Boulud Sud, NYC

This past week was an outing of our Manhattan Ladies Dining Club. Patty chose the restaurant this time, picking the eight month old, new Daniel Boulud offering at 64th and Broadway called Boulud Sud. This is the first of Daniel's restaurants to have a Mediterranean flair with a menu very different than his core French eateries.

Our first dinner of 2012, Patty and I were joined by Mary and Traci for a 6pm reservation in the thick of a packed dinner crowd. But before I get on to the food and wine, a few notes about the ambiance and patrons. I arrived early (really wanting to get out of the office) to have a drink (or two) at the bar. It's a pretty nice size bar with comfortable stools around a metal, square-shaped counter and open air feel. It's somewhere I could see meeting for a libation even if I wasn't having dinner there. They do offer a bar menu of small plates in addition to drinks. I started with a glass of Alfred Gratien Rose and it was as bright, fruity and complex as I remembered. Very nice. And around the time I was having the second or third sip of my bubbly, it started to dawn on me that there was a very specific demographic showing up in droves for their early reservations. I was the youngest person in the house (not counting staff) by at least twenty years...in many cases, more like thirty years. The tables were filling up quickly with very well dressed seniors that the charismatic bartender said were there for the pre-theater price fixed menu.

My dinner companions started to arrived one right after the other and we collectively ordered glasses of Pierre Paillard, Cuvee Daniel Brut to start the evening. This is another very nice champagne with a medium yellow color, moderate length on the finish and a creamy taste. We were soon shown to our table...right in the middle of the dining room.

One thing to note if heading over to this restaurant - if you dine before 6:45pm you have to order the three course price fixed tasting menu. They do offer a lot of options and you can add side dishes and supplemental courses, but it is more limited than if you come later in the evening. For us, this format worked very nicely. We only added one supplement course (you'll see why) and otherwise stuck to the three course menu.

For the first course Mary & Patty ordered the Octopus a la Plancha with Marcona almonds, arugula and Jerez vinegar. They both seemed to like this course...I tried it and thought the flavors meshed well together and enjoying the uniqueness. The texture of the octopus was flakier and more tender than I would have guessed it would be and I loved the arugula.

Traci chose the raw Tuscan kale salad with cranberries, pine nuts, Pecorino Romano and balsamic vinaigrette. And while some might find this course a little simple, the two bites I tried were really good. Kale has a bit of a bitter taste that was softened wonderfully by the cranberries and vinaigrette. Add to that the welcomed saltiness from the cheese and I found I was a little jealous that it wasn't the course I ordered. Luckily Traci embraces the idea of sharing!

For my first course I went with an unknown dish; the charred Sepia with wild mushrooms, micro greens and melted fontina cheese. Sepia is another word for cuttlefish and has a texture similar to octopus or the body of squid. The fish had a very nice flavor with an obvious grilled type smokiness that was complimented by the earthy mushrooms and the silkiness of the cheese. A different, interesting and overall well blended dish that I normally wouldn't have ordered. I was pleasantly surprised.

With our first and second courses we ordered a bottle of champagne. The bottle of NV Laherte Freres Rose from Chavot was gorgeous dark pink and seriously lovely on the nose. Distinct fruit, like cherries came forth right away but also with a bit of that bready-toast underneath. And the taste delivered what the nose promised. This was a full bodied, complex and still nicely acidic with a medium length on the finish. It left you wanting to take that next sip and went very well with our first two courses.

When we were getting ready to order our dinner our server informed us of a special being offered that evening - and only for just a few more days. They had Alba white truffles and were in the last week of the season. The truffles were being offered, shaved, over your choice of either a traditional Parmesan risotto or a creamy, house made linguine. The truffles were priced by the gram and they were suggesting 8-10 grams per dish. After doing the math and realizing that would be not only a hell of a lot of truffles, it would also be $200 per dish. We we opted for a 5 gram shaving and ordered both dishes to be shared by the table.

Now if you've ever eaten at a Daniel restaurant and had his signature risotto with truffle...you know that it's one dish that basically defines perfection. Creamy, cheesy and softly salty and covered in luscious, fragrant, gorgeous white truffles - it's the best you'll get anywhere. That is, until we tried the pasta. Holy Crap - what an amazing, heavenly blend of decadence and happiness. These were two of the best dishes I've had.

Unlike the truffle tasting at Stage Left earlier, there was no doubt where the truffles were on these two. And that's just 5 grams! Can you imagine if we went with the suggested 10 gram serving? (maybe next time).

After this course, I was in food Nirvana. Still having our main courses yet to come, we all decided to order different glasses of red wine as an accompaniment. The champagne went fast...not a drop left in the bottle.

Reds:

Jenn: 2008 Cotes de Rhone, Coudoulet de Beaucastle

Mary: 2006 Piemonte, G.D. Vajra Barolo Albe

Traci: 2005 Crianza, Senorio de P. Pencia, Rioja

Patty: 2009 Napa Valley, Chad Cabernet Sauvignon from Red Hills, Lake County

Main course:

Traci & Patty ordered the chicken Tagine with turnips, spinach and preserved lemon. So nicely cooked and a rather large portion, this was a very nice dish.

Mary ordered the hanger steak with wild mushrooms, olives and crushed potatoes. Lovely in it's presentation and cooked to a perfect medium-rare, it was a good course but lacked excitement. As Mary put it...good, but it was steak.

For my entree, I took a chance on the house made chestnut ravioli with celeriac, black trumpet mushrooms and castlemagno cheese. The consensus at the table was that this was best of the four entrees with it's delicate pasta shell, creamy, luxurious filling and deep woodsy flavor of the mushrooms. A winner, no doubt. I was super happy with this dish.

To finish up the evening were the dessert courses. Patty and I ordered the selection of three cheeses with breads and traditional accompaniments. Mary got the Pomme Rosemary of brown butter cake and almond ice cream. Traci topped off her dinner with the lemon tart with cassis compote and almond ice cream.

Overall, a really nice evening - - great food and great company. It's the best food experience we've had for our dining club. I look forward to going back to this restaurant again sometime soon!!

Zagat's rating: 23-24-24

Jenn's rating: 90