Treva — Restaurant in West Hartford

So, let me tell you what an excellent experience Treva was on our anniversary... fantastic, made-to-feel-at-home, and all food + taste/finish/presentation were on-point.

Simply put, I'm not sure they could top it again. Just two minor, minor tweaks that I'll mention at the end, just to juxtapose how awesome everything was.

Let me start by saying we got walked by the same higher-end regional chain for the 2nd time in 6 weeks, so after being lied to, to my face in front of my wife & kids, I was none too happy.

So, I called Treva and asked for a manager to explain that we got pushed away, we were hungry and needed to feed many kids soon, and oh-by-the-way, it was the most beautiful day for outdoor dining imaginable.

To back up a bit, we had brought a group of 10+ to Treva about a year and a half ago, and Ari, one of the then-managers, was excellent, along with the food and service (just hadn't written a review until now).

So, after speaking Taylor, the assistant manager, and explaining our tribulations - for which she was aghast because a peer restaurant treated us so poorly, she said she'd take care of us... luckily that was easy because we didn't want to eat outside because of seasonal allergies, so they were able to seat us right away.

Harper was our server and he served us like he owned the place. Come to find out by meal's end, Harper was the former GM of Treva and decided to step into a more flexible role for his new career path. A note on this... Dorian, owner of Doro Restaurant Group, has it right. You first invest in your own people and everything, once concept/food/decor are established, flows from there. Dorian values his people so much to know their worth, honor that and keep them on in a facet that suits them/their life choices/schedule.

Same with AGM Taylor. She spent time with us, talked to us and made us feel more than welcome after how our evening started.

The food was amazing. My kids are used to and expect well-made, scratch cooking at home because their mother is an excellent chef. So they and my wife enjoyed the Bolognese with Gnocchi (suggestion from Harper). I had the NY Strip, which I wouldn't have normally gotten because I'm first a Filet guy, 2nd Ribeye and Strip usually not. It was another Harper suggestion which was met with delight! The meat is from Freida's and hand-trimmed in house.

All in all, it was exquisite and hit all the notes. Two small, small minor rubs... kids got cold near A/C vents and a little piece of grisel on the skirt of steak, which I'm sure was left for flavor.

Dorian, Taylor (and even the GM Dave who said Hi also), Server Harper and all staff. Bravo! Dining in West Hartfoed at its best! Now, I wish we could afford it more often... LOL.

WELL...

Came for Valentine’s Day, food was absolutely disgusting. I’m trying to be optimistic for them by hoping it was just a bad night for them but I will never go back here. My partner and I absolutely adore Avert Brasserie and Doro so it was shocking to see the inedible, small portions they were bringing on a 4 course $90 menu. This was so offensively bad we didn’t even make it to the second course, because by that time we had sent back the first two pasta dishes, and were returned with slop and grease with a dull gray coloring. We left by the second course and were almost denied the privilege of leaving and not having to suffer through the rest. The chef definitely doesn’t understand flavor profiles, plating, basic food standard and needs to be stopped before he hurts someone.

Burnt duck ragu papardelle -under seasoned and dry -flavorless -sloppy presentation

Butternut Ravioli -greasy -bad presentation -nasty aroma

Squid ink Pasta with uni and crab -noodles had the consistency of chewing worms reeked of bad fish -insultingly small amount of uni that did not taste fresh -crab did not taste fresh

Oysters with Pomegranate mignonette -oysters came warm pomegranate had a horrible texture contrast with the oyster, dubious oyster was tasteless and not fresh

Maine Lobster salad with “stracciatella“ and passionfruit -lobster pieces were so tiny you could barely pick up with a fork -lobster was not fresh tasting -Stracciatella was actually a ball of burrata that was low quality and dry in the center -Passionfruit tasted disgusting with the lobster, over all with the burrata not a good combination -under seasoned, sad

Mushroom risotto with confit egg yolk with pine nuts -this plate was one of the most offensive, absolutely putrid all around I still can’t tell you what that was slopped on top, it couldn’t have been confit egg yolk. -risotto was over cooked and mush -bad plating and aroma

Overall this is one of the worst meals I have ever been presented and it was insulting coming in as a loyal customer to this restaurant group and as someone who would have been paying $90 had I not stopped the courses and left. I don’t know what happened, but there is no excuse for this behavior in the kitchen. Someone is not giving a damn and you guys really need to get...

Firstly, I was impressed by the chef's personal visits to tables to inquire if they enjoyed the meal, the home made bread was delicious even w/out butter! You notice right away how popular this place is and there is a well populated presence. The tables are 2-person type set up against a cushioned, long wall-mounted seating situation. Personally, i enjoy the comfort and privacy of a booth but it was certainly comfortable enough and the food made it worth the trade-off. They actually take reservations which seems to be rarer these days. There is a trendy bar for those looking for that sort of thing, my divorced co-worker and her pals love it. The food however is wonderful and I think fairly priced for the effort and good ingredients its created with. I ordered the Bolognese w/home made pasta it was $19 for ex-to me that's reasonable. My sister ordered the cod dish which wasnt much more, we split both to try two entrees, for a nice restaurant...they actually give soda refills and chg under $2, that's xtremely rare! To cap it all off, we split a dessert which was to die for..a chocolate glazed top frosting with a choc creamed filling layered between. I went to heaven with that..simply delicious-like south end Hartford Ital bakery delicious! Oh I forgot the scrumptious bib-lettuce gorgonzola salad w/nice light dressing at $7, what a bargain. So frankly, great place, blue-back sq shops near downtown area where its located near CVS. Cheap public pkg behind the bldg you can cross through an alley way safely. And its a nice date place, if youre looking to impress someone with your culinary taste. Now, if you are looking for cheaper, mass quantity and family joint, hit Bertucci or Unos where there's tons of food cheap. But if you want a unique experience, exc wait staff, personable touch w/chef-owner, top notch-hand made, locally grown produce and nice ambience, this is the spot! Hope this review helps..i am very picky and I can say, Trevas...