Trust DTSA

The sign on the door says, “Trust.” Chef Justin Werner’s intimate 18 seat kitchen treats guests to a culinary experience, and only asks one thing. Trust, and let them take care of the rest.

Recess has ended on the Playground, as Playground and Playground 2.0 rebrand to Detention and Trust. Detention is an eclectic restaurant and bar, but Trust is where the magic happens. The intimate Trust Kitchen is where Chef Justin Werner hosts themed tasting events, generally at least 12 courses, with wine and drink pairings by head sommelier, Jason Scarborough.

The concept of Trust is similar to an Omakase experience. There is no menu, the entire point of the experience is to leave the decision up to the chef, as if to say “I trust you”. Tonight I got to experience the Trust Dinner Party, the classic of many themed experiences they offer. Tonight’s meal was a 14 course meal, with 11 savory dishes and 3 desserts. In addition to the many dishes, 6 drink parings were served throughout the meal.

What elevates this multi-course meal from a simple fancy dinner to an experience is Chef Justin’s vibrant personality. Not only is he eager to describe all of the ingredients in the dish and why he loves them, but he isn’t afraid to crack a joke just to entertain a guest. The only thing separating the guest from the kitchen is the countertop that we are seated at. You get to see the chefs and staff plating each dish. You get to hear about the dish and the thoughts and ideas put into it. There is no game of telephone between the chef’s ideas, a waiter, and the guest. You get that direct hookup into the creative input and decisions behind a dish, which really makes it feel special.

Review

Each guest is welcomed with a glass of champagne before the meal starts. Before any dishes are served, a warning is provided. What we are about to experience is a 14 course meal, so it is up to you to pace yourself. This isn’t a dainty meal where you are still going to be hungry after. This is a meal where you are going to be absolutely stuffed afterwords, and one should be careful to pace themself throughout the meal. To quote chef’s words, “It’s up to you to pace yourself, you know you best. If you tell me after the 7th course that you are too full to eat anymore, then you fucked up.”

Courtesy of the sommelier, tonights wine and drink parings include:

Champagne Aubry, Brut Champagne
Zilliken, Riesling, "Kabinett", Saarburg, Mosel, Germany, 2020
Domaine Bellevue (Jerome Bretadeau), Muscadet, "Granite", Loire, France, 2019
Bachelet-Monnot, Maranges, 1er Cru, "La Fussière", Burgundy, France, 2018
Siesta, Cabernet Franc, Mendoza, Argentina, 2016
Lillet Blanc

“The Freshest Bread” fresh brioche and homemade butter

The first dish of tonight is “the freshest bread”. That’s what they call it, and they might very much be correct in claiming that the roll of brioche is the freshest bread you will ever experience. Their prelude to serving the bread involves a description on how the dough was made this morning and popped into the oven right before we arrived. We watch the oven tray of beautiful golden buns come out of the oven, which were immediately served alongside a small roll of butter. The butter is home made, made with 1.25% salt, (instead of the normal 1%, just to be a bit naughty), and pairs with the steaming hot bread. The roll of bread is salted on top with sea salt, and is hot and steamy on the inside. Peak freshness right here, the freshest, hottest, buns you can stuff your face with, smothered with home made butter.

You get the picture right? This is the type of dining experience we are in for.

Salad with pine berries, dried cranberry, hazel nuts, and puffed bulgur wheat

The next dish on the list is your fresh garden salad with a mix of toppings. A notable inclusion is the pine berry, which looks like a white strawberry and tastes very similar as well. The nuts and puffed bulgur wheat add a delectable crunch that pairs great with the creamy and slightly acidic dressing. The pine berry, dried cranberries, and dressing gave this salad a bright and fruity essence, while the fresh greens, hazel nuts, and puffed bulgur wheat added an interesting crunch.

