DB Bistro Moderne

[glenn]

It was a well-deserved night of decadence.  I was nearly delirious with anticipation for the past week - tickets to the hottest show in town to be preceded by dinner at the hot new Daniel Boulud venture, DB Bistro.  Then again, the pessimist in me thought for sure that I was setting myself up for dismal disappointment.  

First off, let me make it perfectly clear I ran an extra mile this morning.  All because I had to see what a ห hamburger tastes like.  Was it worth it?  #### no, but I’m glad I finally satisfied my curiosity.  But it was #### good.  Call it a French burger (well, they call it a DB Burger) - ground sirloin stuffed with short ribs, foie gras and truffles.  Plus 8 or so French Fries – oops, Pommes Soufflées – were an excellent, though meager, accompaniment.  

We arrived on time – 6 PM.  At the time of the reservation, the reservationist asked if we were going to the theater, and we reminded the host of this when we arrived.  Still, it took 10 minutes to get a menu.  And it was only because I gave the managers (it seemed like there were more managers than service staff) the evil eye, and believe me, you don’t know evil until you get the susser stare.  This place is definitely not up for pre-theater, though they push it and also have a pre-theater prix fixe.  

My tomato tarte with goat cheese appetizer was very good, as was Anabelle’s pumpkin soup, but nothing to go crazy about, or spend ม and ฝ respectively.  Anabelle had the roasted salmon which she said was “ok” – translate = she wasn’t impressed.  The waiter had no idea that we had tickets to a show – he asked us after the appetizer if we had such plans.  So much for communication.  I should also point out that a second wine menu offering expensive wines – 蹢/bottle – seemed a bit much.  Next time I’ll look for a better way to indulge my decadent fantasies, but, all in all, we had a jolly good time.  The stuffiness you find at Daniel was nowhere to be found, and the food, was simple and good, though not great.

The Producers was no disappointment, and I was totally prepared for the worst.  It deserved every one its record breaking number of Tonys as well as the accolades given by the press.  The 1968 movie was easily Mel Brooks’ best ever.  Comparisons between Gene Wilder v. Matthew Broderick and Zero Mostel v. Nathan Lane were only natural.  Broderick started off slow and tried to imitate Wilder a bit too much, an impossible task.  But he became more original as the mousy accountant as the show progressed.  Lane was incredible all the way through.  

Don’t be stupid, be a smartie, come and join the Nazi party

[Bux]

I'm always reluctant to reply to messages about Daniel Boulud's restaurants. My complex relationships to him, his restaurants, to those who work for him, as well as those who have worked with him, cause some people to believe I may be incapable of impartiallity. Nevertheless, my reluctance rarely overcomes my curiosity. Could you describe the stuffiness you find at Daniel and is it different from the stuffiness you find at Lespinasse, Le Bernardin or Jean Georges, or do you not find the others stuffy? I"m very curious as I have friends who find all these restaurants off-putting, but the explanations have little to do with the restaurants in particular. As often as not, it's a perception that stuffy is defined as what you find at the most expensive restaurants. This is not meant as a personal criticism or attack, but as an attempt to further understand how people react to the top handful of restaurants in NYC. I've recently had a similar exchange with someone about the French Laundry in Napa Valley. I was left with the impression that it was a snobbish restaurant because it was an expensive restaurant and all this was exchanged in a newgroup where wines costing several hundreds of dollars at retail are discussed all the time.

I've eaten many a meal at Daniel at both the old and new locations. My first meals were well before I met the chef and long before I knew anyone working there. The new location seems a very expensive, but also a very democratic national institution while the old place seemed very much an upper east side enclave, yet I found even the old place very welcoming and gracious.

I haven't seen the menu, except on the web, and I haven't seen the wine list. I assume there are some reasonably priced bottles of wine as well as the 蹢 ones. Maybe not. In the past couple of years I've found my wine bill has doubled (from ภ to over ฮ) at neighborhood places as well as better restaurants. The ŪX bottle seems to be well on it's way out. I think I've still seen some reasonable examples on the Gramercy Tavern menu.

[glenn]

I guess stuffy was the wrong word..  you hit the nail on the head when you said "off-putting".  I find formal places very uncomfortable and I feel totally out of place.  I didn't mean to knock Daniel, and my remark wasn't really meant as a put down, (jeez, I only ate there once).  There's also this psychological thing I have that I don't feel like I belong at these places, but that's my hang up.  One big exception is the Gramercy Tavern.  While not as formal as some other places, it still fits the formal category in my mind.  However, I feel completely relaxed there and love going.  [Fat Guy recommended it a couple of years ago when I was looking to take a couple of tourist friends out to eat and I now take all out of town visitors there.]

