{"id":367719,"date":"2026-06-19T22:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T22:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/367719\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T22:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T22:38:15","slug":"trelio-marks-20-years-with-local-menu-and-new-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/367719\/","title":{"rendered":"Trelio marks 20 years with local menu and new owners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Inside Look is a Fresno Bee series<\/a> where we take readers behind the scenes at restaurants, new businesses, local landmarks and news stories.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a dish on Trelio Food & Wine\u2019s<\/a> menu that epitomizes what the Old Town Clovis restaurant is all about.<\/p>\n

The mosaic salmon features pieces of fish arranged like a piece of stained glass on a bed of succotash made with Fresno State corn and dill yogurt.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s creative. Local.<\/p>\n

As the restaurant celebrates turning 20 years old, creativity and commitment to buying local are two things that have stayed the same over the years.<\/p>\n

The creativity shows up on the menu and in the restaurant\u2019s willingness to reinvent itself. The local aspect is the way the restaurant buys its vegetables from farmers markets, even its rabbits or lambs from local sellers.<\/p>\n

New owners \"The The mosaic salmon served on a bed of Fresno State corn succotash and harissa dill yogurt is served at Trelio Food & Wine Thursday, June 11, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

Trelio\u2019s reputation has remained steady over the years. It ranked as the No. 2 high-end restaurant in town<\/a> in a recent poll of Fresno Bee readers, just barely edged out by Tabachines Cocina<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today, Trelio offers a prix fix (fixed price) five-course menu for $85, a style similar to The Elderberry House<\/a> in Oakhurst.<\/p>\n

But a lot has changed over the years.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest changes is that founder Chris Shackelford is no longer running the day-to-day business of the restaurant.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s still 51% owner of Trelio.<\/p>\n

But most of his days are spent as the executive chef of the Dolphin Bay Resort and Spa<\/a> in Pismo Beach.<\/p>\n

He turned over managing the ins and outs of Trelio to four of its core staff members in 2024. They own a 49% stake in the business and get 50% of the profits.<\/p>\n

The decision to make the change came from a combination of post-COVID exhaustion and the realization that he had a capable staff who had been there for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you work in a restaurant from when you\u2019re 14 until you\u2019re 50, and … you\u2019re working 10-, 12-, 14-hour shifts,\u201d he said. \u201cI was tired of being everywhere all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

So now the ownership includes the chef who created that mosaic salmon dish, Ross Verzosa, sommelier Trevor Crough, bookkeeper Kirsty Wimbish, and Kelsey Miller, who is a hospitality guru who zeroes in on details as tiny as how she holds her hand when she places a dish in front of a diner.<\/p>\n

Restaurants and financial challenges \"Chris Chris Shackelford, owner of Trelio in Old Town Clovis, stand at the wine bar of the restaurant on Monday, June 1, 2026. The boutique restaurant is celebrating 20 years in business. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

Trelio has never been Shackelford\u2019s sole job. He sells wine and does business consulting work, which pays more than running a small restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, I don\u2019t even know if I personally have made money off this business,\u201d he said of the restaurant. \u201cMost of the time, it\u2019s always been consulting money that I\u2019ve made.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not unusual for owners of small restaurants to not take a salary when times are tough.<\/p>\n

Restaurants face an avalanche of challenges lately, including customers pulling back on spending due to inflation, rising rents, power bills and a California minimum wage of $16.90 an hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not a business that should have survived,\u201d he said of Trelio.<\/p>\n

In fact, he always thought he would run it for two or three years and sell it. But luck was in his favor.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I feel the stress of, \u2018Oh, is this going to be the year that we have to close it?\u2019 Something weird happens, and everything\u2019s fine and gets fixed,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like there\u2019s a fairy godmother out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where did the name Trelio come from? \"Trelio Trelio in Old Town Clovis is celebrating 20 years in business. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

The little restaurant at 438 Clovis Ave. with the plant-filled breezeway has been around with a Shackelford at the helm since 2006.<\/p>\n

But technically, longer than that. Starting in the late 1980s, there was a restaurant on the spot called Dine With Us. In 1997, the owners \u2014 Elio Lucas and Tres Pierson \u2014 changed its named to Trelio, combining their first two names, according to Bee archives.<\/p>\n

