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Sunday, August 30, 2009

Chez Bouley, Tribeca

Bouley, NYC
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.

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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.

Bouley, NYC
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.

Bouley, NYC

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

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice post. Liked the apples. Can't imagine trying to eat all of them before they go rotten.


Pick a Peck of Pixels

claudine said...

Merci pour l'adresse ! J'irai peut-être y déjeuner un jour quand je serai à New-York!

JAMJARSUPERSTAR said...

You're making me hungry and crave chocolates and apples!!!

Mmmm I wish we had restaurants this interesting where I am - they're all pretty standard around here!
Ciao

Scarlet xxx

chimesey said...

I can't help thinking about the potential rotting of the apples, too... they must have a system. You gotta have a system...

elsie said...

Floor to ceiling apples - that is more than fantastic!!

Line said...

great photos I love the one with the apples!!! so cool!

Ming the Merciless said...

I love the apples on the shelves. What a simple but attractive way to decorate the place.