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Cru


Bond Girl

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This may not be news to those in the industry, but at the Gourmet Party at Cafe Gray on monday night, I talked to Shea Gallante, the chef who is currently rennovating the old Washington Park space. From what I can gathered, it will be a new restaurant with complete new decor and ambience. Mr. Gallante was formerly a chef at Bouley's and he planned to serve contemporary European food at his new restaurant.

Ya-Roo Yang aka "Bond Girl"

The Adventures of Bond Girl

I don't ask for much, but whatever you do give me, make it of the highest quality.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

From what I heard last night, it seemed that Cru will be more than just an upscale Italian place. Some of the recipes that are currently being developed sounds pretty innovative, and the place will offer one of the largest wine list in NYC.

Ya-Roo Yang aka "Bond Girl"

The Adventures of Bond Girl

I don't ask for much, but whatever you do give me, make it of the highest quality.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Here is the official press release: Cru will serve modern European cuisine using unusual equipment and avant garde techniques. The food is expected to be refined adventurous and precise with superior flavors and textures. Menu selections will include a baby lamb sou-vide with a spring bean risotto and wild spinach puree and a spiced wild European turbot with cardoons. The pastry chef is Will Goldfarb who will reflect the same modern attitude with chocolate almond financier with an amaretto center and apricot sorbet and carrott granita, cocoa syrup and pistachio oil. The wine list is compiled from Roy Welland's wine collection and is probably one of the largest selection in the country.

Now here is the eGullet exclusive: In a recent phone conversation, Shea Gallante explained that the cuisine will have an Italian foundation that subtly incorporates the flavors of Europe, particularly France and Spain. The menu will be seasonally driven, using ingredients from some of the top purveyors from around the country and artisanal products developed specifically for the restaurant. While modern european cuisine brings to mind the El Bulli school of cooking where food may seemed cool but doesn't necessarily taste very good, Shea assured me that the food at Cru is not looking to be the most unique or the most outlandish, but to be the best. The kitchen at Cru will only use and incorporate techniques that will enhance the flavor of food and make it better. In addition, Shea is also looking for quality and consistency from his kitchen.

Cru opens in July 2004.

Ya-Roo Yang aka "Bond Girl"

The Adventures of Bond Girl

I don't ask for much, but whatever you do give me, make it of the highest quality.

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I lived in that building when I lived in NY in the late 80's. That space has seen many a promising restaurant come and go- I hope Cru will break that pattern.

Helen Kimmel

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I am certain that Cru will. I do think that Shea's got it right when he said that being in that restaurant is about proving yourself to your clients everyday. If every restaurant in New York lives by that philosophy, there wouldn't be any disgruntled diners.

Ya-Roo Yang aka "Bond Girl"

The Adventures of Bond Girl

I don't ask for much, but whatever you do give me, make it of the highest quality.

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I do think that Shea's got it right when he said that being in that restaurant is about proving yourself to your clients everyday. If every restaurant in New York lives by that philosophy, there wouldn't be any disgruntled diners.

That might be just a tad simplistic. One way a restaurant can fail is by delivering a poor product. But the other way is by delivering a product that is excellent for what it is, but is poorly calibrated to the diners one manages to attract. The latter can occur because the marketing campaign is mismatched to the product, or because the aspirations weren't realistic to begin with.

I know that certain buildings have the reuptation of being "death locations" for restaurants, and this is one of them. However, I can't think of any intrinsic reason why this type of restaurant couldn't succeed at the Washington Park site. Let's hope Cru does better than its predecessors.

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One way a restaurant can fail is by delivering a poor product. But the other way is by delivering a product that is excellent for what it is, but is poorly calibrated to the diners one manages to attract. The latter can occur because the marketing campaign is mismatched to the product, or because the aspirations weren't realistic to begin with.

it is important to anticipate the needs of your guests properly

both before opening and during operation

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it is important to anticipate the needs of your guests properly

both before opening and during operation

Are you able to explain your approach in any detail, akwa? What factors are you considering with this project and what impact will that have on the food, service, design, atmosphere, price point, etc.?

