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So Don, please move this where appropriate... Lunch at Bouley vs. Jean Georges Has anyone dined at Bouley recently? I'm not looking for the "best of the best" since I am limited by my many allergies. But Bouley used to be a very good place from what I've gathered online. As I posted in the JG thread, I have a feeling Jean Georges food may be better, but I am concerned about being really limited on what I can actually eat there. This is a big birthday celebration and I don't want to be terribly disappointed. My first choice was Le Bernardin, but I snoozed and am on the waiting list there. JG specifically said my choices would be limited, but did not define how so. I tried to get more info to qualify that statement but have not heard back yet and the reservation is for next week. This is what appealed to me on Bouley's website: "Please let us know of any special dietary or food preferences you may have- Chef Bouley works with his team to prepare tailored dishes for each guest before each seating. Just one of the reasons we will call to confirm your reservation!" Of course Bouley has my allergy list as well, but did not specify either way whether anything would be problematic. Please post if you have anything to offer re: Bouley; I guess I just want to make sure I am not making a big mistake by choosing it for my birthday lunch. According to a post a few years ago, Bouley had two Michelin stars vs. JG's three. If that is still true, I'm thinking any Michelin star restaurant is something I won't have an opportunity to experience too often in my life, and should stick with my Bouley reservation. -
I guess you could call it hallowed ground, that space at 239 West Broadway, where some 30 years ago Drew Nieporent, along with a youthful (weren't we all?) David Bouley, opened Montrachet, their ode to fine French cuisine and, of course, fine wine. At the time, I was living in the San Francisco Bay area, toiling away in Silicon Valley, barbecuing and grilling in my backyard, and heading to Jeremiah Tower's Stars and Berkeley's gourmet ghetto whenever I got the chance. Montrachet had a fine run, followed in the same space by Corton, with its esteemed chef Paul Liebrandt. When PL left (after 5 years) to open The Elm in Williamsburg last summer, Nieporent was cagey about what would happen next with this space that has been a destination for 30 years. Fast forward to May, 2014 and now we know; happily, Significant Eater and I got a taste of it this past weekend. Along with co-conspirators John Winterman (late of Daniel) and Chef Markus Glocker (late of Gordon Ramsey at The London), Drew and the rest of his team appear to have another winner on their hands. My wet Plymouth Martini was well made and served in a beautiful (though unchilled) glass - I hope the $17 tariff will cover breakage, and Sig Eater's Aviation was just right. Menus are offered in 2, 3 or 4 courses... And surprise, surprise...this kitchen can actually figure out how to parse your order, unlike (too) many places that open these days, where the dishes come out of the kitchen when they're ready, not you. You want 3 savory courses? No problem. One of you wants to order 3 courses and one wants 4? They can do that - I know because that's what we did; they handled it well, but then again these guys are pros. Sig Eater's first course was the English pea soup... Simple, right? And just about perfect; the creamy texture of the soup makes those crispy, organ-y sweetbreads even better. Tiny pea tendrils and a salsify crumble add bite and crunch. Lobster and asparagus make a fine combo, no? Indeed, here they do, with the chunks of delicate lobster accompanied by stuffed zucchini blossoms and an expertly fried quail egg. The kitchen was kind enough (and once again, pro enough) to split my second savory onto two plates, so we didn't have to battle each other for that last spoonful of the insanely rich Parmesan risotto. Beware - if you order and eat a whole portion of this, your appetite will wane, even with the nettles, ramps and sunchokes doing their best to help ward off the gout. Sig Eater decided to have beef for her main course... The tender strip was fine, but the braised cheek really brought the beef. Served with a cauliflower puree, baumkuchen (go ahead, look it up), and Romanesco, this ought to satisfy one's cow craving for a while. And my main? Rabbit, "Flavors of Bouillabaisse," of course. I had already heard about how good the rabbit was, but I still was knocked out by the tenderness of the bunny. And the fabulous saffron ravioli didn't hurt either. Take a look at the little ribs served along with the chunks of rabbit... Just a fabulous dish. Dessert, or rather cheese, beckoned, and we shared our order of Époisses, because eating a whole order would have been, well, decadent. And then, since the kitchen was out of the Key Lime pie, we were comped the Black Forest, which satisfied Sig Eater's chocolate craving (for the night, at least). I ordered the poached stone fruits, which was fine to counter my guilt