August 4th, 2008
Taste restaurant is now Crush
Baltimore’s newest restaurant, Crush, is scheduled to open Wednesday (Aug. 6) in the space formerly occupied by Taste, 510 E. Belvedere Ave., reports Chris Stutz, a regular contributor to B-mag. Here’s what she found out after talking to chef/owner Daniel Chaustit.
The name refers to the "winemaking season," according to Dan. It will feature "modern American food in a casual atmosphere with farm fresh produce and sustainable seafood." Price points will be somewhat lower than that of Taste, and the restaurant will continue to offer outdoor seating.
Crush will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. Private parties can be arranged. Dan did not change the décor since he says he was pretty wowed by it when he first saw it.
Dan, who lives in Perry Hall, is a former chef and owner of Christopher Daniel and also a former executive chef at Linwoods. The phone number is 443-278-9001. Crush doesn’t have a website yet.
9:50 am
Categories: restaurants, what's new
Nice! Sounds like a great replacement...lower prices is a smart move. Could it be my new food crush? ha..ha..
My wife and I ate there Monday, 8/11/08. Everything was great - service, food quality, presentation, menu variety. It's a more casual atmosphere than Taste was -- I think it's a better fit for the neighborhood. I recommend checking it out.
I just ate at Crush tonight, and I will be back soon - the service, food and drink were great! I wanted to like Taste, as I live nearby, but I was never impressed with the service, and found it to be expensive for what was offered. Our service at Crush was great - the food arrived promptly, the waitress was friendly, but most importantly, everything was delicious and appropriately priced. I recommend checking it out too!
I just TRIED to eat at Crush last night. I will not be making the attempt again.
I live a few blocks away and was thrilled when Taste closed, because not only was the food overpriced for what it was, it was mediocre at best and bad at worst (a Caprese salad should never be crisp, especially in August).
My husband and I had great hopes for Crush and when we were seated, I initially thought they might be justified. The menu looked decent and the prices seemed reasonable. Water was poured in our glasses and we read our menus as we waited for our server to come take our drink orders and tell us the specials. We waited. And waited. The restaurant wasn't busy and there were plenty of staff milling around. Still, we waited. A little over ten minutes into our increasingly annoyed wait, a party of five was seated next to us. Not five minutes passed before their waiter materialized and started taking drink orders. Maybe it was because there were more of them. Maybe it was because they were in their sixties and we are in our thirties. Whatever the reason, we decided that the restaurant clearly didn't want our money. Ever. We stood up, took our jackets, and left when the server started describing the specials to the recent arrivals.
The hostess's look of shocked injury when we told her , as we walked out the door, that we need to go some place where we could get service, was galling, but also hilarious. Crush got fifteen minutes of our lives that we'll never get back and that's all it will get. Sad, because it would have been a nice addition to our walking distance dining options. We give it a year before it enjoys Taste's well-deserved fate.
This is in response to AnneS who wasted 15 minutes of her life waiting at Crush. CHILL OUT. Dinner is suppose to be a relaxing - night out. Not a rush to see how quickly you can get served and how quickly you can stuff your face so you can go home and watch TV. Dinner out should be a long, lingering, relaxing experience. My question is, why didn't you just get up and go to the bar and get a drink, or here's an idea??? Ask one of the people that you saw "milling" around for help. What is really sad is that you could not sit for 15 minutes and just enjoy the company of your husband.
Oh, spare me the snotty, self-righteous BS, Linda. A large part of relaxing at a restaurant is being served and not having to forage for our own drinks - we can generally drink better, enjoy each other's company at least as much, and eat almost as well at at home, after all. Taking drink orders within five minutes of seating is the industry standard everywhere from Chili's to Chez Panisse, and from New York to Bratislava. Failure to meet the standard is upsetting not because it indicates we might be "forced" to linger over our meal, but because it is a harbinger of poor organization, laziness, and/or negligence that will likely mar the remainder of the experience and impede our ability to relax and enjoy the evening.
