Norfolk’s Crudo Nudo reinventing itself with Spanish tapas, lunch menu, lower prices
Source: The Virginian Pilot; July 1, 2019
For about a year, Ghent restaurant Crudo Nudo has been a singular presence in Norfolk’s food scene — a mix of Italian raw-fish crudo, house-made pastas, esoteric cocktails and meats grilled on a Japanese-style yakatori.
But now, according to chef and owner Eric Nelson, he’ll be unveiling a “New Nudo.” Call it Crudo 2.0, if you prefer — the restaurant will keep the original elements popular among regulars, but broaden dining options and hours with a new focus on approachability.
The restaurant will close for a week starting July 4 — in part to get a new interior mural by local artist Navid Rahman — and will re-open on July 12 with a much-expanded menu and hours, including new lunchtime service.
Nelson nonetheless plans to keep the fresh-made pastas and creative, which have included hamachi with caviar-like finger limes, and strips of salmon with strawberry caked into meringue.
“It’s kind of exciting. We’re not losing any of the crudos, still doing fresh-made pasta, that kind of thing,” Nelson said. “But we’ll have an all-day tapas menu, and from 5 to 10 we’ll offer dinner — more of an entree for people who want to come in and get that traditional meal.”
He’s also adding lunch, and broadening the Mediterranean offerings with a renewed focus on Spanish fare and even a few southern-French influences.
At lunch, this will mean creative bowls alongside crusty lunchtime bocadillo sandwiches made with bread they’ll bake themselves.
“We’ll have five sandwiches, anything from the classic bikini (ham and cheese) sandwich to vegetarian-friendly sandwiches like marinated mushrooms and fig jam,” said Nelson. “We’ll do a tuna ceviche in the bowl, with olives, capers, fried potatoes and eggs. It’s kind of like a play on a nicoise salad.”
Dinner will bring a mix of new options: more traditional entrees and a mess of traditional Spanish tapas — a far cry from the wonton nachos or steak-bite “tapas” that have characterized a number of local restaurants.
This means Spanish-style tapas like a savory tortilla espanola made with potatoes, onions and eggs, alongside other small plates like roasted veggies and shirmp and garlic. This will join pintxos that have already made their way onto crudos menu: salted cod puffs and boquerones.
Among entrees, they’ll veer traditional, Nelson says, “We’ll offer five pastas, seared tuna with black rice and green onions, traditional codish with potato, Mornay sauce and leeks. Simple things like skewered chicken with leeks over Spanish rice.”
Crudo plans to keep the prices mostly less than $20 — aside from their popular Spanbish octopus dish, which will be priced around $25.
“Across the board, we’re keeping the prices a little lower. We want to reach a broader spectrum of people,” Nelson said. “The people that come in love us, but we need to get more people to come and try us.”
That focus on accessibility will extend to the cocktails. Founding bar manager Josh Seaburg will keep his popular Model Citizen cocktail pop-ups the last Sunday of each month, but will be moving to a new job running the bar at Heirloom restaurant in Virginia Beach, opening by this fall.
The bar will now be overseen by Kendra Muse, and bartender Tyler Woodard from the now-closed Press Wine Bar in Virginia Beach. The prices of cocktails will drop into the $9-$11 range, and the offerings will be light, refreshing, and Mediterranean-style. The restaurant will also add a happy hour.
“Spain’s national drink is gin and tonic — we’ll have a gin and tonic variation, and focus more on gin. We’ll have things my wife and I drink in Spain: agua frescas, a lot of cava cocktails, a bamboo — it’s a sherry cocktail, it looks kind of like a martini. We’re doing more refreshing cocktails: We have a very similar climate to them. It’s very humid, it’s very hot.”
With the new cocktails, and a planned “Taste of Spain” dining menu, what Nelson hopes to create is a more friendly, social, accessible experience for the restaurant — the sort of place you’d pop in on your way home from work for a skewer or two and a light cava cocktail.
“It’s a whole brand new place,” Nelson said. “It’ll be a little more communal. We’re rearranging the dining room a little. We’ll have chill-out areas to kind of relax … It’s a social experience more than anything.”
The “New Nudo” opening party is July 12 and 13 at Crudo Nudo, 727 W 21st St., Norfolk, 757-351-6080, crudonudo.com. Happy hour prices all day.