Boulud on Bowery #01: $29 Hamburgers Coming Soon
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Daniel Boulud has dispatched his public relations and marketing team to the Bowery to collect signatures supporting his bid for a liquor license at 299 Bowery, aka Avalon Bowery Place, for DBGB. Some of the materials he's prepared for locals have made their way into our inbox, it turns out. We'll begin with the menu, then the floor plan, and finally, if we're feeling generous, we'll get you the logo they've come up with. Get as close to the air conditioner as possible and settle in.
By the end of this fine, if a bit steamy, day you'll know all there is to know about DBGB, Daniel Boulud's second attempt to open a restaurant on the Bowery. To begin with, we now present the menu that Boulud's people have been showing locals. It features such treats as a $29 "Original DB Burger" (which put db Bistro Moderne on the map in Midtown) and a $10 "Gillesverot Hot Dog." What is particularly interesting, perhaps, is that this is the spec menu he's using to win the favor of the community. Gussying up one's offerings is a tried and true way of having a successful run through the SLA licensing process, and has been used by such venues as a little place we like to call Marshall Stack. Never before, however, has one of these menus included such absolutely outrageous pricing (though given Avalon Bowery's $4K-and-up one bedrooms, maybe he's in the right place). But we pledged our support for the Frenchman yesterday and we stand by the declaration today. Every neighborhood needs an obnoxiously priced foie gras burger to get worked up about.
The prices are very precisely pitched. Less than Hearth, slightly less than WD-50 About the same as Prune. More than Schiller's. He knows what he's doing.
Hey get with the program, a hot dog and drink at crif dogs now costs 15 bucks, these burgers be cheap!
(btw this menu is awesome, you community board members better approve this and represent us, your constituents, who want the option to purchase this tasty food)
For these prices, they should be able to spell "prix fixe," "tarte flambée," "tuna tartare," and "frisée." Also, for $5 you get one haricot vert? Let's hope they have someone edit the final menu.
I can't believe how bad the French is on that menu! Did Daniel not even look at it? "Pre-fixe?" "Tarte flambe?" "Specialties de la maison?" If the real French people can't do it, we haven't got a prayer.
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