As for your "solutions" - After being seated by the hostess, a patron should never have to stand up to buttonhole one of the waitstaff who have studiously avoided eye contact since they entered the restaurant. Nor should a patron in the dining room ever have to get her own drink (that's why she chose the dining room and not the bar). Nor should patrons have to snap their fingers, whistle, or shout "hey, you in the apron" to get a negligent server's attention.
But hey, if you find neglect and hunting for your service that relaxing, it shouldn't be that hard to find restaurants where the servers are willing to ignore you in exchange for tips. As for me, I'll spend my money at restaurants that make a minimal effort to actually serve food and drink for me to relax and enjoy.
I'm glad everyone is trying out Crush and sharing their opinions. But let's keep in mind that the restaurant has just been open for a month and is probably still working out some kinks. Regardless, let's be respectful of what everyone thinks. I'd like you to write about your experiences and to politiely agree to disagree if you have a different one. Fair?
We were yesterday (Saturday evening) at Crush, table of five, early reservation at 6pm. The experience was overall very enjoyable, the service friendly, attentive and not obsequious, the food very good to delicious depending on the dishes we had : soup of the day a Cream of Tomato, very good, even though the cheese croutons were soggy, and tasteless, probably not grilled at all- the fish of the day was a rainbow trout in an Asian fusion style, with an algae slaw, and delicious potato-leek rolls, very good NY strip, very fresh and crisp salad with garden greens - the ones you do not find in a ready mix bag, the one you actually have to go to the market to get, and prepare them yourself, if you see what I mean (!) and a very light and tasty vinaigrette. Last but not least an outstanding flourless chocolate cake with real natural melt of bitter chocolate on top - I have never had such a nice chocolate cake for a while!
A few drawbacks, though, which are probably due to the fact that the personnel is not well trained yet : a problem finding our reservation at the entrance, which had to be settled by a supervisior, one mistake on the order, which was gladly fixed, a poor waiter wandering around with our dessert who did not know for some time where to deliver, and the plates of the hot dishes which not heated-up, therefore the heat of the dishes tended to quickly go down.
In summary, the new owner are doing a very good job, this place is definitely going for quality (and quality has a price...) and reaching for the top- if they continue in this direction. We will come back regularly to 'monitor the progress' but above all to enjoy a nice dinner in a nice environment.
Met a friend at Crush last night for a quick dinner. Nice crowd for a Monday evening and the wait staff seemed to be on top of it. We sat at a table in the bar and received outstanding service throughout our meal. The burger was as good as it was rumored - perfectly prepared and nicely plated. Simple, crispy fries and a decent (but perhaps a bit bland) slaw. Intrigued by the Old Bay fries on the menu and will definitely sample them the next time. The crabcake was mostly lump with very little filling, and cocktail sauce was quickly supplied upon request. Desserts were lovely - pineapple upside down cake was moist and warm; the creme brulee was perfectly crusted, with just a hint of charring. All in all, an enjoyable, relaxed evening.
We had a less-than-impressive experience at Taste (at about 10 times the cost), and were disappointed that someplace that was so close was not a great dining option. It's refreshing to be in a neighborhood place that is somewhat upscale, but welcoming at the same time.
One side note: the bartenders and wait staff were on a first name basis with several of the diners - a good indication of repeat business. We will definitely be back.
Had a very nice, last minute meal at Crush on Friday night, after a long week. There was a good crowd but we were able to be seated as we walked in around 8:15 p.m. The food was delicious, especially the tuna appetizer and the steak salad. My husband's grilled chicken with spinach raviloi has some awesome tastes despite the chicken being a bit over cooked.
Our two complaints (which will NOT affect our returning) - every time we have come into this restaurant space (twice before as Taste), we are taken to the very back of the room, faaaar away from the more lively front. However, we were seated closer to the front once we asked for a more centrally located table. Finally, the service was VERY slow. Luckily, we were in no hurry but like other reviewers mentioned, it was tough fight to get our waiter to take our drink order. Much staff was buzzing around so it was not from lack of servers. Maybe our guy just lacked any hussle.
We will be back and will recommend to friends. Have we in and around Rodgers Forge, found our "Petit Louis" neighborhood joint? Hope so.