Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Chef Eric Wallace has on hand Grouper Jambalaya, left, and Trilogy Duck.

By Elizabeth Downer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Because a restaurant's rating is based largely on the quality of its food and the contents of its menu, it is our policy to update reviews when the executive chef at a restaurant changes. Such is the case at Trilogy, a Downtown restaurant we initially reviewed in November 2005 when Ryan Racicot was the executive chef. Racicot left Trilogy in October and was replaced by Chef Eric Wallace.

		Trilogy PNC Plaza 620 Liberty Ave. Downtown 412-697-2800 Hours: Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; dinner 4:30-10:30 p.m., Mondays-Thursdays, until 11:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. Closed Sundays. Basics: Contemporary American cuisine using local and sustainable ingredients. Handsome interiors and a good location for a pre- or post-theater stop. Prices: Appetizers, $6-$13; entrees, $21-$37; desserts, $7; wines, $7-$15 for a 6-ounce pour. Summary: Smoking (until prohibited) in bar area, which is not totally separate from nonsmoking dining; accessible; major credit cards accepted. Valet parking in evening, $7.

Trilogy is housed in what had been a retail bank space on the ground floor of Two PNC Plaza. The high ceilings and cardinal-red velvet drapes that cover vast expanses create a dramatic dining environment. There are televisions in the bar area and a lounge space with upholstered sofas and chairs. In summer, there is an outdoor patio where meals are served. Although the interior of Trilogy has not changed, the heart of a restaurant is the executive chef and Wallace brings new energy and his own vision to Trilogy.

Wallace is a Pittsburgher, born and raised in Pitcairn. Most of his professional life has been spent in the kitchens of various Big Burrito Group restaurants, the last three years as executive chef at Casbah in Shadyside. He has a special passion for American artisanal cheese and for Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences in cooking techniques and ingredients. That is no doubt why the new menu offers Artisanal Domestic Cheese Tasting, priced according to the number of cheeses. For three, five or seven cheeses, the price is $9, $12 or $15. Cheese portions are 2 ounces of each choice and if a diner is confused about which cheeses to order, Wallace is happy to give detailed taste descriptions of each cheese. The cheese tasting works well as either a prelude or a postscript to a meal. For me, a selection of blue cheeses with a glass of dessert wine tops all but the finest pastries as the ideal way to bring closure to a satisfying dinner. The cheese possibilities at Trilogy include a 4-year-old cheddar from Wisconsin, Humboldt Fog, a goat cheese from California, and oregonzola, a blue cheese from Oregon.

Wallace's soups are more solid than liquid. Autumn vegetable puree ($6), a thick and creamy blend of root vegetables, is nicely finished with a few crunchy slivers of duck breast and roasted pecans. The peanut soup listed on the menu has been replaced with another vegetable puree that the chef calls carrot soup ($6). This clean, natural and uncomplicated preparation is an intense dose of carrots with no competing flavors from ginger, orange or nutmeg frequently paired with this vegetable.

There are three raw fish offered ($8 each or $15 for all three). The chef has consciously moved away from the Asian condiments most commonly served with such appetizers. The raw tuna has been finely chopped and shaped into a pair of miniature hockey pucks and sprinkled with crystals of finishing salt. Instead of soy or ginger or wasabi, the tuna is served with a salty tapenade of black olives. This is handsomely presented on a narrow rectangular white plate and anchored with a few slices of chewy flatbread. The chef uses jalapeno peppers and lemon to give his raw Yellowtail a special punch. The third fish is house-cured salmon, which is served with creme fraiche spiked with horseradish.

Some of Trilogy's more unusual dishes are cooked in a wood stone oven. Quail ($13) roasted in the wood oven tops a salad with fall greens and is dressed with pomegranate vinaigrette. A combination of sauteed local mushrooms, creamy polenta and domestic blue cheese ($10) baked in the oven would be a suitable vegetarian entree. The blue cheese component here was more subtle than I expected. Fingerling potatoes ($11) are baked in the oven and then filled with 8-year-old cheddar, creme fraiche, chives and crisply rendered lardons to produce the ultimate "loaded" baked potato experience.

At lunchtime, the oven is fired up for pizzas and flatbreads. The pizzas are made with high-quality ingredients such as fresh vegetables and buffalo mozzarella. My favorite is pesto pizza ($10) which consists of basil pesto, roasted red peppers and buffalo mozzarella. Entree salads at lunch offer some original combinations. Although I haven't had them, I like the sounds of butter-roasted scallops ($13) over a spinach salad with shaved fennel and citrus fruit compote or rare tuna salad ($12) and potato olive timbale over spinach topped by red pepper puree. The list of sandwiches is equally appealing. Chipotle burger with caramelized onions and gorgonzola cheese ($9) or balsamic chicken, marinated onions, smoked gouda and roasted tomato aioli ($9) are two examples of sandwiches that would make a trip to Trilogy worthwhile.

My experience with entrees was mixed. Tomato pappardelle with duck ragu ($22 at dinner and $15 at lunch) is the kind of entree that I can easily fall for. The Trilogy ragu is thin and bland, and this dish, in my estimation, misses the mark. The tomatoes and onions, which are the base of ragu sauces and give the sauce weight, help the sauce cling to the pasta. The Trilogy sauce was too thin to stick to the pasta and essentially ended up in the bottom of the bowl. Thyme-scented risotto ($21) with locally grown crimini, shiitake and oyster mushrooms is a delicious vegetable entree. The risotto was wonderfully chewy, and the earthy mushroom flavors combined with lots of Parmesan cheese are a satisfying meat replacement. The large portion is served on a long and thin white platter. Since the dish is essentially a mass of gray, the eye appeal could have been improved with a few bright spots of color in a garnish. Slow-braised lamb shank ($24) is a giant joint of moist and tender lamb that falls away from the bone with the slightest poke of a fork. It is served with an individual copper pot of creamy polenta which has been browned under a broiler and slices of braised fennel. Salmon with roasted corn muffin ($24) is a colorful entree. The brightly hued salmon fillet is marked with dark grill lines and accented with a long line of drizzled thyme-infused honey on one side and a line of black pepper emulsion on the other. The hot and sweet combination is a taste profile that works well with the grilled salmon. The corn muffin is more precisely a square of cornbread, but it bears little resemblance to ordinary cornbread. Starting with a coarsely stone-milled cornmeal, the bread is flavored with molasses and artisanal honey from a Western Pennsylvania beekeeper. The result is a hearty, intensely flavored and chewy bread.

Speaking of bread, Trilogy serves MediTerra Bakehouse eight-grain and sourdough breads with garlic-infused butter.

Wallace offers a tasting menu on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Five courses costs $65 or $90 with paired wines.

Desserts are $7. Unfortunately, the chocolate lava cake with hot cherry peppers, an interesting-sounding take on the sweet and hot theme, requires a 20-minute wait. Unless one is prepared for a long lull, it should be ordered at the beginning of the meal, but for some reason the waiters wait until they bring the dessert menu to mention the cake. For that reason, I haven't tried it, but I can vouch for the best peanut butter tart I have ever tasted. The pate sable (slightly sweet) crust envelops a crunchy peanut center and is served warm with a cinnamon twist and a swirl of caramel and one of chocolate sauce. Although the menu says house-made ice creams and sorbets, these are in fact the great frozen desserts produced by Mulberry Creamery.

The wine list is extensive and categorized by grape variety. Forty-six wines are available by the glass for $7 to $16 for a 6-ounce pour. Bottle prices start at $33. A bottle of Concannon chardonnay on the list two years ago for $23 is now $37.