Bouley

[glenn]

http://www.observer.com/pages/frontpage4.asp

[Wilfrid]

Very interesting, and doubtless very damaging - although I am sure we'll eventually get Mr Bouley's version.  One thing puzzles me.  I remember a successful and critically acclaimed British chef/restauranteur once saying that if he wanted to make money he'd run sandwich shops not restaurants.  I think I recently read similar sentiments expressed by the Waltucks, who have not made their fortunes with Chanterelle.  If Mr Bouley wanted to run a high volume/low cost catering business, I wonder why he hasn't been doing so for some time.   Why start now?  Are we to assume that no-one would finance him until September 11 and the Red Cross came along?

Lots of unanswered questions.

[Ruby]

David Bouley could have made a ton of money just franchising his name and opening chain restaurants or going on TV. I'm not ready to call him a 'scoundrel' just because of a news article without hearing his side of the story.

It seems the article stresses so much that Bouley doesn't pay his bills on time or to his staff. Again, I'm sure explanations are forthcoming. Meanwhile, the Red Cross is working with him and lots of people are eating well. I'm sure many of Bouley's non-paid volunteers are thrilled to work with him and wages aren't really important in these times when so many people are being helped. Let's not rush to judgment.

[Rail Paul]

The article levels several serious charges, and I'd certainly like to hear Mr Bouley's response. His restaurants have always been of high quality, staffed by very compentet people.

If the charges that he stiffs suppliers are true, he may find it difficult to get the materials he needs to produce a steady flow of wonderful food. If he fails to keep his good help, he may find that his guests don't receive the treatment his prices require.

Anybody want to bet this story gets picked up in the mainstream press? I doubt it will...

[ajay]

A family emergency forced me to cancel reservations at the newly reopened Bouley.  I'm told they don't even begin a la carte service until Friday, but I am wondering if anyone has been, and would care to share an experience.  Alternatively, I am also interested in the thoughts of fellow egulleters on how Bouley will stack up against the fine dining establishments in the city.

Also, will Bouley have the same staff as the old Bouley Bakery?  If the staff were the same, would the restaurant count as 'new?'

[cabrales]

ajay -- I have no information on the reopened Bouley, but the old Bouley (Duane Street) was my favorite restaurant in NYC (in fact, in the US).  And the experience would generally begin with the warm scent of apples when I walked in...  I have not found Bouley Bakery to be an acceptable substitute.

Please report as information becomes available, including on reservation policies.

[pcloguda]

We're dining here on Saturday pm and will update thereafter.

[PaulaJ]

Bouley is no longer the 'bakery'. The retail bakery section

has been renovated into a beautiful diningroom. The design

blends with the existing diningroom although the colors

and decorative touches are more lush. The newly styled

entry now has the original Bouley door; the entry has

lighted racks of apples on one side and wooden boxes of

fresh spring flowers on the other. Dead-center there is

a small bar/ waiting area. Service and cuisine were

excellent. For another week or so they will be serving only

a tasting menu/ getting their legs, they say. I think they

have already found them!

[glenn]

Bouley in Sunday's Times

[ajay]

I take it, then, that Msr. Bouley has not had trouble obtaining top quality supplies.  Trouble with suppliers nonwithstanding?

[PaulaJ]

I,too, read today's NYTimes article. However,

last night's 'supplies' seemed fresh & wonderful

to me. Comes to think of it [re; A Daguin] I

didn't notice quail or foie gras, but then it

was a set menu.

[76trombones]

Very excited -- I am taking my husband to Bouley tonight for his 30th birthday.  (Now that I think about it, I think we went to Bouley Bakery for his 28th birthday . . . )

I will post a full report afterward.

[Beachfan]

Any comments on the new Bouley from someone whose been?  As a former worshipper, I'd love to return to the fold.

[ajay]

I have second hand reports that suggest the new restaurant has not yet found its mark, but alas no direct experience.

The one other thing that struck me is that apparently Chef Bouley is handling the desserts himself.  Last I heard, he has not yet found a new pastry chef to replaces the great Mssr. Yosses (sic.) [i thought the "sweet pleasures" dessert was among the best in NYC]

[Mao]

I am going Saturday night, will let you know if as memorable as pre 9/11.

[Mao]

Perhaps more chefs should be chastised in public forums, and criticism and forced into a defensive posture where he feels he has something to prove.  Perhaps it was just that it was just one of those evenings when Bouley was on.  But whatever the reason, I can only say that I am extremely happy theat David Bouley resides in lower Manhattan and has a restaurant.   I went out with two writers last night and showed up relatively late.  When we left at 1:30 in the morning, both the writers were oozing all the words that food critics and writers aren’t suppose to use…”sublime,” “transcendental”, “the best meal of my life,” “I didn’t know food could be this good and so transformative” and on and on.  I can’t honestly say that this was the best meal I have ever eaten.  I think that honor goes to a recent meal at Le Grand Vefour in Paris, but this was pretty damn close.  Three people is the perfect number to try everything on the tasting menu.  There are a la carte items now available….but why bother when the tasting menu is this good.  I could spout more superlatives, and even describe the meal, yet somehow words would be a waste.  I am heading back as soon as possible before Bouley loses the cooking focus and no longer feels he has something to prove.

