Trellis - Brunch

I have a tendency to lean toward the savory side when I go out for bunch.  I will say though, that for the most part, I do tend to stay on the breakfast side of brunch.  While I will occasionally have pizza for breakfast, I will say that calling pizza a breakfast food is a stretch, most of the time.  My adventure to hit some good and interesting brunch places took me to Trellis this month.  I had been to this location in it's previous incarnation as Gaslight Bar and Grille (although not for brunch) and at the time, it was pretty good in the world of bars and grille.  As Trellis, it has updated the look of the place, giving it a more modern look (while still maintaining a vintage vibe) although it is still a narrow bar with an elevated section at the back of the bar where we sat.  The menu (both brunch and regular) features a selection of charcuterie and cheese as well as oysters, sandwiches and pizzas.  The brunch menu has pancakes, French toast, and eggs, while the regular menu swaps those out for things small plates such as steak tartare, venison meat balls, and fondue.  As we were coming for brunch, it was going to be the eggs, pancakes, and French toast.  I had recently read an article raving about Trellis' Fig Jam and Bacon Pizza so I knew what I was going to get before I even looked at the menu (although looking at the menu did make things a bit more difficult).  Before getting to the pizza though, I did start out with an order of Fruits and Berries.  I was a little worried about ordering this because in many incarnations of the fruit salad, I have seen a lot of canteloupe, a fruit that I am not overly fond of.  Talking to the waitress beforehand, I found out that while there was canteloupe in the dish, there was also a lot of other fruit so it hopefully wasn't going to be a huge issue.  I really liked the presentation as it came in a mason jar and at first glance I saw no canteloupe which made me happy.  The jar was topped with Strawberries, but also contained raspberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Pineapple, Honeydew, Watermelon, and after some digging, 3 balled pieces of canteloupe.  The fruit was fresh and sweet with a mild tartness as good fresh fruit should have.  Three pieces of canteloupe was fine because I was easily able to eat around them and there was still plenty to eat.

Then came the pizza.  It was a large single serving size that looked like it was hand tossed and cooked in a fired oven.  The dough was both crisp on the outside and chewy and had some nice browning  to it.  In addition to the fig jam, which was spread over the top like a well frosted streusel, and the bacon, which was finely cubed and scattered over the top, the pizza also had Caramelized Onions, Mindoro Blue Cheese, a rich Danish-style blue cheese made in Mindoro, Wisconsin, and was topped with an egg, which you have to have on a breakfast pizza.  I had my egg over hard because I didn't want to deal with the yolk.  The fig jam provided a sweetness which emphasized the sweetness of the bacon, the onions, and the blue cheese.  The blue cheese added a depth of flavor with a nicely bitter finish which played well with the onions.  The egg added a savory finish.

While pizza might not generally be thought of as a breakfast (brunch) dish, in this case it really worked and I liked the way that it was made.  There were a few other things on the menu that really intrigued me so I will definitely have to return, for brunch and for dinner.