Cru

My sister took me for dinner at Cru on Friday. Sort of a belated birthday thing. It is one of my favourite places in the city and she likes it too, so I thought it a good choice. It had been a while since I was last there, so I was really looking forward to going after a long week at work. We decided to share several of the small plates instead of going for their very good prix fixe menu. The first was their bruschetta three ways.The first was a butternut squash with apple, an olive tapenade with goat cheese, and a cheese and white bean. I think the bean one was my favourite. It's the one on the far side of the picture, so you really can't get a good look at it. But is was very good. The butternut squash was the most original for sure. It was very good. I wouldn't have thought to have it like that, but it was excellent. The tapenade was nice. I thought the goat cheese was an interesting choice. Very tasty.
From there we moved to the smoked albacore tuna with beets, truffle vinaigrette and crispy shallots. This was an excellent dish. The very lightly smoked cold smoked tuna and the truffle vinaigrette was fantastic. The crispy shallots added a nice crunch that the dish kind of needed. This all contrasted against the sweetness of the beets and I could have eaten the whole plate instead of sharing with my sister.
The beef tenderloin carpaccio with caperberries, truffle aioli, shaved parmasen and crustini came at the same time. I nearly always get the carpaccio when I go to Cru. I really think that it is the best version of the dish in the city and there was no way that we were going to have dinner at Cru and not have it. I don't know what makes it so much better than other places that do the dish. It is so simple, but really incredible.
After that came the Syrah braised short rib with macaroni and cheese. I thought we needed to have at least  one heavy meat dish. It is also one of those dishes that I get frequently when I'm at Cru. It is also, at least for me, one of the reasons why I don't always get the prix fixe menu as it is not on the list for that. The meat just falls apart and the macaroni and cheese is rich and creamy. I should try making it. We also had an order of their frites. And while I do like them and the aioli they come with, I think after going to La Regalade Cote Mer, I've been spoiled. Those really are the best I've had in the city and while the ones at Cru are good, they just don't compare. To drink we had a bottle of the Cru blend Township 7 red wine. It is a great fruity red wine that you really only can get at the restaurant. Kelly felt the wine lacked the complexity of a good French red, but I enjoyed it.
For dessert I had the goat cheese cheesecake. This time it came with a little bit of cranberry chutney. Very good. I love that the accompaniment varies from visit to visit, so I never get tired of the dish.
My sister had the lemon tart which came with shavings of white chocolate and Chantilly cream. I found the choice of a topping of white chocolate interesting. I think the dish is better in the summer when the fresh fruit is in season and the restaurant serves it with a great sorbet. But still Cru does a very good, very tart lemon tart that is hard to beat.
Cru. 1459 West Broadway. Vancouver. 604-677-4111.

Comments

[Christine]

Yum yum. Wow, those plates look great. I really love Township 7 wine too.

[Phil]

I like everything about Cru except for the tight space and how close the tables are to other diners, it's hard to have a private conversation as the proximity between tables is only a few inches. Other than that, good wine selection and great service.

[Will]

Oh man, that carpaccio looks amazing. Well, it all does, but I'm on a raw meat kick right now.