Artist’s Kitchen: Three courses, all perfect

My wife and I were recently in Vancouver, British Columbia, where we had one of the finest restaurant meals we’ve ever tucked into.

CRU Restaurant, just off Granville Street on West Broadway, is an intimate little place that offers a three-course prix fixe menu for $38 Canadian – a terrific bargain.

Kat went with a salad and small plate and I had the prix fixe dinner, intending to share dessert. She started with the Cellar Door Caesar, which our accomplished and attentive, but unobtrusive server said was the best in the city. It was artfully presented: A small whole lettuce with a restrained but garlicky dressing and a nice topping of Asiago cheese. Five large, perfectly square, garlic butter croutons were arranged alongside the salad; all the better for stealing from her plate and about the best I’ve ever had.

I hit the jackpot with the mushroom soup – a silky affair with goat cream and chunky bits of wild mushrooms. It was a real revelation. (Ask Kat how slowly I spooned it up.) It had just the essence of mushroom and it was easily the best I’ve ever had. Excuse the broken record.

She followed with duck confit and warm bacon dressing, frisée salad and organic potatoes, while I had the bison tenderloin. Her confit was fine, but I wouldn’t have traded plates for the moon. Mine featured two perfectly cooked tenderloins, on the rare side of medium rare, surrounded by a rich red reduction sauce. Green filet beans peeked out from underneath. Three small rectangles of celeriac were arranged on the side – just a subtle hint of celery, crunchy and delicious. Did I mention the wonderful mashed potatoes, wonderfully smooth, with an almost nutty undertone, were really, really wonderful?

Chef-owner Dana Reinhardt told me in an e-mail exchange that Yukon Gold potatoes and butter melted into hot heavy cream is the secret. Not that hard to guess, actually, but I always have trouble really going for it at home. That’s why we go to restaurants: plausible deniability.

The taters alone were worth the price of the whole meal, but the slightly-stronger-than-beef bison was mouth-meltingly tender and everything went together fabulously.

Dessert, ample for two already replete diners, was a bitter chocolate torte. It tasted just dandy. The surrounding passion fruit curd, the concentrated essence of the fruit, made it…well, you know.

Back home, I came up with this mushroom soup. It was not really an attempt to recreate theirs, but in comparable spirit. I went with cheaper mushrooms for a first try. Next time, with a good handful of expensive wild ‘shrooms, it should be even better.

White and Shiitake Mushroom Soup

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/2 pounds white mushrooms, cleaned of dirt and thinly sliced

1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, cleaned

3 tablespoons good-quality tawny port, divided

3-4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

2 teaspoons tarragon, crushed between palms

4 cloves roasted garlic (omit if not roasted)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until foam subsides. Add 1/4 cup olive oil and remove from heat. Chop onion. Slice the white mushrooms and set aside. Remove the tough center stem from shiitakes and add to white mushrooms. Roughly tear half of shiitake caps into varied sizes, for texture, and chop the remainder. Set aside. Prepare remaining ingredients; remove garlic from skins and crush into a paste with a small fork.

Heat the saucepan with oil and butter over medium-high heat and add onions, sprinkled with a pinch or two of salt. Cook, stirring often, until onions are soft. Add white mushrooms with the shiitake stems. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, stirring a few times, until the mushrooms release their liquids and are soft, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high in a small skillet and sauté shiitake caps, with a pinch of salt, over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until softened. Reduce heat to medium low, add 1 tablespoon of port and stir. When they begin to dry out, reduce heat to lowest setting, adding a few teaspoons of stock, as needed, to keep moist.

Add 3 cups stock, the tarragon, garlic and remaining salt to saucepan, along with a few grinds of black pepper. Bring back to a simmer and then reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, 45 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool a bit in a sink of cold water; puree, in batches if necessary, until silky smooth, adding stock as needed, to desired consistency. Return to stove, add shiitakes and remaining 2 tablespoons of port and bring back to a strong simmer. Turn off heat, adjust seasonings and serve.

Yield: 6 starter servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 242 calories, 18 grams fat (6.5 grams saturated, 65 percent fat calories), 5 grams protein, 15 grams carbohydrate, 22 milligrams cholesterol, 2.8 grams dietary fiber, 256 milligrams sodium.