Tria

Opened May 2004, Tria celebrates fermentation by providing a sizeable selection of beer, wine, and cheese. Their menu is four big beautiful pages of mouth watering goodness. First page, snacks, bruschetta, salads, sandwiches, sweets, and beverages. I wanted to eat everything and had hoped to return a second time this trip for the smoked duck salad and flourless cake.

The cheese, beer, and wine list each have their own pages. These pages are subdivided using colorful descriptors, “sociable reds”; “luscious whites” beers are “profound” or “invigorating” among other things. The cheeses go from clean to luscious to stinky to approachable to stoic to racy. I wanted to explore every area but sadly only have one stomach.

To drink, I started with a Sparkling Brut “Armance B.,” Ampelidae from Loire, France. This was a Blanc de Blanc which is made like Champagne and has “sophisticated fruit flavors and a toasty finish”. I found it delightful but was also overwhelmed by food and did not give it time for contemplation. I also enjoyed a Rose Cava, Familia Oliveda from Penedes, Spain.

I ordered the Roasted Beets with Bulgarian Feta, which was wonderful. I had never had Bulgarian Feta and found it delightful. It had a creamier texture with slightly more salt that played well with the sweetness of the beets. The Pistachio Herbed Ricotta with Sage Honey bruschetta was another lovely dance of sweet and salt. We also enjoyed a Tuscan White bean spread that I really enjoyed. This was served with a toasted baguette that was powdered with paprika. This hint of spice gave the white beans some jazz.

Our first cheese was “liquid mountain butter” called Preferes Des Montagnes which is a cow’s milk cheese from Savoie France. It was soft, creamy, and slightly yeasty. We also enjoyed my old favorite, Kunik from Nettle Meadow which is a triple-crème mix of goat and cow. Our last cheese was a Pecorino Marzolino, a sheep cheese that is rubbed with San Marzano tomatoes. This Tuscan cheese was aged for sixty days and had a young sweet flavor.

Tria has opened a second location in Philadelphia as well as a Fermentation school. They offer classes on beer, wine, and cheese. They make their accompaniments such as balsamic strawberries in house. The staff was knowledgeable and courteously. And you can even get a Tria membership!

The incident at Southwark

Friday, a group of five of us went to Southwark at 4^th & Bainbridge. This is a favorite bar and restaurant of a few of my friends. The bar serves up old fashion traditional cocktails along with a nice beer and wine selection. The interior was very clean and dark. The menu was short and simple.

Our server told us about the specials and I got excited by the sweetbreads. I was surprised that some of my friends got excited by the sweetbreads until they found out what they really are. I ordered them and enjoyed them and only one brave friend tried them and seemed to like them. We also enjoyed a farmhouse cheese plate that had a wonderful Pate. I really wanted to order the grilled peach salad but went for the lamb.

Our entrees came and we all happily tucked in. I enjoyed my lamb but then it happened. Two people at our table ordered that Salmon. One of those was to enjoy fish for the second time in their life. And that fish was carrying a friend. Eating away, a worm was found in the fish. The worm was placed on a plate and even in the low lighting; we could all see that his worm was moving. The warm was thin, pale, and an inch or two long and squirmy. I have a strong stomach but it was a bit much even for me.

The waiter came by and we told him the situation. He took the worm into the kitchen and came back to say that yes, it was a worm and he would take it off the bill. The dinner who encountered the worm was asked if he wanted anything else but declined as appetite was all gone. He who finds the worm will never eat fish again. We were left wondering if the fish was undercooked for the worm to have survived but I joked that fish cooks at 150 degrees and worm at 190 degrees. The low lighting made it hard to discern the color of the fish.

We were all left feeling awkward, disgusted, and quite. There were other dinners around and we were trying to keep quite but a part of me wanted to scream, “There is a worm in the fish”. Every staff member who walked by our table must have been thinking, “that is the worm table”. Suddenly everything was worms like that scene in Lost Boys. I couldn’t wait to get out of their.

It had been a wonderful day and a nice meal until that worm came along. It really ruined the meal and was an unpleasant end to the night. Everyone felt bad about what happened and we didn’t know how to recover. One gross turn deserves another so we watched Female Trouble on the Jumbotron.