[Beachfan]

I had a fabulous dinner at Bouley tonight.  He's back,the extreme level of excellence is back - even the apples are back.  

The apples have a modern touch; instead of being in a basket, they are in what I can only describe as the apple rack analogy of a wine rack.  The fragrance is the same, the visuals are modernized.  Some similar themes with the menu too.

Here's what I had:

Amuse Bouche: canape of crab, with cucumber salad and tomato coulis; goat cheese quiche.  The canape is a signature item from the old Bouley, and this one was lovely.  The quiche got very favorable reviews although I thought mine was a little light on cheese vs. crust.

First course:

Phyllo crusted Florida shrimp, Cape Cod baby squid, scuba dive sea scallop in an ocean herbal broth.  Three absolutely superb, pristine examples of shellfish, and the intense green sauce had a fresh, concentrated delightful flavor (almost chlorophyl flavor, if that sounds good to you).

Second Course:

Black bass with a scallop crust, white asparagas, salsify, jasmine rice in a boulliabase sauce.  Another completely outstanding dish, with the sauce having layers of flavor, the bass being perfectly done and the garnishes lovely.

Third Course - Maine lobster with sweet peas, fava beans and port wine sauce.  The port wine was there but lightly done, allowing the sweet peas to stand out.  It sounds like it wouldn't work, but it was a star, maybe my favorite of the sauces.  Definitely a different slant to the style from the old Bouley

(By the way, there were a few Asian/fusion accented dishes on the menu; I tasted one, a lobster dish called  "Return from Chang Mai", again truly outstanding).

Wines were from my cellar.  1996 William and Selyem Coastlands Vineyard Pinot Noir and 1994 Opus One.  Both were as good as I had hoped, with the cherry flavors that make Russian River Pinot Noir so enjoyable, and the Opus drinking very, very well.

Now onto deserts:

First Desert

Orange melon soup with 4 sorbets: fromage blanc, apricot, green apple, and rasberry.  The green apple was stunningly crisp and flavorful.  The apricot tasted just picked and the fromage blanc was super.  The rasberry was good but didn't plant a flag on your palette like the others.

Second Desert

Rhubarb parfait with strawberries, coconut crisp, rubarb cassis sorbet.  Very, very fresh rhubarb, cooked in a way that gave them a texture that blended right in with the strawberries. An excellent light desert, a must if you like rhubarb.  And if you didn't like rhubarb, you might after this.

(PS this was a four way split)

Third Desert:

Vahlrona dark choclate souffle, with 4 scoops of:  Chocolate sorbet, vanilla ice cream, maple ice cream and prune armagnac ice cream.  I always found Bouley to set the standard on Chocolate souffle, and this one lived up to my vivid memories.  The chocolate sorbet and prune armagnac ice cream will be enduring memories - dream of how you would hope they would taste, and that's how they tasted.

Petit Fours

A lovely assortment came at the end. Florentines, cookies and several indescribable delights, including one filled with pistachio parfait.

They served the coffee/espresso/tea with the melon soup; unusually early I thought. However, thoughts  that they were trying to turn the table evaporated after their explicit invitation to linger and a second serving of petit fours arrived.

Service was uniformly excellent and welcoming.  Tap water was offered in a way that made me feel they were equally proud of  tap or botteld.  We got bottled but noticed that the tap was served from a large elegant centrally displayed carafe.  (I read an interview with Bouley; he said that part of the quality of fine NYC food is the water.  I know sometimes pipes have their problems, but one taste of what comes out of the tap in LA and you'll understand; it's rare that I choose bottled in NYC).

Of special note is their exceptional treatment of vegetarians.  Bouley (along with Grey Kunz (formerly of Lespinasse), and Hubert Keller (Fleur de Lys, SF)) excells at making vegetarian tasting menus that keep the high culinary excellence of their regular menu.  My wife had tomato terrine (delicious), baby zucchini and sweet red pepper stuffed with goat cheese (in a complex sauce that defies description other than wow! I wanted more), and wild mushrooms on rissotto.  The fact that I got so little to taste (she's a light eater) meant she really, really, really loved it.  It's so valuable when chefs take the time to express themselves and not just merely accomodate those with different needs.