So, I hope baring the inner secrets of my soul, i.e., no self esteem, satisfies your curiosity. <grin>

[glenn]

I should add, my last message deleted my symbol for BIG GRIN after the last sentence -- just so you don't think I took any offense.

[Bux]

I certainly didn't mean any offense and I'm glad you didn't take any. I worry that this sort of question might be taken offensively, but the risk is weighed against the possibility of an answer.

I agree that GT is among the most unintimidating of the great restaurants in NY. I recommend it to most visitors because it's a real NY place and an original. It's the finest restaurant in the city (food and service) where a jacket is neither demanded, requested or even suggested.

Whatever your problem is, I have found that many people I know have the same problem and these people include those who make  my yearly income as a Christmas bonus and who generally have considerably more money to spend than I do. It's not a particularly economic problem. However, it would be disingenuous for me to say, I don't understand it at all. Considering the rebellious and anti-establishment nature I've displayed most of my life, not to mention my natural disinclination to either earn or spend money, I'm often surprised that I am so comfortable in luxury restaurants. In truth it's the food that has seduced me.

[Wilfrid]

I said as an aside in the Deborah thread, that I hope we can get into the habit of posting brief notes on restaurants.  The opinions of people on this site, especially as one gets to know their likes and dislikes, are much more useful than the essentially anonymous comments one finds on other sites.   Steve P's post on Marseilles is another good example of what I mean.  I am not planning to write reviews - I scarcely have time to read them - but here's a note on last night's dinner.

I ate in the "bar" between the two dining rooms at Daniel's theater district place.  Actually, there isn't a bar as such, just two tall, large, marble-topped communal tables (potentially cramped, but my I was lucky and got some good space).  A surpisingly short list of wines by the glass, but eachof them is also available in a useful 25cl measure.  I drank a little pot of Daniel's own label Graves, which was fine.

I ate the much-hyperbolised burger.  The alleged truffle and foie gras filling was pretty muted (and the อ price-tag needs to be muted if the kitchen is soft-pedalling on the luxury ingredients) but it was still a good dish.  The contrast in texture, as well as taste, when you get through the crust of charred burger to the soft, deeply flavoured, braised beef filling, is satisfying.  Very nice toasted bun, with frisee lettuce (in a light mustardy dressing), tomato, sweet pepper.  And it is rich and filling dish - you'd have to be hungry to eat it as part of a three-course meal.  Souffleed potatoes are clever, but taste mainly of hot air and oil, and I would substitute fries next time.

The service was utterly charming from the greeting to a casual chat with the maitre d' on the way out, and suffice it to say that being incredibly good-looking is no bar to working there (Hi, Claire!).  The dining rooms were full, but I had a seamless team of four people waiting on me - in the bar!  I had the impression of a high waitstaff to customer ratio.  The dining rooms seemed a little noisy, but I'll go back for a full meal some time:  the braised dishes looked tempting.

(Huh, still too long.  I'll have to work on pithiness )

[tommy]

i pithy the fool.

when i had the burger for lunch it came with fries.  really really good fries as i recall.  was it an option yesterday?

[Wilfrid]

The brief write up in this week's New Yorker also said fries.  The menu last night said pommes souflees, and I didn't bother to ask about a substitution.  I would next time.

[Bux]

I had the burger for lunch not too long ago. It came with fries. I didn't know it was even offered at dinner, but I see it on the website menu for dinner and it's garnished with Pommes Soufflées. At lunch it comes with with Pommes Frites. Elsewhere on this board, I think I've posted my thoughts on dining off the menu and substitutions. Daniel's cooking is among the sort of stuff with which I would not ordinarily tamper or ask for substitutions, but I also think fried potatoes for souffleed potatoes should be considered a reasonable request by the kitchen. I haven't had pommes soufflées in an awfully long time.

[Jack Cade]

I had lunch there (in the dining room) a couple of weeks ago.  Burger came with fries (with obligatory mayo dip) that were excellent.  Wilfrid's post perfectly captures the yummy db burger, which based on my reading of various reviews seems to creep up in price by about one dollar every few weeks (someone somewhere was scandalized by the "ษ burger" a couple of months ago, and when I went it was ห, on the lunch menu).