Peruvian tiradito with raw Hokkaido scallops, sliced avocado, and crispy quinoa

This dish is a Peruvian tiradito, which is similar to a ceviche. It is served with slices of Hokkaido raw scallop interleaved with slices of avocado. Since both have a very soft and creamy texture, consuming these two together was such a delightful experience. They are both soft enough where you can’t tell where one ends and the other begins, so their flavors meld together to form a slightly creamy, slightly savory flavor with homogenous texture. Furthermore, the chilis provide a small fruity kick. The natural sweetness of the scallop is contrasted by citrus and spicy combo from the tiradito aji pepper and lime, which reminds me of Takis corn chips. To finish it off, the dish is topped with crispy quinoa to add a bit of crunchy texture to add some textural variety. The quality of the scallops was fantastic, and the matching textures of subtle flavored scallop and avocado made this dish truly special. I really liked the tiradito pepper sauce and crispy quinoa together, because it was very reminiscent of eating Takis. It had the right ratio of chili pepper to lime flavor, with the crunchiness of a corn chip.

Homemade cheese, spaghetti squash jam, pickled watermelon rind

This next dish is special because the only people who will ever get to taste it are sitting in this room tonight. Featured is a homemade cheese comparable to a salt cured brie cheese, made by the owner, Jason Quinn. Only one batch was made, and it was just enough to serve the guests at tonight dinner. Alongside the brie is a spaghetti squash jam and pickled watermelon rind. Finally, it is topped off with roasted pine nuts. The cheese provides a salty muskiness, while the other components provide an acidic fruitiness and additional texture. This dish is like munching on a subsection of a charcuterie board. The cheese was quite flavorful and much muskier in flavor than brie. It was recommended to enjoy it with the rind, which gives it bit of a natural, yet still palatable, funk. It is on the saltier side similar to some salted cheese, but because it is a soft non-aged cheese, it still maintains a smooth creamy texture.

Heirloom tomatoes over smoked egg vinaigrette, cornbread crumble, mâche lettuce, and pickled jalapeños

I was so excited about this meal that I forgot to take a picture. Oops. I did manage to snap one a few bites in, so apologizes that it is not as pretty as it could be.

I think of this dish as vaguely resembling a deconstructed breakfast omelet. The main ingredient is colorful heirloom tomatoes marinated in garlic oil over a smoked egg vinaigrette. It was said that the smoked egg vinaigrette may be reminiscent of bacon due to a similar smoked protein flavor. The dish is topped with a cornbread crumble, mâche lettuce, and pickled jalapeños. I don’t think it would be unreasonable to make an omelette with these ingredients: eggs, bacon, tomatoes, spinach, and jalapeños.

The comparison between the smoked egg vinaigrette and bacon was pretty spot on. This smokey flavor, combined with the crunchy cornbread crumbles could be enough to convince you that you are eating a dish consisting of tomatoes and bacon bits. The jalapeños provided no real spice, while contributing that tangy pickled pepper taste. Meanwhile, the mâche, a delicate French salad green, has a similar shape to a small spinach leaf, but is much softer and sweeter in flavor. These provided that nice leafy crunch to the top of the dish. All mixed together, this dish is an amalgamation of flavors that is certainly unique and creative, but unlike really anything else.

Shrimp and grits with stone ground grits, new Caledonian spot prawn, with candied pecans on top

Here is a dish that is a take on the classic shrimp and grits. Chef took pride in the stone ground grits, which was cooked in a jamón bone stock. Jamón is a dry aged ham similar to prosciutto. The difference being that prosciutto is local to Italy, and jamón is local to Spain.

On top is a new caledonian spot prawn. This. Was. Fantastic. And it’s not like it was even live fresh out of the ocean either. The look and texture is identical to any large shrimp that you’ve had before, but the flavor just felt so much more mature. Less fishy, more meaty, like a grown up shrimp that developed complexity in its flavor. Honestly, I don’t even know if you can find these in a grocery store, but if you can, they’d probably be way better than classic shrimp.

This new caledonian spot prawn was cooked in a mix of melted butter and hot sauce. Finally the dish is topped with candied pecans. The candied pecans were not super sweet, but did give a delectable crunch with a modicum of sweetness to contrast the salt and spice in the grits.

