Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Monday, April 20th - Cru Poplar Grove Dinner


I will have to update and review later. Below is the menu of the wine pairing dinner we attended at the Cru Restaurant on Broadway. The winery of the evening was Poplar Grove Winery from Naramata. I will go into detail when I've got a minute but the food and the wine was sensational!!! The wine just flowed and flowed. Well worth it. We will be going back there for sure. As well, I fully intend to get a case of the Chardonnay. I have to thank Cru for offering to substitue the Bison and the Duck with a seafood alternative which didn't stray very far from the original menu.
Cru Restaurant
1459 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC
604-677-4111


Poplar Grove Winery Dinner @ CRU

Poplar Grove Wine Dinner
Monday, April 20, 2009
$95 per person, including wine

House Smoked Trout (Amuse Bouche)
toasted brioche and grapefruit crème fraiche
"Monster" Sauvignon Blanc


So easy and very tasty. It is an amuse bouche which wasn't indicated on the menu but the owner did give us a warning as they were coming out. We have some smoked salmon at home I'm going to try this with instead of cheese or mustard.

Dungeness Crab and Green Mango Salad
avocado and coconut mousse with toasted pine nuts
Chardonnay
I will be reminiscing about the avocado coconut mousse for a while. It is was just a garnish but what a garnish. The whole dish was really nice and the chardonnay pairing was brilliant. You can really taste that the chef had specifically built the dish for the chard. Ymmmmm.

Roasted Fraser Valley Duck Breast for D & Seared Scallops for me with:
Creamy gorgonzola polenta and grainy dijon balsamic reduction
Cabernet Franc 2005


(no photo of the Duck and fois Gras). The scallops were perfectly cooked. The gorganzola polenta was just amazing. I will have to figure out how to make this. It was so good.

Classic Oka Crusted Bison Striploin for D & Pan Fried Lingcod with Pecans for me.
garlic confit pommes puree and mushroom merlot demi-glace
The Legacy 2005
The pommes puree were salty on both our plates. The Bison was done beautifully. D was extremely pleased with it and the duck. I found the lingcod slightly stringy but the pecans were very well suited to the fish and the wine. I was rather surprised. The photo of my dish was too blurry from the romantic lighting :-P

Pistachio and Goat Cheese Cheesecake
citrus sable with poached sour cherries
vanilla bean cherry syrup (photo above)

This was an incredible dessert, really. Very interesting subtly on the goat cheese I wouldn't have thought of for dessert. I do love goat cheese though so it wasn't difficult for me to like either way. The pistacios were a great compliment. I am going to try adding a bit of goat cheese next time instead of sour cream to my cheese cake!!

0 Leave a / Read COMMENTs: