Boulud Sud

Boulud Sud
20 W 64th St
(between W Central Park & Broadway)
Manhattan, NY 10023

Besides Daniel Boulud, DB stands for doing it better.

In recent years, DB has adapted to the economic times and has adopted the upscale, casual dining concept that Keith McNally had perfected (Balthazar, Schiller's Liquor Bar) with Bar Boulud and recently, Boulud Sud. Unlike McNally, the food at Boulud's brasseries are not merely an afterthought to the location and ambience.

The dining room feels like being on a cruise liner on the Mediterreanean: gently curving whitewashed ceilings, recessed lightning, and the primly dressed waitstaff provide a light and airy background for the meal-at-hand.

I promptly skipped the overpriced wine-by-the-glass list and I started out with a Jenlain Biere de Mars, a versatile French saison whose hints of malt and peppery notes blend well with land, sea, and garden-driven menu.

Although slightly overcoooked, the pan-seared Octopus a la Plancha was seasoned well with some paprika and harissa oil. The chickpea paste, marcona almonds, and sherry vinegar all provided good textural contrasts with the meatiness of this dish.

More a nod to Bar Boulud next door, the Rabbit Porchetta gives rise to my theory that the Lyonnaise find it next to impossible to mess up charcuterie. Unctuous, gamy, and meaty, this wonderful dish was brightened by some thinly shaved pencil asparagus and a couple dots of basil oil.

The Harira Soup would be what the Moroccans would envision chicken soup, but replacing the pieces of poulet and shards of noodle were little fideos and dabs of cinnamon- and cardamom-spiced meat balls and little fideos in addition to the mirepoix-ed vegetables. Homely, satisfying, but brilliantly complex, I cannot look at matzo ball soup in the same way again.

As a palate cleanser between savory and dessert, the bartender offered me a cocktail that he was tweaking for the menu: Watermelon, Rum, Lime Juice, and a bit ouzo. Although it could have used a savory component, the drink takes ice sculpture to a new level, with a 2" spherical ball comprised of frozen and strained watermelon puree, watermelon rind, and ice. Besides being beautiful to look at, it keep the cocktail cool, and adds another fruity element to the drink with the melting of the watermelon puree.

For dessert, I started off with a Macvin du Jura, a dessert wine from the oft-neglected French region made from Pinot Noir. It's one of the few dessert wines that has the acidity to play off citrus-dominated dessert dishes such as the Grapefrui Givre I ordered. I hardly recommend going to a restaurant to only order dessert, but this is one of sheer pastry genius. A grapefruit half is scopped out, filled with grapefruit sorbet, piped with sesame mousse, mixed with grapefruit segments and rose louloum, and garnished with an almond tuile and halvah cotton candy. Like a Ferran Adria dish, you'd expect the contrasting textures and flavors to deconstruct, but somehow the acid from the grape fruit harmoniously blends together with the savory sesame, halvah, and loukoum.

Screw Josephina and Cafe Fiorello: DB just conquered the Lincoln Center restaurant scene by doing it better.