I agree that the allegations of truffle and foie gras do not, um, "state a cause of action" on their own, but it's a #### fine burger.

I also had a wild mushroom soup special that was the Platonic ideal of such a soup.  Based on veg stock and paradigmatically wintry.

Service was extremely attentive, professional, and charming.

This whole capsule review really should read "Wilfrid, tommy:  ditto."

Me talk pithy one day.

[TCD]

I've been to db on several occasions and in addition to interesting celebrity sitings (including tommy) this restaurant has delivered an increasingly satisfying dining experience each time.  The wine list still needs a little work, however.  The cassoulet had on a cold and damp Sunday evening was simply one of the best meals I've ever had.

[Liza]

It's lunch on Friday, with a fellow egulleteer (just where is our theme song, by the way?) And neither one of us has been, to this bastion of Boulud. Apologies if this  has been posted on before, but with the new software and my own lack of concentration limiting me to two pages on this one board, I had no choice but to post.

So.

ASIDE from the db burger with the foie gras. Shirley, there's something else to recommend. Or something you wanted to try but were to afraid to order. Give me your timid, your waffling, your organ meats....

[Bux]

Here's the menu, if you haven't already seen it. The lunch menu is shorter than the dinner menu. It's Daniel's food, albeit a bit less elegant than as served at Daniel. It's all good. The burger is, I suppose, the one thing that's unique to the restaurant.

[Wilfrid]

Please report back Liza, especially if you venture beyond the burger, which is the only thing I've tried.

[Steve Klc]

Ok, first off, the burger is all that and more--Liza and I were kidding each other that we'd have to use several of those over-used restaurant reviewer/cliche'd food writer-type words to describe it--and upset hundreds of eGullet members in the process.  Perfect, sublime, whatever, doesn't do it justice.  In fact, we both picked it up and chomped down on it just like a burger--it seemed so natural I had to wonder why anyone around us was using a knife and fork to dismantle it.  (Our server estimated 40% or more of his patrons order the burger on a given shift.)

I had been tipped off to the excellence of this burger by Tom Head, executive wine and food editor of Washingtonian magazine, one palate in DC I've learned to trust.

We weren't dining anonymously and I asked to meet Christina Aliberti, the pastry chef, who I didn't know, so I could introduce myself and her to Liza. (Side note--I was impressed that Daniel Boulud saw fit to include a charming picture of himself with both Jean-Francois, the chef de cuisine and Christina on the front page of db's informative website, which Bux linked to above; both chefs are featured by name on the menus, too.  In this era of celebrity chef branding, I cannot tell you how rare this generosity is on the part of Daniel.)

An amuse followed that I didn't see anyone else receive during that service--and what a stunning opening.  Presented in a clear shotglass, two braised beef cubes and a tiny brunoise of colorful vegetables suspended in a subtly-spiced gelee covered with a thin layer of red liquid (beet? pomegranate? not sure, probably beet) and topped with an ethereal white root vegetable emulsion the consistency of sabayon.  There was a tiny dot of red and a single leaf of chervil on top.  Refined, elegant and clean.    

I don't want to steal any thunder from Liza, so I won't comment completely and let her weigh in and then I'll weave in and around her thoughts.

But Wilfrid, one dish we both enjoyed was the earthy, wintry fettucine with porcini mushrooms--easily the equal of any of the Babbo pastas I've had.  Makes me speculate that these French guys can toss off Italian in their sleep.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Steve Klc-You have put your finger on what is so great about that burger which is in spite of the fireworks in the middle of the burger, is still a burger. The epitomy of lunch food. That's the genius of Boulud, and I might add as you so adroitly noted when describing the pasta, the genius of the French way. In spite of the inclusion of luxury ingredients which are not usually part of the New York weekday lunch diet, Boulud was able to realize the dish as casual lunch food. An amazing accomplishment that is in line with the French way of constructing/deconstructing foods to meet a social and gastronomic purpose.

[tommy]

i recall that while the burger was fantastic, it was also quite messy to eat.  along with fries which i felt obligated to eat with my fingers.  quite messy.  quite delicious.  it's not very often that you can get a burger with a decent glass of red.  a combination that to me is just fantastic.

[Steve Klc]

Can any member weigh in on this issue:  I ordered an $11 Rhone red off the "by-the-glass" list--which was delicious and refilled, touched up a bit, before I was finished with my burger.  I wasn't charged for the refill.  Has that happened to anyone else at db?

