To Live and Eat in L.A.

Good news, the excellent, mostly raw food restaurant Cru in Silver Lake is now open daily for lunch! Daytime service is from 11am-4pm, with dinner starting up from 5:30pm-10pm.

Previously their only daytime hours were on the weekend, now it’s everyday with a special brunch on Sundays from 11am-2:30pm. I haven’t been to the Sunday brunch yet so I don’t know what goodies are on that menu, but I can tell you that I so enjoyed their new daily lunch that I went back two days in a row. Cru was already one of my favorite restaurants, now it’s become even more so.

The daytime menu features a selection from their regular menu, which inlcudes quite a few new dishes since my last visit. There’s a nice selection of appetizers, wraps, and even stuff like their take on a raw pizza, a tostada made with raw vegan chorizo, rice bowls, über healthy salads and more.

Bruschetta is pretty much at the top of the appetizer food chain. I love love love it. The Bruschetta Rustica at Cru isn’t the traditional version as usually served on thick crusty bread, but they’ve got the essence down pat, and this reinvented raw(er) version is delightful.

It comes on sunflower flat bread with chopped tomato & basil and cashew cheese. I believe the saucy drizzle along the plate is a pesto infused oil. Everything about this bruschetta tasted so fresh and clean, the cashew cheese was delicious and the tomatoes perfectly ripe and full of flavor (in January!).

You know what’s even cooler about Cru being open for lunch? It’s that they’re also serving breakfast and brunch inspired dishes, all with a unique and tasty twist. The dishes I’ve had so far all sound so simple on the menu but then when my meals arrived, I was dazzled by the presentation and tastiness of it all. Behold:

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I’ve written before about my first visit to Cru, the mostly raw vegan restaurant in Silver Lake, and I’ve been back a number of times since because I was so impressed the first time around. I’m pleased to say they continue to impress with their delicious food, cozy atmosphere and friendly service. Rather than repeat myself telling you all about this place, I’ll refer you to my previous post to get you up to date. For now I’d like to share with you more of the good stuff they’ve been feeding me.

Here we’ve got one of my favorite appetizers served at Cru, the Pumpkin Seed Walnut Chorizo Sausage with avocado lime salad. One thing to note is that Cru also serves fully cooked dishes, it’s not all raw food, and this is one of them. Calling the side an “avocado lime salad” is a bit misleading. What it really is is diced avocado served with a slice of lime and a few sprigs of cilantro. I’m not really complaining here as I love avocado and it was ripe and delicious and went well with the chorizo wraps, but yeah, I was expecting something that was more like an actual salad and instead got an avocado that had just been scooped out of it’s skin (they should change the wording on the menu, this ain’t no salad!).
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