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“Bar Boulud”

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

ust institute an extreme gym schedule to match my charcuterie consumption at some point.) My only complaint is that this “Bar” has no actual bar. There’s a long bar facing the Tiffany-like display of charcuterie, but this space is really for dining. There’s no place to just sit and have a glass of wine while you wait for your table, which can make for some cranky customers up front in the crowded vestibule area. A true bar may be added once they expand (which may happen in late ’08 into ’09) but for now, if you’re waiting on a reservation, it’s a bit challenging.

Other than this, though, I’m completely smitten with Bar Boulud. It’s not often that I eat out and have an experience this compelling. Sure, there’s great food in this town (give me a few hours and we’ll get through about a quarter of it), but Bar Boulud is something different.

First, it’s a restaurant from one of the country’s (if not the world’s) most respected and talented chefs and restaurateurs who, instead of opening another haute cuisine scene, has basically opened a tavern. A sleek tavern, but still, it’s a room filled with white oak tables topped with placemats. (And his next project is a burger and milk shake joint on the Bowery. He’s a man of the people.) What’s also intriguing to me about Bar Boulud is this: Here’s a chef who can quite frankly cook circles around the rustic menu he’s putting out, but who’s decided to explore a more peasant-like part of the French paradigm, one that means a lot to him. He’s introducing New Yorkers to the craft of artisanal charcuterie and to the meals of his childhood. I guess I’m both grateful and impressed by this. I’ve never had food quite like I’ve had at Bar Boulud. It’s disarmingly traditional and uncomplicated, and yet still thrilling. There may not be roller skates or leg warmers, but this place is magical. In some ways, a lot like Xanadu after all.

Bar Boulud is located across the street form Lincoln Center at 1900 Broadway, between 63rd and 64th Streets, 212-595-0303.

 

 

 

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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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