Daniel Boulud is a well established chef, but well on his way to becoming more of a marketing and business genius. He seems to be able to keep up the quality controls and has just spread himself further with the opening of DBGB 299 Bowery, New York, NY 10003 (opening just a block away from the missed CBGB’s) as his take on a gastropub.
Angie and I walked by after just eating at The Ten Bells. We just couldn’t resist seeing what the fine dining master was up to here. Although it was bustling, there were still a few openings. The space is pretty big with varying table shapes and sizes. Racks, that you can see right through, seperate the diners from the kitchen staff. My favorite part is the display of pots, each donated by a world renowned chef. I know it’s all just marketing hype but it’s otherwise just a loud and dark space wth too many young dressed up people. This is where I would be in my college days but now. I’d rather see my food.
Suitably, they have a lengthy beer list. Surprisingly, they were serving very nice bread with wonderful butter. Now, I wasn’t sure what else to expect.
The sausage page caught our eye, but they also had an appetizer section, a raw selection, a selection of fancy burgers, full on main courses, and desserts. The menu seemed daunting. Unsure of what they really specialized in, we asked our waiter for his favorites, which were the Beaujolais and the Tunisienne. (The Sausage Duo allows you to choose two sausages.)
The Tunisienne is a lamb merguez sausage with lemon braised spinach and chickpeas. The sausage is flavorful but the spinach is gross. Never braise spinach. It’s like mushy slop. I’m seriously surprised.
The Beaujolais is a pork sausage with bacon, mushrooms, onions, and red wine. It’s lightly sweet and very juicy, and goes nicely with the lentil du puy. Even though both sausages were good, $21 seems steep for sausages.
The Duck and Cherries looked pretty fancy for the atmosphere. The duck breasts were perfectly juicy, so evenly cooked, and the cherry sauce was wonderful. I got a piece of cartilage in the duck meatball, which was pretty standard anyway. The spinach subric wasn’t as bad as the previous spinach slop but still not desirable.
We tried a scoop of Kriek Beer-Cherry and a scoop of Apricot-Pistachio Ice Cream, but they were much more like sherbert than ice cream. They were very pretty and naturally colored but nothing special in taste.
Before we finished dessert, the check was dropped at our table. I left feeling like DBGB was more like a BR Guest restaurant than a Daniel Boulud establishment, except the portions are smaller. It’s a safe bet, but nothing amazing, which is what I expect from Daniel. Aside from really wanting to try some of the delicious sounding burgers, I wouldn’t be interested in coming back.
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love the Tunisienne photo
i’ve wanted to try it though, but it doesn’t seem very vegetarian-friendly.