Triä

Taking some of its inspiration from numerology, Triä is spelled with the umlaut as well as a dotted i, a clever pun given the meaning of the word itself. Much at Triä revolves around the number three, and I had high expectations for the third executive chef at this North Oaks roadhouse.

Quick, who was the opening chef at Triä? I’m still trying to remember. The restaurant really took off when Joan Ida (an alum of Tejas and Goodfellows) took over the kitchen, got the adjacent market and lunch counter going, and focused the food program. Ida had a delicate touch, a keen sense of style, and a genteel approach—but a firm spine. A few months ago she took that skill set to Hong Kong, where she is cooking up a storm, creating restaurants, and having a ball. Enter Shelagh Connolly, a well-traveled and talented vet who has worked in many local kitchens, including Bobino and her charmingly simple but now shuttered Mildred Pierce Café.

Connolly cooks with a rustic sensibility and has carved a niche as a proponent of traditional American comfort foods, so the Triä canvas seems perfectly suited to her. As does the indie feel of Triä, behind which is the corporate clout of Morrisey Hospitality, which also runs the St. Paul Grill and Pazzaluna.

While Connolly plans to keep many of Ida’s best notions, portions may grow a tad. The Asian conceits that Ida championed are not Connolly’s métier, and to her credit, she knows it doesn’t transmit Triä’s message either—this is a country-style grand café, after all. (It might be a good idea to rid the menu of many of its odd one-offs, such as Moroccan lamb cigars and Italian meatball sandwiches.)

Earthy, deep onion soup, brisket platters, squash risotto, and buttermilk-fried chicken work well, and Connolly promises to add grilled polenta, Cobb salad, seafood paella, and anything else with her sous chef’s wonderful cabernet barbecue sauce. I hope the menu will someday include Connolly’s hanger steak.

Triä’s patio is one of the nicer spots in the Cities to dine al fresco, and service (the floor is headed by Chris Paddock, former owner of Mojito and Bobino) is friendly and well-mannered. I hope the maple-infused Quebecois chomeur pudding stays and the cheese tray returns to its display in the dining room, where it belongs. Area diners can then toast the effort—with three cheers.

5959 Centerville Rd., North Oaks, 651-426-9222