If you’ve ever had breakfast style grits, you may either agree, or heavily disagree, that it is perhaps the most boring breakfast food in terms of taste. It’s even worse than pancakes. Yeah that’s right, I’m coming after you, you floppy carb circles. Anyways, the southern style breakfast grits that I have experienced have been devoid of flavor. But this. These grits are salty, meaty, spicy, and flavorful. You can taste the notes of aged ham contributing a salty savory flavor. They provide a soft but not mashed texture to complement the shrimp. Together, they truly sang, each providing layers of complexity so deep that you’d be hard to break it down in one bit. Rest assured that I finished off every bite of this dish.

Wagyu skirt steak, balanced peas in a kimchi vinaigrette, topped with crunchy bubu

I found this next dish to be a wild mix of ingredients. After consuming it, I still think it is a confusing mix of ingredients. However, each of those ingredients was very tasty. Featured is a wagyu skirt steak, marinaded using the same spices and seasoning that you’d use to make a bowl of Vietnamese phở noodle soup. This is diced and served on top of some balanced peas with a kimchi vinaigrette. Finally, some crunchy Japanese bubu is sprinkled on top. Bubu are tiny rice cracker pearls that provide an eye catching color and a texture similar to puffed rice.

The wagyu is not the super fatty Japanese A5 variety, but is a leaner skirt steak. It is very flavorful with a good chew, not melting like butter nor being tougher than my shoe. I think the texture of the bubu played nicely with the meat. I guess the inclusion of peas could take inspiration from an old style steak and peas dish, but I didn’t think the combination was as close knit as two peas in a pod. The peas on their own were tasty, maintaining a natural firmness due to the blanching cooking process, while delivering a very distinct kimchi taste.

Hand rolled gnocchi, ramp infused butter glaze, topped with bread crumbs

R.A.M.P. Remember its name, “ramp”. Scientific name, “Allium tricoccum”, this leafy green plant is a seasonal member of the allium family. Described by the chef as the love child between onion, garlic, and scallions, that takes the best qualities of each. This leafy green herb, sometimes referred to as wild leek or wild garlic, is in season for about 20 days, between the end of March and mid April. Unlike an ultra luxurious A5 wagyu that can be had year round, no amount of money is going to get you fresh ramp after it’s short season is over. I am convinced that Chef Justin loves ramp so much, that he can write a love letter to ramp that’ll put Shakespeare to shame.

Anyways, the main ingredient of this dish is ramp gnocchi. This dish features a hand rolled gnocchi which was freshly rolled and prepped this morning. This gnocchi is then cooked and glazed in a butter infused with ramp. Finally, the dish is topped with chiffonade ramp and sprinkled with bread crumbs.

Is this the best gnocchi dish I have ever had? Very likely. Does that take away from the true star of the show, the ramp? Nope. The amount of seasoning is very limited to allow the ramp to be the main flavor that stands out in this dish. The gnocchi is very soft and has such great texture that only a fresh gnocchi can deliver. The fatty molecules of the butter just soak up the flavor of the ramp, much in the same way how a garlic oil sucks up the flavors of garlic into its infusion. The result is a warm, rich, and creamy flavor that has notes of garlic and onion, but fresher. The bread crumbs on top is also a nice touch.

14 day dry aged sea bass, grilled asparagus, “proposal jus”

You could have used an entire dictionary of colorful words to cuss out the chef and even thrown your plate back at him. And even after all of that, you wouldn’t offend him as much as peeling off and refusing to eat the crispy skin on this 14 day dry aged sea bass served over “proposal jus”.

The star of this show is a white sea bass that was carefully butchered and prepped at the restaurant, and left to age in a special humidity controlled environment for 14 days. The end result is a filet of fish with a carefully controlled water content that is grilled over a charcoal grill. The result is a sea bass with a magically crispy skin. It is crispy enough that you can scrape your fork over it, but gives away like a delicate potato chip or crispy chicken skin. This. Fish. Slaps.

