Without Wall Street’s epic descent, Daniel Boulud’s family of New York restaurants might always have remained special-occasions-only material. Thankfully, though, today’s economic reality necessitates catering to the lower tax brackets, and restauranteurs like Boulud are doing quite well for themselves by changing with the times. With its unfinished chairs and open kitchen, this newest addition to the DB empire seems an ideal place for its relatively cheap and experimental cuisine.
DBGB is truly a dining experience unlike any other, transforming the conventional into something extraordinary. For a play-by-play of our fabulous meal, along with photographic evidence, click on!
Posted by: Kim Partrick
Order: crab cake, Frenchie burger, coffee-caramel sundae
Price: $$
Location: 299 Bowery (between Houston and 1st St.)
Type of Food: American/French
www.danielnyc.com/dbgb
Appetizer-wise, the choices range from oysters to sausages to tomato bisque, with nothing exceeding $14 and a few as little as $7. We went for Daniel’s take on the crab cake, which is served with both a cardamom-rich curry sauce and guacamole. With high-quality fresh crab and some great spice in the other ingredients, you couldn’t go wrong with either sauce. I’d rank it on par with the best crab cakes I’ve tasted (though Nicole, of course, maintains that David Burke’s reigns supreme).
While the entrée choices include some classy creations as paprika and sage-crusted monkfish and duck with cherries, the real fun to be had at DBGB is in experiencing his take on more mainstream items like hot dogs and hamburgers, and of course his specialty, charcuterie. The Boulud touch really elevates such commonplace fare to an entirely new level.
For example, the “Frenchie” burger I chose for my entrée was crowned with the scintillating combination of braised spinach, horseradish mustard, and its crowning glory, pork belly. Quite honestly, I’m hard-pressed to think of a single bite of food I’ve experienced that has packed more flavor. The mustard added some serious spice, but this was well-balanced by the rich and fatty pork belly. Although $17 is a lot to pay for a burger, I highly doubt you’ll need much more food after this one. Nicole, my dining cohort, opted for the $21 two-sausage combo, which is a great deal considering one sausage alone can run you up to $15. She chose the Toscane, pan-roasted Italian sausage paired with garlic olive oil, fennel and tomato, and the Espagnole, chorizo served with basil oil. While she preferred the spiciness of the chorizo, the Italian sausage was still incredibly flavorful, and its accompaniments were also tasty.
If you’ve got room for dessert, Daniel and executive chef Jim Leiken definitely saved up some of their whimsy for this course. Dominating the dessert menu, and hailed by the waitstaff as unmissable, are the three choices of ice cream sundaes: coffee-caramel, kreik beer-cherry, and apricot-pistachio. We shared the coffee-caramel sundae, which is house-made coffee and caramel ice creams topped off with chocolate cookies, brownie bites, candied pecans, chocolate sauce, and a mountain of fresh whipped cream. Sure, you could go home and make a sundae, but I highly doubt the ingredients would be of such a high quality or so ingeniously combined. More complicated desserts are also on hand, such as baba au rhum, a strawberry and mascarpone tarte, and my personal pick for next time, the grand marnier soufflé with crème anglaise.
On the whole, DBGB truly delivers on everything we’ve come to love and expect from Boulud’s restaurants, minus the splurge factor. And that’s a factor I doubt most will miss.
Our scrumptious crab cake served with guacamole and vadouvan curry
The soon-to-be-legendary Frenchie burger, with fries and adorable cornichons
…and its delicious innards
The duo of sausages. That’s the Toscane on the left, and the Espagnole on the right.
Our coffee-caramel sundae
Tags: American, East Village, Food Crushes, French
Hi,
Super post, Need to mark it on Digg
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