Zombie Killers to Go at Cru Café

If you take the French “cru” to mean “growth,” it points to a new direction for Russell Morin Catering & Events, who have opened a “craft café” with Brandon Teachout as head chef. If you take it to mean “of the finest quality,” then it’s an extension of Morin’s dedication to top-notch cuisine and customer-friendly service.

A casual but elegant tone is carried throughout Cru Café, with one barnboard wall, other walls in mocha; a tin ceiling in espresso; and a shelf lined with coffee accompaniments.

The menu is on blackboards and brown paper (the better to change the specials), but a few exceptional items recur, such as Pat’s quinoa scramble, seasonal veggies and eggs, with Cru’s homemade hot sauce; and “swine on English,” a muffin slathered with Cru-made pimiento sauce, mortadella or ham and a fried egg.

The house-made muffins are winners, especially with the “zombie killer,” a sweetened cold brew coffee with milk.

Sandwiches reflect Teachout’s bluecollar upstate New York origins, with nouvelle twists. The roast beef is on a baguette with watercress; the chicken (Pat’s Pastured) has Manchego and a pimenton aioli.

Teachout loves shopping at the Aquidneck Farmers’ Market two blocks away, and he also reaches out to other local farms for his menu.

1 Casino Ter., Newport. 401.314.0500