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“Bar Boulud”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	French	Upper West Side	Moderate	Great

Bourgogne, a daily special, made from pork, bacon, guinea hen, red wine and chanterelle mushrooms. Oh, yes. That one was quite good, too.

My recommendation is to go for the Degustation de Charcuterie ($22 small, $46 large), which comes with a few of the house charcuterie to share plus a selection of pickled and marinated vegetables like carrots with coriander, mushrooms a la greque, beets with horseradish, and potato with fennel and olives. These vegetable “hors d’oeuvres” are bright and acidic so they act like palate cleansers and also balance out the richness of the charcuterie nicely, preparing you for more.

Another must-have is listed under “Warm Specialties”—the saucisse fumée façon “morteau,” or smoked cumin-spiced sausage on lentil stew ($16). The night we had dinner at Bar Boulud we had come in from a soaking rain, and this dish—hearty and soulful, with lentils seasoned with the smoke from the sausage, the right touch of cumin and a little bit of lemon to bring in some citrus and balance—hit the spot. It was like a culinary space heater.

While the focus of Bar Boulud is definitely charcuterie, this is also a restaurant that celebrates Lyon’s bistro cuisine with a menu of sumptuous peasant-styled dishes by chef Damian Sansonetti. To pair up with the food to come, we had a bottle of Clos Montirius Vacqueras (2003), a juicy, spicy, well balanced and reasonably priced red ($42) from the Southern Rhone. Speaking of wines, this is a great place to drink as well as eat. The wine list, by wine director Daniel Johnnes, is quite extensive and focuses on “artisan wines of character” from the Rhone Valley, Lyon and Burgundy. The 500-bottle list is divided by discoveries, classics, and heartthrobs, in a range of moderately priced ($30 range) and high-priced ($100-$2000) wines. A great team of sommeliers led by Steven Meir can guide you to the right choice. (It’s fun to enlist their help. You’ll learn something and no doubt find a wine you’ll love. On my second visit I fell for the 2004 Domaine G. Roumier Bourgogne.)

With our Vacqueras we shared the aforementioned Frisee Lyonnaise ($15), the world’s most brilliant take on frisee au lardons—a “salad” dressed in chicken jus and topped with a perfectly soft poached egg, whole lobes of glistening chicken liver and domino-sized hunks ... [more, click below]

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Posted: February 18, 2008

Other restaurants in Upper West Side :
+ 'Cesca   + Asiate   + Blue Hill Stone Barns   + Per Se   + The Neptune Room   + Spigolo   + Telepan   + Aix Brasserie   + 'Cesca   + Bar Boulud   + Dovetail   + BarBao   + Dinosaur Bar-be-Que   + Kefi   + Bar Luna   + Ed's Chowder House   + Red Rooster, by Rachel Barbarotta   + Loi by Dara Pollak   

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