The Café at the Four Seasons was a permanent fixture in our Top 20 on Dining Out with Rob Balon.com for years. But great restaurants, even ones with Elmar Prambs at the helm, have to evolve to stay at the pantheon of greatness. And so the venerable Café at the Four Seasons has given way to Trio.

My first impression was that the orange-based color scheme was either mid 80's Miami Beach or late 70's Vegas. But at night, those colors seem less garish and the restaurant takes on a different hue. And I must admit, over time, I have come to like the new ambience. It gives the restaurant, which some might have called a bit stodgy at times, some new zip and energy.

And the food coming out of the kitchen at Trio can be directly attributed to the innovation and skill of a trio of three brilliant chefs: Exec Chef Elmar Prambs, Sous Chef Todd Duplechan, and Pastry Chef Naomi Gallego.

The appetizers are thoughtful and beautifully executed. They are ramped up a bit from the previous Café days and that's OK with me. Lots of passion there. Like in the Kampachi, Watermelon, Pepper, Frozen Yogurt, and Black Garlic. This is breathtaking: the kampachi, a cousin to the hamachi, is a fleshy and fatty fish high in Omega 3. It's like eating well-marbled beef. Pairing it with the watermelon, black garlic and the frozen yogurt is brilliant. What flavor and what contrast! And I adore the English Pea Ravioli with Ricotta and corn. The flavors are subtle and yet beautifully sweet (from the ricotta) and efficient. We also tried a Crab Fondue with a crispy bruschetta. The Newburg-like sauce had huge lumps of crab in it and I wiped out my ample supply of bruschetta dipping up the intoxicating mixture. The appetizers are now all priced at $12 each to encourage trying several and sharing. I think that is a splendid idea.

The Roasted Beet and Bleu Cheese Salad is a walk in the clouds for beet lovers. Chef Prambs loves this dish and it's easy to understand why. And the Trio of Baby Iceberg Wedges Salad features three crisp clumps of iceberg lettuce with three different and unusual dressings. Toss in some caramelized onions and the flavor is unremitting.

The entrees are a varied and delicious lot. From fish to steaks, and of course, to the delightfully inevitable Pork Tenderloin Schnitzel, Trio has produced a cornucopia of delights. Indeed, let's start with Schnitzel. This pounded and breaded cutlet, served with fresh spetzels (which is half the reason for having it) is about as good as one will get in this area. Chef Prambs is German, after all, and no self-respecting German chef would pass on the opportunity to make a great schnitzel with spetzels!

The Dover Sole, sautéed to perfection and presented with a light meuniere sauce, is sinfully tasty. The lovely essence of this fish is brought to fruition at Trio. And the Braised Beef Short Ribs, achingly tender and cast in a wonderfully seasoned brown sauce, actually gave rise to another creative use of spetzels (I cheated a bit and had an extra order of spetzels with my ribs). Finally, the Soft Shell Crab, done about as lightly and sparingly as I've ever had it, is an unusually interesting paring of one of my favorite crustaceans with a curried watermelon sauce. I very much enjoyed it.

The sides are all excellent with the exception perhaps of the Truffle Macaroni and Cheese. A bit strong on the truffles for my taste. Well, I couldn't like everything could I?

And Pastry Chef Gallego is a five-star wonder. One cannot help but marvel at her chocolate sculpture on display at the entrance and her desserts are no less intriguing. The Peanut Butter and Jelly features a wonderfully nuanced mousse of peanut butter and chocolate along with jellied confections that light up the plate. The Sorbets are routinely exquisite: pick a flavor (my favorite is the lemon) but it really doesn't matter. They're all great.

So does Trio still deserve a notch in our Top 20? Is the Pope catholic? Come on, let's get serious here. New color scheme, same great food.

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