[Chat] Grand Cru

[Emil Volcheck]

Last night, Kathleen and I went out to dinner with a friend
(a nutrition prof from UW/Madison) to the Bombay Garden
on York Road and then for drinks at Grand Cru in Belvedere
Square.  I've previously written to this list how much
I like the Bombay Garden -- it did not disappoint.  We
had their fish masala curry, saag paneer, and malai kofta
with appetizers of onion bajia and nan.

Grand Cru is the wine bar that recently opened at Belvedere
Square.  It's definitely trying to be upscale.  It's
got a pretty nice atmosphere, and it was packed.  We got
the last table open, and that was about 9:30-10 PM.
They had two kinds of British hard cider on tap, Kathleen
got the sweeter kind ($6).  I got a Belgian-style white
beer (that's like Hoegaarden) from California that was
excellent ($4.50) also on tap, and our friend Susan got a
barley-wine style dark ale from Delaware (I forgot the name
but it contains "dog").  This was from a bottle in the
display case.  That was $7.50 plus a $3.50 corking fee,
which surprised me.  But, it was truly an excellent
barley wine, and our friend loved it.  So our three
drinks plus tip came to $26.  Not cheap, but the selection
was great, and the service was good.  They also have
cheese plates for $8 and a few other food options,
like an olive plate and a plate of assorted smoked
meats from neighboring shop Neopol (Barbara's store).

They sold single bottles and six-packs in their display
cases which run the length of half one wall.  I'd say
their prices are about a thirty percent mark-up over
Wells Discount Liquors.

So I highly recommend Grand Cru as a place for special
occasions, but it's maybe a bit pricey for a regular
hangout.  If you want a place to hang out with a colleague
and solve problems over drinks, I think Xando's
would be a better choice.  More table space and more
room there.

Dress: people were definitely dressing up a little bit,
so it was more than plain casual.

--Emil