Trumpets At The Gate

We have dined at Trumpets on the Bay, this was the first time we attended a graduation celebration at Trumpets at the Gate. The filet mignon was delicious! The Staff was courteous. Love the guacamole appetizer! Great venue for smaller events/​celebrations.

Can’t say enough bad things about the people who run this place. They are «zoned» for 120 people with a last minute permit granted by the outgoing supervisor. Again and again we found violations with this place but somehow they managed to get a permit. Gaze that the lovely surroundings while you help destroy them. Paved driveways when everyone around them must use gravel because the runoff is TOXIC to the creek they are located on. Over taxed septic system. Alas. I can wait for the threats to come again from the owners who repeatedly threatened residents who objected to their illegal business. Keep the chicken dance coming at 11 o’clock at night with drunks hanging out the windows. Elegant!

Trumpets is the perfect venue for a small, intimate wedding. Their minimum is 60 people and their max is 120. Quite small compared to typical Long Island warehouse-​like catering halls! We had just over 70 guests at our wedding; the size of the room was perfect. I can easily imagine one more table of ten, maybe two, but not much more (I think 120 people would feel a cramped). They only do one affair at a time so their full attention is on that one event.
I wanted our guests to feel as if they were on vacation for the evening; Trumpets hit that mark! Gorgeous and exceptional setting. I like to describe it as «beach elegant» (think beachy-​without-​the-​beach). The back deck (where cocktail hour is served) is right on the water, with boats passing by regularly. The deck almost looks like driftwood with beach grass and hydrangeas growing on the side of the building. The main room offers gorgeous views of the bay with windows on three sides. Effortless style.
Family owned and operated. They pride themselves on making each event special. They achieved that goal with our wedding! Lance, one of the owners and our main contact, loves what he does. He knows his kitchen; his recommendations were excellent. I asked if they could serve Sauvignon Blanc instead of Chardonnay, he immediately had a case put aside for us and made sure the bartenders knew to serve it to the bride (me!). The forecast for D-​day was iffy at best (by iffy I mean hot-​as-​hell-​with-​a-​chance-​of-​storm); Lance kept a close eye on the radar all day to ensure his staff set everything up appropriately and we wouldn’t end up with a disaster.
Trumpets’ unpretentious white-​glove service is excellent. Lori, the maitre d’ is fantastic! Beforehand, she spent time answering questions both in person and on the phone without ever showing impatience or exasperation (which I am sure she felt; I was quite needy). The day of, she checked in on us all the evening, made sure we had the chance to taste a little of everything. She directed her staff perfectly (even getting down on the floor to inspect the cleanliness of the dance floor after a glass broke). Thanks to her, the evening ran smoothly.
Now, to the food… When I go to a wedding, I don’t expect much from the food. While the dishes are edible, they aren’t often memorable. I didn’t expect Trumpets to be any different, but they proved me wrong. They don’t offer a tasting, but we had lunch at their restaurant next door, Trumpets on the Bay, about a month prior. This is when we started to get excited.
In addition to the various options we selected for cocktail hour (pick three from this page, six from that column, etc…), we also upgraded to include the shellfish display which I would recommend, it’s very appropriate for the outside cocktail hour. I didn’t get to eat much at this time, but was thrilled with each bite I did have (the duck tostada is a must!). The food was abundant and its quality was high.
For dinner, again there are options: soup and salad (the Trumpets salad was a great choice), or cold appetizer (the prosciutto and fruit was more fruit and salad than it was prosciutto). For the entrée, meat, poultry and fish, as usual. We went with the more traditional Filet Mignon for the meat. This seemed to be what most people ordered. I didn’t taste it, but hubby said it was fantastic. Instead of going with a chicken dish, we decided to offer Long Island Duck, since that was an option. I was able to taste that, it was excellent (I actually don’t remember the last time I had such good duck). For the fish option, we picked the Sesame-​Encrusted Salmon with a wasabi sauce. It. Was. Amazing. Perfectly cooked and moist. I would be thrilled to order this in a restaurant any time, and would rave about it for days. Each of the three entrée option was outstanding (I may be biased, but I did see a lot of empty plates!). Definitely memorable.
And the cake. We could choose between Trumpets’ in-​house baker or an outside baker who uses fondant for something a little more modern. We aren’t really dessert people, so we trusted Lance completely, and even had him pick the filling, the icing, etc… All I did was send him a photo of what I wanted the cake to look like. Not only did we end up with a delicious white vanilla cake with fresh raspberry filling and buttercream icing, the baker achieved the desired look of the cake perfectly.
In regard to the cost… All of this awesomeness doesn’t come cheap… Trumpets is definitely pricier than other venues we looked at. That being said, the end result was well worth every penny we spent. I really do believe that you get what you pay for, and in this case, I am happy we paid more! I could not be happier with our wedding at Trumpets. I wouldn’t dream of changing anything related to the venue, and will be recommending them for years. Trumpets did not just meet, they exceeded all of our expectations by far!