the trellis restaurant

not yet. cocktail party summary--williamsburg's trellis, which way back,used to be the burg's most famous and best restaurant, has been bought by david everett, chef/owner of the blue talon. those of us who have witnessed the decline of the trellis jumped for joy as everett planned a regional menu that incorporated locally raised food and which kept the iconic death by chocolate. what's not to like?
we visited 10 days after opening and were pleased to see some of the folk from the blue talon welcoming guests. but therestauranthas a ways to go. after listening to the bartender rave about the homeade sour mix, i was underwhelmed by my maker's whiskey sour. not nearly the perfect libation that they make at the talon. once seated, several typical newrestaurantgaffes played out. we had to ask for bread and remind the waiter about a second glass of wine. as for the food, only one meal out of four was a winner, the soft shell crabs. i had the berkshire pork, which was scant and tasteless. daughter and mother-in-law had some kind of chicken whose rarefied origin tantalized us, but in the end, nobody wanted to take home the leftovers. sides--cauliflower casserole, sauteed greens, creamed corn, and scalloped tomatoes-- sounded great but again were lackluster. afraid that we would be there until midnight if we split some death by chocolate, we opted instead to head to brusters.
given my love for the blue talon, i am hopeful that this experience can be blamed on opening jitters. we'll give it another try when we start hearing good things on this board.

pining for the past. it's been over a year since we last had dinner at the trellis, which was one of our favorite restaurants prior to this evening. we arrived a half hour early but we were seated almost right away. i noticed that therestaurantwas brighter in light and and color, which gave it a nice look and atmosphere. however the food was not up to the high standard which i had placed previously. my wife ordered the blackened salmon which came overcooked and dry. when we informed the waitress she told us surprisingly that the salmon is normally cooked that way and that it is only the tuna that is cooked rare in the middle. my daughter ordered the lamb which supposed to be cooked medium rare but came medium. to the credit of therestaurantthe food was taken back and was replaced within minutes with the salmon and lamb cooked as requested. my mother-in-law ordered the shrimp and grits which was excellent. i ordered the pasta with mushrooms which very tasty and earthy. it appears that the trellis has shortened their menu and changed it to what they had served in the past. one item that still remained on the menu was the sinfully chocolate dessert. we did not order it this time but throughout our meal the waiters and waitresses were bringing out the desserts to other patrons.
this is still a very goodrestaurantbut i have to say that it has come down a few notches from the best restaurants in the area.

used to be great! the trellis was our favoriterestaurantfor special dinners. las rime we went in jan 2008 was our last visit ever. we were celebrating my husbands birthday and our first pregnancy. it was a big day for us. the service was awful, the food was worse. my chicken was way over cooked and i had to send it back. no manager came to the table, no one cared. so on our way out i found the manager sitting at a table having a coctail. i told her what happened and she said sorry and blew me off. so i wrote a letter to them telling them what happened. i got no reply. if they don't care about their customers, i don't care to spend my money there. maybe they count on one time visits by tourists and not returning customers. go to the fat canary, we do.

good desserts, bad meal. the trellis has been my favoriterestaurantfor years but no more. the service stinks! the last few time we went we literally sat for 15 or 20 minutes to get our drinks ordered. the staff is mostly college students and they do not seem to be very informed about the menu. the menu was changed a few months back and the food does not taste the same ( i *believe* a new owner took over). the meat is dry and unseasoned. the water was warm and served without ice. when i asked for ice i was looked at like i was crazy. the soups continue to be good as d0 the desserts. if you must go, i would skip the meal and go straight for dessert.

not bad, but i hoped for better.... my wife and i spotted trellis and we knew we had to stop. we've seen their pastry chef numerous times on food network and so we assumed the place had to be good. we were seated quickly (not bad for a friday evening) even though it was pretty full. the server was very knowledgeable and welcoming. the menu was pretty decent, the prices are right at the four-dollar-sign range. this rather surprised my wife and i as the inside of therestaurantwasn't that nice...it was more modern, almost a "dated" modern (perhaps it was remodeled 10+ years ago?) that i wouldn't have expected from a place serving a menu with prices like that. i also noted a lot of kids being quite noisy and at one point, two little ones chased each other around some of the tables! i have young kids and am very understanding of kids being noisy...but when i'm dropping $125 for food and $50 for the babysitter, i'd like to be somewhere that's a little quieter than my own house! the food itself was unspectacular. nothing was bad, by any means, but for the price, i think we could have gotten a better plate of food elsewhere. we did get the death by chocolate cake, and it was pretty spectacular. i grew up in a bakery and i like chocolate...so i was very happy. not the best chocolate cake i've ever eaten, but really, really close. it was good (and big) enough where i took the leftovers home to finish them over two more days! overall, the experience was good, but if you're looking for someplace that serves either really great food (other than dessert) or has really nice ambiance, you'll probably want to go somewhere else.