Michael Laiskonis

Pastry Chef

New York

www.michael-laiskonis.com

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allow me to mull over before responding in full:

in short I feel that people would like to feel special and be satisfied in a restaurant, and respecting these wishes in all facets of planning and execution may be helpful.

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As fate would have it, I had lunch yesterday at Per Se with Sumac, her husband Bob, and their son Todd among others. Todd is the evening sous-chef-in- waiting at Cru. We talked quite a bit about the restaurant. It is ambitious-sounding with a 35,000 bottle wine cellar. The soft opening is scheduled to begin on July 1 and will last a week. There will be a 9-course tasting menu. I can't say much more other than Todd is precocious and knowledgeable. He enhanced the understanding of our meal immensely. His parents are tremendous gastronomic travelers. Todd and his girlfriend joined them on a recent trip to el Bulli, Can Fabes, Louis XV and other spots in Provence and Spain. I'm looking forward to dining at Cru, needless to say.

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I could not find a previous mention of this restaurant on the New York forum, but doubtless another FH will.

admin edit: merged topics. --Soba

======

A white polenta and olive oil soup came with a clump of warmed, melting burrata cheese in the middle. Gnocchi had oxtail on top. Veal came with a black truffle and anchovy mayonnaise that was not for the faint of palate.
Cru's sommelier, Robert Bohr, has listed more than 3,000 wines in two beautifully organized, handsome, leather-bound books: one for reds, the other for whites. About 50 of these can be ordered by the glass or half glass.

Cru (Frank Bruni)

Chef Shea Gallante, formerly of Bouley, matches an ambitious European-centric cuisine to an extensive and impressive wine list.

Has anyone been yet?

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Haven't been, but would like to try it. I heard a lot of buzz about it a few weeks ago. So I figured the place would be packed. However, I hadn't taken into account the fact that NYC is deserted in August.

Mary

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  • 2 weeks later...

If my dinner at Cru wasn't one of the most memorable meals I ever had, it's in the running. Chef Shea Gallante's food is wonderfully clever and exudes a simple elegance that seemed rare to my jaded palate. What made it even more amazing was the fact that the place has only been open for 4 weeks. There were more food than I can remember so JJ Goode will have to fill you guys in on what I missed.

We started with an amuse of beet puree on a beet chip shaped like an ice cream cone, which has such an adorable sweet taste that it made you forget that your are eating a rather un-glamorous vegetable like beets. Next up was another set of amuse, equally cute in appearance. I couldn't eat the Prociuttos, but the cheese tart was flavorful and provided a nice change to the sweet beet amuse. Shea then sent out another set of amuses among which was a phenomenal small dish of braised leeks topped with caviar that tasted like heaven and a tasting of cucumber sorbet that was so lovely. However, the star of the show was a live scallop topped with balsamic gelee in a celery consume with avocado. It was so delicious that both JJ and I were spooning up every last bit of the sauce.

While all this amuse has being consumed Robert, the wonderful sommelier was pouring splashes of white wine into our glasses. (A note of interest for the wine affacionadoes out there, the wine list at Cru was the size of a webster's dictionary and there were two of them: one red and one white) Not that I would know the difference but for those interested, we started out a Condrieu 'Ravines' Niero-Rhone when we sat down and moved on to a Chasselas 'Veilles Vigne' Alsace through the amuse.

The crudo that came next was paired with a Verdicchio dei Castello. I had the Lagoustine with green papaya truffle salad and gin sauce-a sweet melt in your mouth experience. And, JJ had the white tuna that came with an esspresso sauce, which was surprisingly addictive. Next to Oceana's Tuna Tartar, this ranks among one of the most creative raw tuna dishes that I ever had.

By this time I am already full and the first course hasn't even arrived.

My first course made its appearance as a marinated Heirloom tomatoes with hyssop and what looks like bush basil. It wasn't the most creative dish in the world but the late summer heirloom tomatoes need no creativity to be pretty damn good. Meanwhile, JJ managed to eat his piece of spiced dusted skate while drnking the red current sauce from my tomatoe dish.

