Damien is really neat and likes crushed grapes A LOT. But in all seriousness, Damien is the inspiration for this store. While drawing on napkins one night at Brio, I asked Damien if he would start a new restaurant with me. Now he had just started working for a great wine company out of Chicago (Heritage Wine Cellars) less than 6 months prior, so the idea of quitting and starting a new restaurant with me (and a business plan on a bar napkin) was a little scary. But the idea of creating a wine store from nothing and pursuing a dream was all that was needed for him to make the decision... Cru was born!
How did he get to this point, I'm not sure of all the details exactly but this is what I do know. When I was deciding to open Brio, Damien was the bar manager at Bacchus (now Brio), and we became fast friends. He was an integral part of what we called the "TRIO", which was Myself as the food and vision, Damien as the wine muse and bar, and Jennifer as the office manager and "GLUE". At this point I knew Damien was a very special person, and that he had a gift and talent that was rare to find. I have never known a person so passionate and motivated about wine, and this in a nut shell is why he is the inspiration for Cru.
