CRU

While Cru’s large window faces Old Town Tallinn’s bustling Viru street in a very come-hither way, finding the entrance is not necessarily easy, you have to walk into a narrow backyard and climb the stairs to an equally narrow hallway. Everything about this brings to mind the small winery restaurants in Alsace. There are several, rambling dining rooms; an impressive main salon with tall ceilings, an intimate back room for smaller groups and a private cellar for larger celebrations.

Bossing over the kitchen is one of Estonia’s most renowned chefs, Dmitri Haljukov, who used to dabble in classic fine dining, but has streamlined his techniques to new, less-is-more levels; he’s proven himself and no longer needs to flaunt his skills, focusing instead on carefully sourcing his ingredients and bringing out the best in them. His Viking stew, served in an egg-shaped ceramic bowl, is a comforting concoction of mussels and cubed, crispy-fried, skin-on trout, enveloped in a green curry sauce with herbs from the seashore. One of the chef’s favorite activities as of late is taking well-known dishes and tweaking them in his own way.

Despite the restaurant’s name, wine is relegated to the status of a deserving food partner, no more. The restaurant’s excellent digestif, however, is not to be missed, a local brewery’s hop schnapps. This eau de vie:esque tipple will bring you back to that Alsatian feeling you picked up on when finding your way here.