Just as we thought we were getting a break, the servers laid out another set of utensils and out comes a tasting of octopus on white beans. Okay, this is not yet on the menu, and I'm not sure if it will be, but anyone who makes a reservation at Cru should ask about this dish. According to Shea, the octopus is left unpeeled, and seared on the pan with a balsamic glaze. Thie result is a rich intense flavor that almost sang with the white beans its served with. Paired with a Brindisi Rosso Vallone, this is the stuff dreams are made of.

Pasta course came as a trio of roasted tomato pasta, a parsely ravioli and a sea urchin risotto. By this time I do not think I could eat anymore, but The sea urchin risotto was so good that I couldn't stop eating.

The main course rolled around at 11:30 in the evening, and it was a seared bass on a bed of corn and potatoes for me and a veal for JJ. My striped bass has skin that was crisped to perfection and it was topped with green tomatoes, but by that time, I was so full that I couldn't eat anymore. Though, the small bits that I had consumed was the perfect end of summer dish. The wine by then was a lovely red burgundy with flavors of cherry and current from Domaine Bachelet. I don't know much about wine but I like the way this one tasted.

We sat around waiting for our check to come, but instead the server laid out more place setting, and bought dessert. A vanilla foam with blueberries was the palate cleanser, and a lovely chocolate cream with passion fruit sorbet and creme fraiche followed. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. Finally we were given a cup of chocolate cream, some grapefruit jelly and marengue as petiti fours. By that time, I was having trouble deciding what was better heaven or dining at Cru.

My only complaint at Cru was that the decor seemed a little drab, however, given that the place has only been in existence for four weeks, one can hardly fault them for it. The service on the other hand, had the professionalism of a world class restaurant. Even better was the attitude free ambience of the place. Cru may very well be one of the best restaurant to open this year.

Ya-Roo Yang aka "Bond Girl"

The Adventures of Bond Girl

I don't ask for much, but whatever you do give me, make it of the highest quality.

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  However, the star of the show was a live scallop topped with balsamic gelee in a celery consume with avocado.  It was so delicious that both JJ and I were spooning up every last bit of the sauce. 

A live scallop? Can you give more information? How was it presented that it was live and not just raw?

The restaurant sounds wonderful. I will have to make a point of trying it when in NYC. It sounds a little like Union Pacific a few years ago.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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The live scallop was just raw, not "live". It was supposedly taken out of the shell just a few minutes before it was served to us. The thing came in a serving dish that resembled a ice block with a little hole dug out of it. The scallop was cut into little tiny pieces topped with bits of balsamic gelee and sitting in a celery broth with hints of avocado flavor in it. I think Cru is a lot more fun and has a bit more refinement than Union Pacific ever was, but then again, it was over five years ago that I last dined at Union Pacific and I don't remember being all that impressed.

Ya-Roo Yang aka "Bond Girl"

The Adventures of Bond Girl

I don't ask for much, but whatever you do give me, make it of the highest quality.

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I had one of the best and most memorable meals of my life at UP that happened to be centered around scallops including a dish with raw scallops, tomato water and a few other items. I found DiSpirito to be very inventive and the room stunning then, so my comment comparing Cru to UP was offered as one of positivity and not criticism. Since that time I've not had the same level of experience repeated at UP.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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Doc, what you said, was what a lot of peole has told me when I expressed my lack of enthusiasm for UP. I was sorry that I never got to know Rocco as an innovative chef. So, my experience may not be a good basis for comparison. And, I'm glad that you are able to offer a different perspective.

The room at UP was and still is stunning, so in that sense, Cru does not have the ambience of UP. I do think, however, that people like you who knows a bit more about wine will get a lot more out of dining at Cru than I did. Because despite best efforts on the part of Robert, the very nice sommelier, his wine pairing was lost on pedestrians like me.

Ya-Roo Yang aka "Bond Girl"

The Adventures of Bond Girl

I don't ask for much, but whatever you do give me, make it of the highest quality.

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The wine service does indeed sound phenomenal. If I had to choose, I would prefer a restaurant with great food and mediocre wine service to wine with great wine service and mediocre food. It sounds like Cru may be a winner on both counts.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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