous of us and the baby on both visits.

The food was fantastic. On my first visit, we tried the portabello mushroom with grilled halloumi cheese as an appetizer. I love halloumi cheese, a thick Greek cheese with a lot of texture. It was topped with a bright chimichurri sauce. My meal that evening was a vegetarian lasagna, which tasted fresh and authentic. On my second visit we had the mushroom appetizer again, as well as deep-fried lotus root chips with "Asian guacamole." I didn't love the chips -- they were cut so thin that it could have been deep-fried anything, and instead of all being crisp and separate, some were clumped together and rubbery. The flavor of the Asian guacamole was pretty good, but I couldn't tell exactly what it was. Not avocado, I don't think. That evening I had the risotto with root vegetables. It was very good. It was topped with cheese, and I believe there was cheese in the dish as well. The menu said something about "red rice" and the dish was red in color.

On that visit, I also had dessert, a flourless chocolate cake. I really enjoyed the cake, but the raspberry sauce that accompanied with it was a little on the sweet side.

The third vegetarian entree on the menu was another Italian dish, a pasta, which strikes me as a little unadventurous. But with the quality of the food, I'd say it's definitely worth a trip.

There were lots of choices for your non-veggie companions. My mom was very pleased with her hangar steak, which she said was cooked perfectly and didn't need the two sauces that accompanied it.

We also had really friendly, prompt, attentive service on both visits.

So great ambience, good service, and good food -- I have a new restaurant to add to my favorites list. In the venereal triangle.