Shackelford, fresh from Erna\u2019s Elderberry House as its sommelier, his chef brother Michael, and their maintenance man\/bookkeeper dad Jim opened the restaurant.<\/p>\n

They always intended to change the name, maybe hold a contest to rename it. But they ran out of time before opening and ended up sticking with it.<\/p>\n

That go-with-the-flow mentality has allowed it to survive the past two decades. And boy, has it changed over the years.<\/p>\n

It started as a molecular gastronomy place (think truffle spheres filled with gold-flecked liquid and edible foams). Then it focused on comfort food in the form of exotic animals, such as kangaroo and antelope (the threatening phone calls got to be a bit much, Shackelford said).<\/p>\n

It was a Spanish restaurant for a while, then French, Italian.<\/p>\n

Michael Shackelford left after a while and now is raising a family and working as an executive chef for an organization near Boise.<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic saw Trelio selling loads of fried chicken (often with Champagne) in to-go containers when people couldn\u2019t dine inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yeah, I hated fried chicken after that,\u201d Shackelford joked.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the restaurant switched to the five-course meal. A recent menu<\/a> offered a choice of entrees, including Wagyu steak, pork schnitzel and jerk tofu katsu.<\/p>\n

Trelio has plenty of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, especially when given prior notice.<\/p>\n

A wine pairing can be added to each course for $62 total.<\/p>\n

Wine has always been a big part of the business with its wine club, wine dinners and tastings where customers can try 35 to 40 wines.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, there were bottles of wine selling for $5,000 or $10,000 on Trelio\u2019s wine list, said sommelier Crough. Today, things are much more moderated (there\u2019s still a $1,000 bottle on the wine list), but you can always buy a $12 glass or a $40 bottle of wine at the restaurant, he said.<\/p>\n

Throughout it all Trelio was steadily becoming part of the community, getting to know its customers.<\/p>\n

With just four people working in the dining room, that\u2019s easy to do, said Miller, the service director. Indeed, while talking with a Bee reporter, a customer called Miller on her cell phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWine club members, sometimes they\u2019re just coming in to pick up their shipment of wine and they just sit at the bar because they want to chat with us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for Trelio? \"Kelsey Kelsey Miller, service director at Trelio Food & Wine, inspects the plants in the breezeway outside the restaurant Thursday, June 11, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

So far, turning the four employees part owners has had the intended effect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have more responsibility,\u201d said chef Verzosa. \u201cI felt like I have more say. This is my baby now. I gotta take care of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trelio is a small place, with just 10 tables inside \u2014 though it does have tables in the breezeway, a bar and tables in its library dining room. The restaurant books up with reservations on weekends, but the owners say they\u2019d like more people to discover it.<\/p>\n

Crough said many times it\u2019s labeled as a \u201cbest hidden spot,\u201d or a place known by word of mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat word of mouth really only extended so much,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to share that with as many people as possible. We want this to be your birthday spot, your anniversary spot. We want this to be your first prix fixe destination.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Second Second course item seared pork belly with kua txob wild rice, pickled papaya, sherry reduction and chives is served at Trelio Food & Wine Thursday, June 11, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com \"Wines Wines are on racks on the wall at Trelio in Old Town Clovis on Monday, June 1, 2026. The boutique restaurant is celebrating 20 years in business. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com \"Chris Chris Shackelford, owner of Trelio in Old Town Clovis, is photographed through the door while at the wine bar of the restaurant on Monday, June 1, 2026. The boutique restaurant is celebrating 20 years in business. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com \"Kelsey Kelsey Miller, Service Director at Trelio Food & Wine, begins lighting candles before service begins Thursday, June 11, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 5:30 AM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Bethany Clough<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Bethany Clough covers restaurants and retail for The Fresno Bee. A reporter for more than 20 years, she now works to answer readers\u2019 questions about business openings, closings and other business news. She has a degree in journalism from Syracuse University and her last name is pronounced Cluff.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inside Look is a Fresno Bee series where we take readers behind the scenes at restaurants, new businesses,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-367719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}