Met a friend for coffee at Annie’s this morning just before the annual Veteran’s Day Parade. This cheerful French-bistro-inspired café was crisp and quite this morning with a few business-types huddled over coffee and executive-style conversation.
I ordered a latte at the register, paid for it, and sort of waited near the counter, unsure if I should wait to receive the coffee or just go sit down and wait for them to bring it to me. The person at the register moved on to the next customer without so much as scooping up some beans to grind. I decided to grab a bistro table near the opened French doors and wait while enjoying the cool morning air.
Only a few minutes went by before the restaurant manager warmly stopped by to make sure I’d been helped. I told him I was just waiting for a latte and a friend. The darkened look that came over his face concerned me.
“I’m so sorry, but we’re out of espresso,” He said.
Out of espresso? What breakfast spot runs out of espresso? That’s almost like saying, “We have no eggs!”
I looked at him inquisitively before responding, “Hmmm, well what do you suggest? I just paid for a latte.”
Without skipping a beat, he offered up a cup of their freshly brewed Toscana coffee and a warm raspberry scone. The coffee was so-so, but take that with a grain of salt as I’m not really a drip coffee fan to begin with. The scone, however, made everything just right. Warm, creamy, and balanced with that sweet-tart taste you’d expect from a garden fresh raspberry.
A tip of the hat to the manager for swooping in to save the day. Here’s to hoping they’ve got espresso beans the next time I stop by for a raspberry scone…
Take for instance the new additions of grass-fed beef carpaccio with truffled arugula and a farm fresh egg served sunny-side-up, or the sweet and citrusy grouper ceviche accented with a side of gin-soaked sliced cucumbers. Both were excellent. Kerri was insistent that we try her favorite—the lamb sliders with cabbage and tzatziki and a side of “the best steak fries in the world.” (According the Kerri.) I have to say, I’m glad she was so intent. The sliders were tasty indeed and the fries were, well, see aforementioned quote…
After sharing a few bits of juicy engagement tidbits with us, he hinted at a few other items from the main dinner menu worth trying, namely the wild mushroom-stuffed ravioli with sage-brown-butter sauce and spiced butternut squash that made me feel as if I were at my grandmother’s for Thanksgiving.
He also insisted we try a crispy order of “sunchoke tots.” These little fritters arrive as balls of shredded potato and sunchoke (root of sunflowers) salted and fried like tater tots and served in a warm cast iron dish over gooey blue cheese. Though these menu items are not on the Happy Hour menu, it’s worth asking for an order. YUM!
No Happy Hour is complete without a tasty libation. And perhaps I should have mentioned this first as the wines by the glass menu is quite simply phenomenal. What else would you expect from the fine-tuned palate of Trio’s convivial sommelier, Mark Sayre, who has meticulously handpicked a list of wines that are not only exquisite, but nicely varied for a variety of personal tastes. Kerri’s an albariño fan, and Sayre was eager to give her a taste of a bottle of the Spanish white varietal he had just added to the menu: Burgans from Rias Baizis, Spain. And while helping decide on a full yet juicy Cabernet from Amavi Cellars in Washington, he shared that he’ll be heading back to Washington this year to work on his second round of winemaking with Justin Wylie at Va Piano Vineyards in Walla Walla.
