TRINITI'S TRANSFORMATION: HOW A RESTAURANT AND BAR STAYED IN BUSINESS BY LEARNING TO EVOLVE
Montrose Distric.org, May 31, 2015
Triniti and now, its sister, Sanctuari — a bar and lounge situated inside the restaurant at 2815 S. Shepherd— has come into its own over the last four years. Evolving each step of the way, chef and managing partner Ryan Hildebrand says the restaurant is “totally different” from where it started and thinks “it is only just now what it will always be.”
Sitting down for an interview along with Sanctuari’s beverage and creative director, Laurie Sheddan Harvey, Hildebrand explains why all this upheaval was necessary to stay in business and the philosophies behind each change. Read more....
ALISON COOK'S Top 100 Restaurants
The Houston Chronicle, September 2015
NO. 12 TRINITI
This handsome contemporary restaurant seems to improve every year, yet it flies along under the chattering-class radar. Lately, the sheaf of tasting, regular and bar menus has been consolidated into a single document, knitting together its avant-garde and modern chophouse facets into a curiously satisfying whole. Chef Ryan Hildebrand and his team are executing bright, bold dishes on a consistent basis: even green beans, glossed with garlicky orange and spiked with pistachio, emerge as showstoppers. So can a plate of speck, grilled asparagus and duck-egg's yolk, all dressed in a warm duck-fat sherry vinaigrette; or Texas quail with Chinese sausage, cashew and roasted okra pods in gochujang vinaigrette, its red-peppery tang perfectly modulated. Pastry chef Samantha Mendoza's precise desserts sing with clear flavors. Service ticks along nicely. The adjoining Sanctuari lounge is one of the finest restaurant bars in the city, with killer cocktails and an interesting wine list that suits the food. All this and one of Houston's best brunches, too.
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10 MUST TRY BRUNCHES IN HOUSTON
Houston Press, April 2, 2015
Triniti is a great place for a sophisticated lunch that isn't stuffy. Dishes like the Foie Gras "Breakfast" -- a slab of seared foie gras with cinnamon-orange monkey bread, orange, bacon marmalade, a quail egg and apple slices -- will have you eating like royalty who just finished a game of Sunday cricket.
The menu is subject to change, but the sensibilities stay the same. The current brunch menu features Butternut Asiago Quiche with asiago cheese, herbs and local greens and a Hot Brown Bennie with a poached egg, candied bacon, smoked turkey breast, spicy greens and Mornay sauce. Prices range from $4 for Samantha Mendoza's excellent doughnuts and scones to entrée prices that are $15 pretty much across the board.s that are $15 pretty much across the board.
FRIED AND DRIED: TOO MANY TOMATOES?
My Table Magazine, April - May 2015
6 NEW DECADENT CHOCOLATE DESSERTS
Zagat.com, February 2, 2015
White Chocolate at Triniti
Like all its dishes, this upscale eatery's killer white chocolate dessert ($9) is a true work of art. A tube of white chocolate and almond creme is perched on buttery sable, then garnished with dark chocolate squares, an apricot sphere and — for good measure — a scoop of chocolate ice cream.
Triniti looks back and forward at five-year mark
Chron.com, December 9, 2016
"Some days it feels like five decades, and sometimes it feels like five minutes."
That's how chef Ryan Hildebrand described the upcoming five year anniversary at Triniti, the restaurant he opened to great fanfare on Christmas Eve 2011. Stunningly designed, the space at 2815 S. Shepherd offered not just a treat for the eyes but for the palate too: a bold, even audacious series of complex tasting menus that showed Hildebrand's exciting take on regional American cuisine.
Now five years has passed. And it's time not only to take stock, but to celebrate. In terms of the latter, Hildebrand is organizing a Five-Year Anniversary Dinner set for Dec. 20: eight courses, one seating. The dinner will be a nostalgic affair – several former staffers including former sous chefs Greg Lowry and Matthew Lovelace, as well as pastry chef Samantha Mendoza will be on board to collaborate on the dinner.
Q&A with Triniti’s Ryan Hildebrand
Houston Super Bowl Host Committee, October 17, 2016
Since opening Triniti in December 2011, Hildebrand and his talented team have set a culinary standard for “fine, casual” dining in Houston with dishes that are as visually beautiful as they are delicious. A Houston native, Hildebrand graduated from Baylor University with a degree in fine arts before pursuing his culinary journey. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., he estaged at Charlie Palmer’s Aureole restaurant in NYC before returning to Houston to hone his craft working with some of the city’s finest chefs — Mark Cox at Mark’s American Cuisine, Philippe Schmidt at Bistro Moderne, Jim Mills at the Houstonian Club and Scott Tycer at Textile.
Hildebrand has garnered both local and national acclaim at Triniti. Forbes magazine said “Hildebrand’s offerings represent progressive American food at its finest, and Triniti is an excellent addition to, and competition for, Houston’s standard bearers.”
