My Foodie Crush on Daniel Boulud
Daniel Boulud is quite possibly the classiest NYC celebrity chef ever. End of Story. Now there is talk of a new Boulud restaurant and much like a 12 year old girl waiting for the Jonas Brothers show to come on - I am on the edge of my seat. There are few things we know. We know it will be located on the Bowery, we know it will have an intense beer menu, and we know he will focus on bistro/casual food.
My foodie crush with Daniel started when I was in high school. Around 1998/1999 I subscribed to all the culinary magazines I could afford – Bon Appetit and Gourmet Magazine. Since I was still unemployed, I would save up my lunch money and spend it on both of these fine publications. Any chef/restaurant that was featured in the ‘Best Of’ section soon became my obsession. Daniel’s name was often brought up and was always followed with nothing but praise. His gem of a restaurant - appropriately named “Daniels” – was outrageously expensive compared to my high school budget of nada. I had to put my dreams of indulging in the luxury that was Daniels on the back-burner.
That is until 2002, my boyfriend (now husband) was turning 20 and I had saved $300 to take him to the classiest restaurant I could think of – I even bought myself a $125 Guess dress to wear to the occasion. This was already shaping up to be the most indulgent night of my life to date. I had never spent more than $75 on anything up until then. We arrived at 5:45 – the earliest time they had since we needed to catch the 10pm express bus back to Staten Island. The atmosphere was intense, lush reds and gold. I felt special automatically. Dave and I were terribly awkward ordering the food and trying to be as proper as we possibly could. The waitstaff was incredibly sweet considering how young and poor we were – they treated us the same way they treated their other patrons – although I wouldn’t blame them if they snicked in the kitchen on these dining noobs. I don’t remember everything I ate. Only colors, scents, and flavors. Skate in brown butter, olive-rosemary bread, succulent sea scallops, and warm madelines straight from the oven. It was the best dinner I had the pleasure of savoring at age 19. After that night, I was hooked. I was hooked on his flare, his classiness, his flawless execution, and most importantly his ability to make my mouth water.
I returned to Daniels several times after that night, each time just as delicious as the first. Then I branched out to the other Daniel Boulud NYC restaurants: DB Bistro Moderne, Cafe Boulud, and Bar Boulud. Each restaurant having its own unique take on food and presentation – yet still managing to stay very ‘Boulud’ in execution. Now I hear he’s got a new restaurant opening this spring on Bowery: DBGB. I will be there opening week. Mark my words.I will eat and drink and be happy surrounded by all things Boulud.
Usually I steer clear of LES, finding very little – if any – charm in its neighborhood shenanigans. However for you Boulud I would walk from South Ferry to the door.
More to come on DBGB at a later date…