Steve P--you expressed my thoughts exactly and much more perceptively.

[Steve Plotnicki]

"you expressed my thoughts exactly and much more perceptively."

Steve-That's why we're both named Steve  

Which Cote de Rhone was it? I never heard of a place that gave you a wine refill. It's like IHOP. The only other place I heard of with a cool wine scheme was Chez Louis. They would bring the bottle to your table and charge you by how much you drank.

Tommy-I heard you put your face directly into the burger.

[Steve Klc]

Steve--it was a Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Chenets (sp?) '98 I think, I didn't take the menu but it was one of four reds listed by the glass.

A larger version of the beef in gelee is available on the dinner menu as an app, I have since learned.  On the dinner menu, foie gras is listed as an ingredient--I did not detect its inclusion in the amuse; also, if there is horseradish in the creamy topping--it is not too strong and very harmonious.  You'd have to search for its presence if you dig down and scoop up all the way to the bottom.

[Bux]

A larger version of the beef in gelee is available on the dinner menu

I'm really surprised that dish hasn't gotten more notice. My recollection of it--it may have changed since we had it the week before the restaurant officially opened and the amuse version may be different or simpler--was of conical dessert glass filled with what looked like pudding with a thin layer of cream on top decorated with a raspberry squggle. I was tempted to ask who ordered dessert when it came out. I don't recall foie grass either, but there may have been some diced in with the beef. It was very beefy, but I alse recall diced vegetables set in the aspic along with the meat. The horseradish was very subtle and the "raspberry" was, I think, beet. It's the one dish I think is most successful, as wonderful as the hamburger may be, but it's not on the lunch menu.

[Steve Klc]

Well Bux--perhaps we can effect change.  It's a perfect dish for the business lunch menu transitioning from Winter to Spring:  90% of it can be prepared in advance, requires minimal plating a la minute, is quick, cool, visually intriguing and provides the cleanest possible start.

Perhaps Jean-Francois Bruel getting a James Beard award nomination might refocus attention where it belongs, if this thread is any indicator.

[Fat Guy]

1. Topping off a by-the-glass wine is part of VIP treatment at many restaurants, and waiters/bartenders will occasionally do it for customers they approve of. I don't know of any restaurant where topping off is policy, but then again I don't know the policy at db.

2. Why is it that Daniel Boulud has three restaurants and the best two aren't Daniel?

[Steve Plotnicki]

"Why is it that Daniel Boulud has three restaurants and the best two aren't Daniel?"

Shaw-That's an easy one. The style of food they serve at Daniel isn't conducive to feeding 300 people a night. On some nights it works great. On others not as well. I'm not sure why that is. But the scope of what they are trying to accomplish at Cafe Boulud and DB is less of a burden for a kitchen, and they also feed less people each day.

[Liza]

Ohmy, I take a day and a half off from the computer and I'm missing half my lunch.

1) When we walked in, we were greeted like old royalty, and this is something I'm not used to. "Hello, Liza! So nice to see you!". It seemed to me as if the host/hostess is trained to be that nice with everybody. I mention this because of past threads where I've mentioned that I'm usually ignored at restaurants. Also, when making the reservation, the reservationist was very nice, patient and that is rare and must be noted and appreciated.

2) The amuse. The best item in the lunch? Most likely. It is definitely the one I would like to summon repeatedly to my taste memory.

3) While Steve was enjoying the db burger, I was picking at the lobster salad. No disrespect, well maybe just a little, but what would be extraordinary in another restaurant, was merely lovely at db. I barely touched it after the amuse, the guinea hen terrine (oops! forgot to mention that, didn't I?) and the gorgeous pasta, but Davy liked it when it got home.

4) The guinea hen terrine with foie gras. (drooling at computer) served with tiny, eensy-weensy mushroom caps, not even dime-sized, dressed with vinegar which...insert trite review expression expressing how the acidity of the vinegar balanced the fattiness of the terrine. Sorry. It's true.

5) I'll mention one dessert -- the so-called experimental one Christine is 'working on'. Note to Christine: you're done experimenting, stop, the dessert battle is o-vah, finished, kaput etc. Basil-cinnamon granite, deep green and icy, atop a coconut (Steve?) creamy thing, atop a pineapple/coco-lopez-type gelato. Different textures, different temperatures, with the resounding granite lingering and icing your tonsils. Absolutely gorgeous and spring-like.

6) There were four other desserts. Sigh. I'm thinking of starting a new business: Rent-A-Klc.