Last night, went to a pre-restaurant opening - Cru, in Hoxton; Brendan et al (ex-Winchester Hotel du Vin sommelier Vincent Gasnier and ex-Home chef Eamon Fullalove) were guinea-pigging the whole experience on their friends before the real opening. The whole thing felt rather Sex in the City (just wrong city) not least because a friend had called me "like that Carrie Bradshaw woman" earlier, and I'd said, "yeah, but like two Carrie Bradshaws and with my roots showing slightly." Rob described me as "not so much dressed to kill as dressed to massacre" and I have to say my outfit was fabulous.
So was the restaurant. There's a vine leaf motif to the decor to tie in with the wine-not-beer theme, and a menu that's central-European based, but looking to bring us back to the dishes' original roots. Aperitivi (tapas style bar food) include marinated green olives with chilli, arrocina bean and garlic confit dip with pitta bread (humous-alike, but delicious) and sage, oregano and spinach frittata with golden cross cheese. T spoke very highly of the pork rillette with grilled whole wheat bread.
The deep-fried Jerusalem artichoke spoke to us all as a starter, and was certainly unusual, although I wasn't convinced it went with the smoked mozazarella; but then it could just be that I have bad childhood memories of smoked cheese. Main courses: the organic steak was apparently cooked to perfection.
Our brief was to be critical and enjoy a complimentary meal, and given that I was with four gay men, the bitchy comments flew. Everyone was very taken with the attractive waiting staff, especially the Chelsea Clinton lookey-likey, but I suspect we took our ciritcism too far with comments like “the West is dead” (ie the whole of West/Central London; those Hoxton/Shoreditch/Bethnal Green boys) or when one of our number started a critique of the actual layout: the bar and the private dining area are separated by tall cellar-style cupboards, to showcase the wine - which I think works pretty well - but J (not that J, the other one) kept entertaining us with comments like "the wine caskets block the feng shui something chronic". Although I thought the bar area, with it's huge windows open to the street, unusual lighting, upmarket ambience and attentive staff was just the kind of place I could imagine hanging out with all my stylish friends (OK, both of them) on a laid-back afternoon.
Bottom line: Cru's an exciting addition to the Hoxton dining experience, with a modern-fusion menu, a truly impressive 120-strong wine-list and a deli for either a picnic lunch in the square or recreating your tastebud experience back home.
Do I get to be a food writer, yet?
Cru, 2-4 Rufus Street (just off Hoxton Square) London N1 6PE, 020 8765 2342 opens Saturday. Starters £4.50 - £6, mains £10 - £14. Say hi to Brendan.
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