Well, what a jolly weekend: The Heathman Hotel’s 4th Anniversary!  To celebrate, the Executive Chefs from The Heathman Hotel in Portland came up to hang out for the weekend & help Trellis’ Executive Chef, Brian Scheehser, put on a birthday bash.  I got to go.  I mean, who would ever turn down an invitation to dine at one of their favorite restaurants?  Not me, that’s for sure.  And given that I’d spent the last 2 weeks eating beef jerky and hard-boiled eggs, this special invitation seemed like manna from heaven.  And, as it turns out, that’s exactly what it was.

Trellis sold out of tickets for this Fall Celebration Dinner well in advance of the night.  The whole restaurant was given over to this event.  How they dished up this amazing meal to the entire restaurant all at the same time is beyond me.  The kitchen must have been bedlam.  Their bevy of servers were polished and exact.

FIRST COURSE – Croquant: Lardon, onion, potato, Camembert, apple glaze.  I loved this.

 SECOND COURSE – Roasted Pear Salad: Baby Arugula.  Simple.  Perfect.  Refreshing.

 Forget the bread…I only ate it so that people wouldn’t think I was rude for spooning the butter directly into my mouth.  That butter was outrageously good.  Dotted with roasted peppers it had an incredible flavor.  Oh, how I love butter.

THIRD COURSE – Sole Dieppoise: Mussels, bay shrimp, apple cider cream sauce.  Exquisite sauce, beautifully cooked fish.

FOURTH COURSE – Apple Wood Smoked Duckling: Crisp Liberty duck breast, braised endive, watercress, farm blackberry essence.  The duck was brilliantly cooked, the braised endive was a fantastic new hot vegetable & the frozen blackberries were a surprise.  I’d eat this every week if I had the chance.

FIFTH COURSE – Artisan Cheese Plate: Livrot, Pont L’eveque, apple terrine.  Ridiculously apple-y sauce.

SIXTH COURSE – Rustic Apple & Quince Tart: Calvados caramel glaze.  The pastry was perfect.

Plus there was an Apple Sorbet somewhere in the middle of this whole 6 course extravaganza.  How they got so much apple flavor into such a tiny scoop of sorbet I will never know.  It exploded with apple right there in your mouth.

The whole meal was extraordinary, and I know that every one at my table was shocked when we realized it was 11 pm.  It’s no secret that I love the food at Trellis.  This meal did not change my mind any on that point.  The best bit of the whole meal?  For me, it was the salmon appetizer – I don’t know what that Brian Scheehser did to it, or what the sauce was, but if I had had 25 of those little spoonfuls I could have had nothing else & gone home a happy, happy girl.

THANK YOU, Trellis, for inviting me to your party!  You have a lot to celebrate.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!