The flavor of this fish is not super buttery like a chilean sea bass, nor is it drier than cardboard like a frozen white fish. It is just moist enough to maintain its flakey texture and deliver a flavorful bite. The skin has an excellent charred taste to it and all the love and attention is driven towards getting this texture the way it is. This is no soggy, floppy, fish skin you might be afraid of. This is a culinary kiss towards creating the best texture one can get out of this fish.

Wait, hold on, what the heck is a “proposal jus”. Don’t, worry, I haven’t forgotten about that, I just wanted to let you know how special the fish was. This sauce is made from a browned butter, soy, and lime. It get’s its name after being served to an 80 year old lady who immediately proposed to the chef after tasting it. It really is special, and it makes you want to find out if it’s legal in the state of California to marry a sauce, if not the chef. The proposal jus essentially tastes like a combination of all of its ingredients, but that will never give the sauce justice for how good it is. Honestly, I’d want to try more dishes with this sauce, just to see what it’d pair great with. For now, I will have to settle with pairing the sauce with the grilled asparagus and sea bass. Asparagus does not have the natural texture to allow sauces to cling to it, but the fish does.

Of all the ways that you can serve a fish, some common choices include cooking it in butter, or seasoning it with salt. Or you can serve it with lemon to add a squeeze of acidity to the fish. This proposal jus accomplishes all three, with its buttery, salty, and zesty ingredients. So yes, it does go great with the fish.

Roasted lamb loin, spicy tzatziki, pomegranate molasses balsamic drizzle

I’m gonna be honest. As great as the lamb loin was, with its perfect medium rare preparation and rich lamb taste, it was the least interesting part of this dish. This dish features a roasted lamb loin, served alongside a spicy tzatziki made with habanero, yogurt, mint, and cucumber. This tzatziki is uniquely spicy, but immediately combats that spice with the naturally cooling ingredients -- yogurt, mint, and cucumber. Finally, the dish is drizzled with a pomegranate molasses balsamic, which had such a great mix of tangy syrupy sweetness, with a thickened acidity that went great with the meat.

This tzatziki is, in my opinion, a more creative creation than the lamb, and I’d want to take a container of this stuff and try it on all of the greek food I can, adding a spicy element to an already light yogurt sauce. It did pair great with the lamb, cutting some of the more gamey flavors from the fatty lamb, should you not be a fan of that.

Domestic wagyu flank steak, sous vide parsnip, parsnip purée, and salsa verde

At this point in time, I’m busting at the seams. I spotted what looked like a seared diver scallop and thin slices of meat. Haha I was wrong. And you might have thought so as well. That’s not a scallop at all. It’s a vegetable! You’ve been zooked! This dish features domestic wagyu flank steak from Imperial Farms, Omaha, Nebraska, served alongside a sous vide parsnip, over a brown butter parsnip purée, topped with a home made salsa verde. So that scallop looking side is actually parsnip!

This dish is super rich. Rich wagyu beef, along with a very rich brown butter parsnip purée. If you made it to this point and are thinking you’d walk out the door still hungry, this is where you shut up and eat, because not a single person at this 18 seat counter was able to finish this dish. Included is a generous amount of sliced wagyu flank steak, which was much more flavorful than a classic flank steak. A little bit of sea salt is sprinkled on top to accentuate that flavor. The oil from the salsa verde and the brown butter purée cranked the fatty, buttery richness up to 11. This is a dish that makes you think, “how many sticks of butter was used to make just this one dish?”

The sous vide parsnip had a soft texture that fell apart at the fork, similar to a baked potato. The texture still maintained some of its natural fiberous texture compared to that of a potato, and had a slightly earthy and steamed vegetable flavor. It went great with the salsa verde, but at this point in the meal, the buttery purée was just too much to handle.

Rhubarb Swiss roll, vanilla semifreddo, drizzled with homemade salted caramel

The first of three desserts is a classic Swiss roll. This Swiss roll combines layers of angel food cake, fresh whipped cream, and rhubarb jam, all rolled up into a roll which is then sliced and served. The dish is topped with poached rhubarb, and a vanilla semifreddo. A semifreddo is an Italian word meaning “half frozen”, and is a frozen whipped cream disguising itself as a churned vanilla ice cream. Finally the dessert is glazed in home made salted caramel.