A lovely room, a dynamite meal with family, I'm content!. :D  :D

[cabrales]

Wines were from my cellar.  1996 William and Selyem Coastlands Vineyard Pinot Noir and 1994 Opus One.  

Beachfan -- The dinner sounds superb; I am looking forward to sampling my first meal at the rejuvenated Bouley. What is the restaurant's BYO policy, incl. corkage levels (if available)? What was the general level of receptiveness towards BYO exhibited by restaurant personnel?  :)

[Beachfan]

$35 per bottle.  They were polite informing me of the charge when they saw the bottles, complimentary of the bottles I brought, and seemed truly pleased by the taste I gave the waiter and glass  I sent to the kitchen.ar

I should mention that I was surprised at the large number of $50 and under choices on the wine menu.   Not that they were great bargains, but they were nice choices, and many of them.

[Mao]

I was there Friday night.  I had one of the better meals of my life there about a month ago with my brother in law.  Friday was, unfortunately, not quite in the same league, though a couple of the dishes were as good. I have heard that the restaurant is rather erratic, so I guess one just has to keep going, and hope that it is an "on" night like the one I experienced before.  Sounds like you hit it right the next day Beachfan.

I had the Rouget in Lobster-saffron broth and Tahihian vanilla, and should have had the Phyllo crusted shrimp instead perhaps. OK, but not memorable.

I also had the Black Bass in Scallop Crust.  Boy was that good.  So much good stuff going on in the mouth.  

One of the staff seem to recognize me from the last trip and came over and shook my hand, at which point a black cod dish appeared "compliments of the chef".  I think the waitstaff had me confused with Grimes at this point as the charm factor went up as well.  The cod was superb, though I fail to recollect critical indredients.

Final dish was Seattle, Washington Kobe Beef with Asian Celery Puree and Black Truffle Horseradish sauce.  This was the one poor dish of the evening.  I had the Maine lobster with fava beans and Port Wine sauce on last trip, as well as Lamb with Spring Vegetables and zuchini mint sauce (or rather someone eating with me had ordered this) and both were devastating, but I did not want to repeat.  Foolish me.  This came out tasting slightly soggy.  Kobe beef is best served minimally altered (At Nao Sugiyama's hands), and the meat was a kind of flacid, watery non event.  Daring, but perhaps too clever by a third.

Next orange mellon soup with apricot, yoghurt and rasberry sorbets and passion mango ravioli.  Very good, but not devastatingly wonderful like last trip.

Dessert: Hot Valrhona Chocalate Souffle with Armaganc, and various icre creams and sorbets.  Yummy.

I think I am going to take a few weeks off before I repeat so the menu can chg, but on a good night there is no place in NYC I would rather eat.

[Beachfan]

Mao,  at the old Bouley, we never had a disappointment at lunch.  However, my wife at there at dinner and had a disappointment.

Last night, my wife was a little disappointed in her entree (shitakes over risotto) but that's only in contrast to the perfect 10s of the other courses (she's predjudiced against risotto).  

I was downtown earlier in the day, looking at ground zero, and ambled over to Bouley.  To my surprise, they serve their prix fixe $35 lunch over the weekend.  I saw the menu and it looked fabulous.  No lobster or kobe beef, but plenty of variety in the other stuff and 5 or 6 courses including the amuse bouche.

I plan to go as often as possible for lunch. :p

[PaulaJ]

We first re-visited when Bouley opened about 6 weeks ago. At my post at the time indicated, we were thrilled with the ambiance and meal a like and ever so happy he had returned!

 Unfrotunately, we returned there last evening and had a miserable experience. This was due primarily to an egregious delay in seating. We walked in for our 8:30 reservation, to be told that we would be seated "in a few minutes". We had specifically req'd the new section--so weren't thrown about a short wait. At about 9:30+ they came to seat us....in the original section. When I reminded them of my request, they

said it would be a few moments more. We were seated at

10:10 pm!!! We had been careful at the bar, but even 2 glasses of wine on an empty stomach [no munchies]

combined with the late hour made dining a very unattractive experience. I had spent the preceeding 20 min begging the other 3 in our party to go for a hot pastrami on rye and still

rue that we didn't. This was unacceptable and ruined our meal. We are entertaining there this week...although I am

so annoyed that I'd like to change the venue.  

[rockefeller666]

Hi--

All this talk of the "new bouley."  Can somebody tell me the basics?  Isn't it Bouley Bakery?  Or is there something even newer?  Thanks.

[Beachfan]

It's not Bouley Bakery. It's the reincarnation of the old Bouley.  If you haven't been to the old Bouley, then you can just experience it as any new restaurant that get's a big buzz.

[ajay]

To clarify Beachfan's point, the reincarnation of Bouley is taking place in the (partially refurbished) space of the old Bouley Bakery.