Chez Bouley, Tribeca

Photo by myself outside Bouley, in Tribeca on Duane Street.

From the street outside, you can get a glimpse into the kitchen of this fine restaurant. Here, chocolates and sweets are homemade and served on tiered trays.

--
Saturday night, Mark had a fantastic dinner at Bouley (pronounced boo-LAY), one of the best restaurants in New York.

We rarely go out to fine restaurants, preferring instead down-and-dirty 'authentic' places. We had the tasting menu, which was an culinary assault on our bodies. The food was plentiful and astronomically rich. By the end of the meal, we were pushing dishes away.

The waitstaff was extremely attentive, swarming to replace silverware and explain dishes. The restaurant itself was very pretty, with silver leafed vaulted ceilings, enormous flower displays and enormous paintings of the French countryside. Oh, and the food was just divine.


Above, the vestibule at Bouley is lined floor-to-ceiling with apples. Their scent stimulates your senses from the first step inside.

You know the 'foams' that Top Chefs concoct on the show? Well, we had a few of those. And things in truffle oil. And the most delectable seafood. Each little dish was a complicated, layered mix of this and that.

The Amuse Bouche alone consisted of salmon roe, some kind of foam, balsamic vinegar and something else white. By the end of it, Mark and I were gripping our stomachs, groaning 'Uncle'. The food had won, hands down.

The experience reminds me of an episode of Sex and The City. Charlotte and one of her beau had a several-coursed meal on their honeymoon and afterwards spent the entire night running to and fro to the bathroom, haha. If you're not used to eating rich food, be warned.

For some strange reason, Bouley has gotten some low marks on the internet. Don't believe them. This four-star restaurant is New York fixture, garnering first place in Zagat's as where New Yorkers would want to have their last meal. For the restaurant review of Bouley (which many readers criticized as being too harsh of the food), click here.

For more about the chef David Bouley, click here.



Related posts: Eating on the Cheap, Restaurant Week, Reflecting on Tribeca and City Portrait - BBQ Block Party, Madison Square Park.