Triniti Restaurant is open for lunch again. Eleven to 2:30 pm Tuesday through Friday, the kitchen serves a selection of soup, salads, starters, sandwiches and main courses like cioppino with mussels, clams, flounder and shrimp and filet medallions with a side of French fries.
Last Friday we were invited to drop by the restaurant — which originally served a prix-fixe lunch menu when it first opened in late 2011 and then stopped serving lunch — to sample chef Ryan Hildebrand’s new a la carte lunch menu.
Still on your New Year’s diet? The crudite collection of seasonal vegetables is served with cauliflower crème fraiche ($8, photo above). The vegetables arrive on a bed of crushed ice, and the mild cauliflower-based sauce — a better, lighter-bodied version of ranch dressing — doesn’t overwhelm the veggies.
Lent will be here soon, and those looking for a meatless meal might order the flounder with sage butter ($22, photo above). The fish is buried under a hearty toss of carrots, corn and artichoke hearts. Citrus snaps everything to attention.
Ready to celebrate a less austere choice, we liked the kitchen’s unusual way of serving catfish: Nubbins of catfish are folded into hushpuppy batter ($9, photo above) and fried golden. Each bite is a combination of fish and tender corn batter. The lunch-size serving comes with housemade tartar sauce and, even more indulgent, bacon jam.
The catfish-studded hushpuppies were delicious. But the consensus of the table was that the pressed Cuban sandwich ($11, photo above) served in a small metal bucket on top of French fries, was the not-to-be-missed selection. Between the slices of buttery griddled bread was pulled pork, salty ham, pickles, gooey white cheddar and a zesty “shhhh” sauce (as described on the menu), all smashed together just enough.
The desserts are also worthy of mention, especially the apple cheesecake ($9, photo above). Two former New Yorkers told us that this was the real deal, and it lived up the hype. The cake is rich but not too sweet, and the caramelized milk, cinnamon streusel and caramel ice cream add different layers of texture and sweetness. Triniti’s playful dessert box ($9, photo below) is also available during lunch. The restaurant has been known for this dessert service since first opening, and the rotating selection of sweets always includes macarons and chocolate confections.
Triniti Restaurant, 2815 S. Shepherd between Westheimer & W. Alabama, 713-527-9090, trinitirestaurant.com