By Rick Riozza
Hey! Finally there is some wonderful news for us foodies, locals, visitors, and travelers all about. Palm Springs’ famed Uptown Design District’s TRIO Restaurant, is celebrating the fresh new year with their new 2025 interior design and refreshed beverage list and menu options that incorporate both their uptown beloved traditional meals along with some new innovative & delicious dishes.
It’s been a while since this column has done a fine restaurant review, but we’re back in the saddle again and are so pleased to begin our new year’s program of restaurant and wine venue reviews by covering one of our favorite spots in Palm Springs: the Uptown favorite, TRIO Restaurant.
We recently visited, ate, and chummed around with famed restaurateur Tony Marchese, founder of TRIO, and his new Executive Chef, Gladis Lizarraga. If her name sounds familiar, she recently served as Executive Chef at Wildest Restaurant & Bar in Palm Desert, where her leadership earned accolades including Palm Springs Life’s “Best of the Best 2022” and OpenTable’s 2022 Diners’ Choice Award.
Right now, I find Chef Gladis sitting comfortably on my wine radar. She’s is on record stating, “Enjoying delicious food and drinking a good wine go hand in hand with enjoying life. A great chef doesn’t just follow recipes—they bring their unique style and vision to every dish, making it truly special.” With over 15 years of experience in the restaurant industry, Chef Gladis brings a unique blend of precision and creativity to the TRIO kitchen.
We’ll get to her new innovative dishes in a moment—but hey, you loyal readers definitely wish to hear first about the exciting wine and beverage list available at this cool venue. Quick enough: you can go on-line to check out the great wine deals all over TRIO’s wine map: www.triopalmsprings.com/wine-list. And as you may remember, we’ve been covering their wine list since they made the Wine Spectator’ Award of Excellence for the past 8 years!
Enough said: However, do keep in mind that TRIO’s wine bottle prices are one of the lowest restaurant mark-ups in town. We wine enthusiasts certainly know the costs of our favorite bottles and we applaud their extensive and reasonably price wine list. Cheers! to that!
The new bar design looks great and the vibe is as cool and friendly as ever. That night, our favorite seasoned bartender, Jose, was as amiable as ever and played the Cocktalian Du Jour showcasing some of the fun and innovative libations that are sprawled on the Specialty Cocktail List: www.triopalmsprings.com/beverages.
I know the trend these days is Tequila & Mezcal, so I guess I’m trending because for starters, I requested the Mezcalita made with Codigo Blanco Tequila, El Silencio Mezcal, Ancho Verde Liqueur, Orange Liqueur, Lime Juice, Agave. I’m a shooter type guy, but this drink opened my eyes.
My next drink, P.H.A.T. (Pretty Hot & Tempting) featuring El Silencio Mezcal, Campari, Orgeat, Jalapeno Infused Tequila, Watermelon Liquor, Lemon Juice, and Tajin, made me a believer and I will order this cocktail instead of shots whenever I sit at Jose’s bar. Then our attentive server, Dominic, suggested I try the Blood Orange Whiskey Sour headlining Bulleit Bourbon, Blood Orange Puree, Egg White, Lemon Juice, Simple Syrup; ahh—now I understand the love of the Bourbon cocktails.
And talk about trending, for those so inclined, the TRIO Mocktails at only $8, showcase how well these unleaded libations can match up. We tried the Hibiscus Punch, made with Hibiscus Syrup, Strawberry Puree, Lemon Juice, Orange, Basil, Soda, which was delicious—and, it would work anytime as a fresh cleanser between dishes. Check out their array of non-alcoholic cocktails.
Okay—we mentioned the Award Winning Wine List already. Now here’s some new fun wine news: Our valley celeb, Tony Marchese has become a winemaker too! Available now is the Trio Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Tony handed me a bottle of Cab and told me that he was indeed up in Paso Robles stomping on grapes, bottling wine, kissing babies—you know how they do it!
So I put on my wine critic hat and found the wines to be right-on with the California palate. Have fun! Order a bottle with that Palm Springs chic art on the label and impress your fellow diners! (By the way—at home, I opened the Cab and aerated it for a couple of days, it was the perfect steak wine!
Back to the menu entrees where the menu simply overflows with delicious dishes. Our server Dominic made some comment that sounded like that Oscar winning movie: “The
menu has everything everywhere all at once” —or something like that. It’s true: the menu had something for everyone. Please go on-line to www.triopalmsprings.com/dinner where you’ll find starters, salads, pasta, vegetables & vegetarian, land & sea, and desserts. And they strive to provide locally produced ingredients!
There’s also a new weekend Brunch Menu, Uptown Prix Fixe, and this current week, a Valentines Menu offering both their Regular Dinner menu along with $79 Valentines Prix Fixe Menu. Indeed, there is everything culinary-wise available—so much so that we’d love to come back for an added review in a couple of months.
However, some of our favorite Chef Gladis’ works of culinary art include:
Beet Tartare: Avocado Mouse, Vegan Horseradish Aioli, Toasted Farro, Micro Greens. I love my meat, but I love this beet just as well. A nice appetizer starter fresh and delish!
Japanese A5 Beef Carpaccio: Horseradish Aioli, Fennel, Chives, Mustard Frill, Olive Crumble. Ahh—here’s the beef! The best in town!
Do remember to order the Local Lettuce Salad, the Spiced Carrots (these were so good, I asked Chef for her recipe), and Wild Mushroom Ravioli: House-made pasta prepared daily, Ricotta, Burrata, Spinach, Grana Padano, Wild Mushroom Marsala Sauce
Happy Hour Daily 4-6pm | All day Tuesday 4-close
Trio Palm Springs
707 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA
760-864-8746 (TRIO)
Instagram: @TrioPS | Website: www.triopalmsprings.com
