Boulud Sud

[weinoo]

Heading to a concert last night at the Beacon, my friends and I were allegedly going to meet at Lincoln for some pre-concert Negronis and maybe a bite or two. Alas, Lincoln was closed for a private event, so we hoofed it east across Broadway to see if we could get into Bar Boulud.

"Pas ce soir, monsieur," or something along those lines was whispered, and it was "suggested" that we walk around the corner, to recently opened Boulud Sud's discreet entrance on 64th Street. Made even more discreet by the scaffolding hiding the door. Ah, New York City, that's what we love about you.

So we bellied up to the bar and grabbed some seats. What a nice room! Nicer I think, than it's more crowded cousin Bar Boulud, Boulud Sud is restaurateur and chef Daniel Boulud's latest entry into his expanding Manhattan empire.

Since we were in a bit of a hurry we only ordered what are called appetizers and small plates on the menu - and since when does one need a degree in menu-ology to decipher what's what on a menu? With a little help from our bartender, he of the shaken Negroni, we plowed through six or seven dishes without a problem.

Sicilian sardine escabeche was delicious, just the right amount of sweet and sour to compete with the sardines. The stuffed squid was simply some of the most tender squid I've tasted in quite some time. The standout for me though, amongst the seafood small plate/apps was the sea urchin and crab tartine, simply because it's sea urchin and crab, poised on a "seaweed toast" if my memory serves me correctly.

From the earthy and meaty parts of the menu, fried artichokes were served with an aioli that had us scraping the bowl. Rabbit "porchetta" was, as one of my friends suggested, simply the best way to use rabbit, and served alongside were strips of white and green asparagus. And the vitello tonnato wasn't a bad way to use vitello either. Since socca was not available (why not?!) on its own, even though it appears to come alongside one or two of the offerings, I had to order a side of panisse, that lovely fried chickpea flour cake also from the south of France. Four or five hulking panisse were stacked on the plate, ready to be dipped into their accompanying sauce. Think of a french fry - these were better.

The bread basket also deserves a bit of a mention, filled with 2 kinds of focaccia (a plain and an olive, iirc) and another flatbread which I think might be based on the Moroccan matlouh. Whatever, they were good, and refilled upon request, forming a nice base for the concert.

Without delving into the main dishes or desserts offered at Boulud Sud, it's hard to suggest that you rush over. But it is Daniel, after all...he kinda knows what he's doing. And the stuff we ate was all pretty damn good. I'll be returning as soon as possible though...we're already booked for dinner on Friday night.

[Chris Amirault]

The room looks great. What is rabbit porchetta?

[weinoo]

I think it's a cute way of saying ballotine/galantine. To my memory, it was rolled, poached rabbit with carrot pieces (mostly loin) that was served in a thick slice, cold.

[johnder]

Yes, it looked like it was wrapped around a few leaks and carrots as Mitch said, and I think it was caul fat then poached. There was some type of casing on the outside, although very thin, hence me leaning towards caul fat that was rendered away in poaching.