Flight Cru: Popping the bubbly on Brookside’s new American bistro
Photo by Anna Petrow
Opening a new restaurant in the space that used to house a Kansas City “legacy” bar and grill can be a daunting task. If you’ve been through the middle of Brookside any time over the last few decades, you got used to seeing the blue and red awnings over Michael Forbes Bar & Grille on the corner of 63rd Street.
When Michael Forbes closed their doors last summer, Hannah Koenig and her husband, Avery Bailey, knew they had the chance to do something unique with the space. They opened Cru Bistro & Bottles with the hope of creating the type of community and service-driven restaurant that is built to last in Brookside.
Photo by Anna Petrow
“The two of us actually met working at a short-lived Bread & Butter Concepts restaurant on the Plaza,” Koenig says. “We helped them flip it into a new concept, then we started getting more into the management side of several Kansas City restaurants.”
The pull to Brookside was strong. Avery grew up in the area, and, after he and Hannah bought a house in the community, they wanted to help contribute to the city’s food scene. The couple soon became management and business partners at the local-favorite Italian eatery, Bella Napoli.
According to Koenig, joining up at Bella Napoli was supposed to be the long-term plan. “When we inked that deal, the plan was for us to take ownership when the current owners decided to hang up their aprons,” she says. “But Michael Forbes shutting their doors was a golden opportunity for us. We knew it was a chance to do something really special.”
By growing up in Brookside, the two feel like they have a finger on the pulse of what the area is looking for in a restaurant. Cru is billed as an American Bistro, so menu items typically come from a variety of European influences.
Photo by Anna Petrow
The kitchen team, led by Thomas Luna and Krista Harr, isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel—The menu changes seasonally, but you can expect to find items like steak frites, risotto, and roast chicken over grits.
“One word we tried to constantly keep in mind when developing Cru was ‘accessibility,’” Koenig says. “We believe great food, clever cocktails, and interesting, high-quality wine are all things that everyone should be able to experience and enjoy, without the stuffiness and pretense that often comes with them.”
Most diners won’t need to look up half a dozen ingredients on their phone to find out what a dish is. The cocktail program follows a “classic-craft” approach, with zhuzhed-up takes on drinks like the French 75, Old Fashioned, and Cru’s best-seller, the Espresso Martini.
Photo by Anna Petrow
Just like with their food menu, the team at Cru tries to incorporate as many locally made spirits as they can into their cocktails. In some cases, this comes pretty easy—The cocktail menu was developed by Koenig’s brother, JT Koenig-Riley, who has spent nearly a decade at Tom’s Town Distilling Co. You’ll find Tom’s Town spirits like Double Oaked Bourbon, Garden Party Gin, and namesake vodka holding down the fort in several of the cocktails, along with spirits from West Bottoms Whiskey and other local favorites. The cocktail team is also honing their no-ABV cocktail skills, creating non-alcoholic riffs on a few of their staples.
Availability also plays a role in Cru’s wine list, with a focus on quality bottles that you may not find elsewhere. “Whether you’re ordering by the glass or by the bottle, we don’t want that ‘wine panic’ to set in,” Koenig says. If you’ve ever asked a server for the wine list and had a 10-pound hardcover pressed into your hands, you know what she’s talking about.
There’s even more fun planned with Cru’s wine list in the future. In addition to an attached wine shop, which will have a separate entrance and offer retail prices on a selection of similarly curated bottles, Cru has a nifty little menu guide to help customers find and track which wines are available and pair well with their order. This will give them up-to-the-minute tracking of what’s in the cellar, as well as giving plenty of easy sorting and recommendation options.
Photo by Anna Petrow
When we stopped by, we wanted to get a telling sample of items from across the menu. The mushroom croquettes had an almost hushpuppy-like texture, with a nice, earthy flavor and a killer remoulade to dip them in. The tartare had a great feel and featured a horseradish mustard for some sinus-clearing heat if one so desired. A creamy tomato soup was a great choice between courses, with a tiny hint of coconut to add a little extra sweetness.
For main courses, the risotto was probably the best bite of the meal—It had a deep flavor profile and a perfect, creamy texture. The pork schnitzel was nearly as impressive: It had a delicious fried exterior and was topped with white gravy and capers. Once you squeezed that lemon over the top and added in a little of the accompanying arugula side salad, the balance between brightness and richness hit all the right notes. “Simplicity done right,” just like Koenig said.
With a seasonally shifting menu, an impressive bar program, and an approachable but elegant vibe, Cru has a chance to make some waves in a hot location—especially once the weather is nice enough for glasses of wine at their sidewalk patio tables. We’ll have the bubbles.
Cru Bistro & Bottles is located at 128 W 63rd St, Kansas City, MO 64113.
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