Striving To Be Serious - Cirrus

Update September 2008 - Cirrus has closed it's doors. No word on what, if anything, will be opening in it's space.

If I ran a Fan restaurant that was open for brunch.....

a) 11:30 is a bit late to be starting brunch service. Most other places are either well into their first seating by 11:30, some their second, and I bet Millie's is starting their third or fourth.

b) Competition for Brunch in Richmond is fierce. You need a hook, something to pull people in. If your brunch menu is not unique you better be top-notch to get people in the door.

We've not made it to brunch on a couple of occasions due to these two items. With a little kid in tow we usually hit brunch early or late and try to avoid the 12 o'clock rush. We go out of way for interesting menus and may mix the times up a bit, if we can get the same thing someplace else and your not open yet....

The plan for yesterday had originally included going to Broad Appetit. We didn't make it. M wasn't feeling well, it started raining, and we have a slight aversion to big crowds. We sill almost went while running a couple of errands but realized that we had no cash on hand. So Cirrus it was.

We arrived at a completely deserted restaurant. Normally a very bad sign, I guessed all their diners must be over on Broad St. I looked around and immediately missed Dogwood Grille. You could see the old place under the whimsical new furnishings. I'm not sure why owners feel the need to update the old spaces the way they do. The old buildings in the Fan have so much character and style that I would preserve the original as much as possible. I want to ask the current owners in a year or two if all the white (booths, walls, bar) was a good idea or a maintenance nightmare.

The brunch menu looked ok but nothing screamed 'eat me', they didn't even have the vegetarian sausage and biscuits that drew RVA Foodie any more. What was interesting was the appetizer and salad portion of the menu (not shown on-line). Since it was late in the day we decided to share a number of appetizers except for Finn - he gets Blueberry Pancakes.

After a bit of a wait the first items came out. A Spinach Salad for M and Cream of Mushroom Soup for me. Finn and I enjoyed the soup. At first I wasn't sure about it. The mushroom flavour was strong and the sliced one in the soup were still firm but it seemed to be lacking something. I realized it was just mushroom soup, not bacon and mushroom, or onion, or anything else. Just mushroom. It was actually a nice realization and I enjoyed the simplicity. M commented on how nice the salad was. All to often salad are unbalanced by one item or another. Too much of one item and that's all you can taste. Her salad was lightly seasoned and each item spoke for itself. A nice start.

Soon after we finished the next courses started coming out. First was the Crab Stuffed Mushrooms. The best thing I can say about this item was that the mushroom wasn't overcooked and still retained it's firmness. The crab was an over-spiced puree, the slightly fishy flavour overpowered by the heat.

Next came the Shrimp Spring Roll with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce. The plate was beautiful. A pile of sliced red cabbage in the center, large shrimp in the roll showing from the bias cut surrounded by more red cabbage in the roll. The dish showed promise but lacked focus. The wrapping was too dry and the cabbage added crunch but no real flavour. The shrimp in it were good but I felt the dish needed a little more fine tuning to be really good.

Finally cam a plate of Sirloin Sliders with Smoked Gouda and Bacon Mayo and Sweet Potato Fries. The fat content in the sirloin used to make these was high enough to make them very juicy but not greasy. The whole combination with the gouda and the bacon mayo on the little toasted rolls was outstanding. While I am not a normal fan of sweet potato fries, these were pretty good.

I had a hard time judging the service. The waitress was a little shaky and not very confident at the table. Of course we kept talking about the Dogwood Grille and the effortless silver service (in a tropical flowered shirt no less) that they provided. That conversation raised the bar so high that they couldn't compete.

Some restaurants have clear focus and hit the ground running. Can-Can and Hard Shell knew who they were from day one. Others, through good stewardship, can evolve and change to meet the latest trends or to adapt to a new chef. How often has Avalon changed over the years? Cirrus is a restaurant that hasn't yet come into focus. They do some things very well while other items seem not quite finished. The changes on the menu from when the Foodies were there last Fall to today suggest they are evolving and figuring out what works. We'll make another visit to see if their vision has become clearer.