for eating like a pig, though you'd really have to convince me to order lemon thyme ice cream if any other flavors are available. And what to drink with all this food? Well, I'm a wine neophyte, but the by the glass list seems to go along with a broad swath of the menu... A pet peeve? Sure. When I asked which wine might go nicely with the lobster, I was poured the most expensive glass of white, and then again with my rabbit. And when Sig Eater asked the same question about her beef, you got it - the most expensive red got poured. And then the 2nd most expensive red for a second glass. So be aware - our wine bill was $111, and the 2 cocktails added another $31. It's not a complaint, just a pet peeve - and a caveat emptor - because I could've just as easily ordered a glass by name. I did that with the risotto course, and enjoyed my choice of the New York Riesling with the rich rice. As I've mentioned in some previous blog posts, Sig Eater and I are celebrating some big-deal birthdays this year, and we're treating ourselves well. But even if it wasn't a big birthday year, we'll happily return to Bátard. For a one-week old restaurant, and a first visit, the food and service were fine indeed. Bátard 239 West Broadway, NYC (212) 219-2777
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Might go in the city for lunch and high end shopping at battery city park (Brookfield Place). Thoughts on where to go? Saturday I'm meeting up with a cousin at Beauty and Essex.
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Soooooooo for once this isn't some far flung spot but one right in your midst. Indeed, you may have past by this spot before and never noticed it as it is inside an office building. My Mom was the recommender in this case and Arcade Bakery is actually a surprisingly good bakery. It literally is barely bigger then your room probably and is located in a hallway of an office building and the tables can be removed into the wall at night. I had the ham sandwich with a sharpish cheese and cornichons as well as mustard as I recall and it was quite nice and I was sad I didn't bring some of the bread home and was also sad I didn't have the pain au chocolate etc. They also amazingly have a pizza oven that does small pizzas which. Nevertheless, this was very enjoyable and a different experience to your regular bakeryyyyyssss so stop innnn. -
Hubby and I are celebrating our anniversary in NYC next weekend, and we are looking for a spot for a nice dinner on Saturday night. We are staying in Tribeca, so the closer to that neighborhood, the better. The twist is, we really don't care about getting reservations because we always prefer to sit at the bar - so wherever we go needs to have that option (even if we'd have to wait a bit). Thoughts? Thanks! -
Last night saw me stop in to the Butterfly, a relatively new restaurant on West Broadway in Tribeca, about five steps from Batard, yet a complete world away. I would never have picked this spot as a member of the AltaMarea group, but it is. Kind of strange to go to two restaurants from the same group within a week. The Butterfly aims to be a cocktail bar/ supper club, and seems to specialize in 50s "“ 60s era cocktails, along with a brief menu of American Standards from that era (beef stroganoff, etc etc). This is small, narrow space, decorated sparsely and primarily in white. The most prominent design feature is a vaguely bow-tie shaped mirror behind the bar. I arrived in time for happy hour, where all cocktails are $10 and draft beers are $5. I debated ordering a Tom Collins, but instead opted for a beer. Service at the bar was very friendly and efficient, although the bartender mentioned that although they opened about ten months ago, things haven't been that busy. Scanning the menu, I noticed Fried Chicken. If Fried Chicken is on the menu, I'm pretty much incapable of resisting it "“ to the point that I head over to the Dutch every Monday to enjoy their chicken special. So, I ordered the chicken and three good sized pieces of chicken appeared in short order, along with a small salad. One quibble "“ the chicken came in a shallow rectangular basket, along with a side salad in a large ramekin. The size and depth of the basket made eating the chicken pretty difficult. That said, the chicken was fairly tasty, well-seasoned and not at all greasy. All in all a generous portion for $20. I added a side order of French fries for an additional $5, which got me a large bowl of hand cut fries with salt and rosemary. The fries were excellent "“ some of the best I have had recently. The chicken was not as good as The Dutch, but then again that is also twice as expensive. The Butterfly's concept strikes me as odd, kind of a cross between a cocktail bar and an upscale diner. I don't get any sort of "supper club" vibe, and that is just fine for me as I prefer the Buterfly's décor to that of the former Posh in DC, for example. Hopefully the place survives, as it is flying well under the radar in the neighborhood at the moment. I'll return for more of the menu when I need an inexpensive meal and a cheap drink during happy hour, and think that the Butterfly is a solid neighborhood option. -