The semifreddo at first seems like a vanilla ice cream, but then the curtain of Oz is pulled back, and you realize that you are actually eating something more akin to thick whipped cream. The Swiss roll cake was fantastically light and fluffy, with rhubarb to add to the flavor. Overall, a sweet, airy, and fluffy dessert.

Roasted black sesame mochi cake, roasted brownie bite, crème anglaise

The next dessert are the small treats they’d include with the check, if they gave a check. But I guess corporate doesn’t trust them handling cash, since there is no check. Everything is paid in advance. On the left is a roasted black sesame Mochi cake, and on the right is a roasted brownie bite. Even before this dessert, in fact, even before the prior dessert, I knew that something chocolatey was cooking. The entire kitchen was filled with a deep intoxicating chocolate aroma, and this brownie bite is responsible.

Of the many types of mochi, including daifuku, wagashi, manju, dango, and more, one of my favorite confections is to use mochi flower to make a mochi butter cake. Unlike most mochi, this mochi cake puffs up and has air pockets like a fluffy cake, while still maintaining a dense chewy texture, signature of mochi. This black sesame mochi cake does exactly this, and is flavored with black sesame. In my opinion, it does not compare to the mochi cake that I’ve had at mochi confectionary shops, but it is still a tasty small bite. The brownie bite is dangerously rich, and baked long enough to firm up the outside, similar to the pan edge of a brownie. This rich chocolatey bite paired great with the vanilla crème anglaise which helped cut the rich dark chocolate.

Finally, the last dessert of the night is a home made strawberry mille-feuille, also known as a Napoleon. Layers of puff pastry are stacked with fresh strawberries and strawberry pastry cream in the middle. The dessert is topped with a strawberry powder on top, decoratively positioned on half the pastry. I think the puff pastry was a bit dense for a puff pastry, and didn’t crumble with the buttery flakiness that I would have preferred. However, I was a sucker for the strawberry and whipped cream filing, as I love me some fresh whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

What I loved most about this meal is the unmistakable room filling passion towards each of the dishes that are served to the guests. Each guest is expected to walk in, sit down, and trust that they will be satisfied. For a multi-course experience, even if a dish or two was a creative flop, the hope is that each guest would be satisfied by the many other dishes served that night. I really appreciate this kitchen taking the creative risk to produce one-offs such as the home made salted brie, and capitalize on seasonal items such as the ramp.

From the beginning, it is clear that this is more than a dinner service. It is a dinner service and a show, which makes it an experience. Along with Chef Justin himself describing each dish as it is served, you also get a peak into the plating and preparation of each of the dishes before it is served. Every single dish was plated and prepped in front of you. There were no dishes served from the black box kitchen behind the magic curtain. Not only that, but the entire meal is paired with six drink and wine pairings selected by the head sommelier, Jason Scarborough. You might even be able to get an additional pour if you ask nicely. And certainly don’t be afraid to ask about the details on the vintages. They were selected for a reason!

Hopefully, each guest will walk out of this restaurant having learned something new about food, increased their appreciation for the unique ingredients used, or fall victim to a post-meal food coma. Ideally, all three. Instead of buying massive quantities of food to serve an entire restaurant, this kitchen buys multiple small batches of ingredients to serve to a small party of guests. As a result, many unique and uncommon ingredients are used, and by listening to the descriptions, hopefully you can learn a little bit more about food, such as where something comes from or what it is. Chef Justin’s, swear like a sailor, enthusiasm for his food and his craft fills the entire room with an appreciation for each dish that the chef preps on one side of the counter, and serves to you on the other.

This meal was a treat, getting to experience such a creative array of dishes. While not every single one was a grand slam, there were enough memorable charms that I will certainly remember and treasure this experience. Perhaps the only thing more exciting is the promise that on any other visit, no menu will be exactly the same, so one can always revisit this counter for a new set of dishes, or perhaps try one of the many themed experiences such as “Veggies Are Awesome”, or “Ultimate Pasta Dinner”.