http://bubbys.com/ A weekend in Tribeca yielded a new bevy of particularly good restaurants to add to our list. One such addition was Bubby's. It may look a bit gaudy from the outside, the name a tad low-brow for your style, but the peach "pop tart" may have been the highlight of my weekend in NYC. We brunched at Bubby's on labor day before taking off. It is a 24 hour diner/bar with a mix of traditional american foods and other interesting dishes thrown in. They had a nice selection of fresh squeezed juices, house made lemonades and sodas. You could get cocktails or other items. I had fresh grapefruit juice, which really was fresh and delicious and Hubby had a watermelon lemonade. I know it was good because he didn't offer me a sip. You really should order the pastry basket if you are there for brunch, even if like us, you have to take some of it home. There was a peach "pop tart" which was really just a turnover. But their crust is phenomenal, it gave me an idea of what their pie must be like, and I am sure it is darn good! Warm and fresh, filling not overly sweet with perfect peaches, this is something I will remember. There was also a sticky bun, part bready and cinammon, part gooey and pull apart, and part almost toffee like with bits of chopped nuts, the sticky bun was really good too. The raspberry zucchini bread was moist and flavorful. I have a blueberry, corn muffin/scone at home waiting for me. For an entree I had the avacado, spinach omlette. The breakfast potatoes served with the dish had a really good flavor, hash-likeness to them. And I liked the whole grain toast served. The omlette itself was light, well made, fluffy. It was a huge plate of food that I absolutely could not finish, but it was so good. Hubby had the hash with house pit smoked bbq, must have been good as again, no bite offered, but he actually ate it all. It came on biscuits that looked really good too. I wish I had room for a slice of pie, they looked amazing, thank goodness for that turnover, really it was that good. I'm still thinking about it. I'd really like one right now. I might actually have to do some baking. -
This Tribeca eatery is a great value for a good meal. They have outdoor seating weather permitting, and are dog friendly to at least small dogs. My husband sheepishly after this meal looked at me and admitted it may have been the best meal of our trip, and certainly the best value. The sheepish look was because we had two nights before been at Le Bernadin. We checked in with the very nice hostess, we were a few minutes early and our table wasn't quite ready yet. She offered me the bar and I laughed told her I better go wait with the hubby and pup and she was very nice and said don't worry I will find you when your table is ready. Sure enough a few minutes later she did. Our waitress was very nice, while we just wanted a few cocktails, we overheard her extensive conversation with the table next to us regarding wine selection, she brought them out a couple different things to try, including what she recommended when they were a bit unsure. I had the Mare Mosso with bourbon, zacapa rum, ginger beer, apple cider and fennel honey. It was really refreshing, not overly sweet and nice on a evening after a long walk wearing out the dog. I am not sure what Hubby had. I started with the Arugula Insalata. A generous bowl of peppery fresh greens with asiago, lightly dressed. It had mission figs and some speck, but not too much, which was good as I mainly wanted greens. It was so good, Hubby actually stole a decent portion of it, which never happens. It was really a simple dish, but really just hit the spot. Hubby had the duck meatballs with dried cherry mostarda. Those were also good, nicely flavored with a juicy texture, a little rich, but good. For entrees I had skate with squash, fried green tomato and agrumato. I thought this dish was also really fresh. The skate was nicely cooked with a good touch of acidity. The tomatoes weren't overly breaded, had a nice flavor and not at all mealy or overly dense. The vegetables were at that perfect, cooked, still a little crisp stage. It was a really nicely composed dish. I love the flavors a little tangy, lemon, but with nice texture. Hubby had the paparadelle. I didn't try any since I had really good paparadelle at Eataly previously, but he loved this place, so it must have been good. For dessert I had the peach crostada with goat's milk gelato, basil syrup and it had a little bit of brittle of some sort. I really like the tanginess of the gelato with the sweetness of the crostada and the basil syrup really rounded it out so it wasnt' overly sweet, but a really nice composition of flavor and texture. Hubby had the lemon tart and thought it was really good, as well. We both liked that the dessert wasn't too decomposed or messed with, just simple flavors, with really impeccable execution. This whole meal made me want to come back.
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