Lyons Lair
A top New York city chef invites customers to experience flavors of his Gallic home.
Jeffery Lindenmuth reports.
Chef Daniel Boulud's Manhattan flagship Daniel may claim four stars from the New York Times and the Wine Spectator Grand Award, but you can't walk into Bar Boulud, his newest offering located across from Lincoln Center, without thinking, "Boulud, we hardly know ye." Given a blank space, Boulud has abandoned the Gothic feel of Daniel for a contemporary design with thoughtful allusions to wine, including a vaulted wine cellar—like ceiling and a gravel wall that recalls stony vineyards. Drawing on his childhood cuisine, the menu and wine list read like a Lyonnaise travel brochure, including seasonal bistro classics and a panoply of charcuterie. "There are plenty of restaurants with wine and food from all over the world," says Boulud. "Being from Lyons, I am a half-Burgundian, half-Rhône kind of guy, and I wanted to focus on that. I feel that Bar Boulud worked out very well with the food and the wine being focused."
To fulfill his vision for a bit of Lyons on Broadway, Boulud enlisted his Dinex Group wine director, Daniel Johnnes, and award-winning Parisian charcutier Gilles Verot. Boulud's passion for traditional charcuterie began at home as a young boy and was nurtured throughout his teenage years when he apprenticed with his uncle, a charcutier in Lyons. While charcuterie may be momentarily de rigueur in the States, Boulud has always embraced the art. "The offering is kind of new to the market here. What's interesting, however, is that for a long time few French chefs wanted to carry a terrine on their menu because they thought it too old-fashioned for them. I have always had a terrine on my menu, changing every two months. It's not like I suddenly decided to do terrine, pâté, and charcuterie," says Boulud.
With Bar Boulud's charcuterie counter, however, Boulud goes whole hog—and rabbit and goose—dazzling diners with over 20 signature varieties, including tagine d'agneau (a terrine of spiced leg of lamb, eggplant, and sweet potato) and tourte de gibiers au genièvre (pheasant, duck, and venison "en croute" with sweetbreads, foie gras, and juniper). A trio of jambon hail from France, Spain, and Iowa. And, while Verot is not on-premise, his award-winning headcheese is—along with longtime apprentice Sylvain Gasdon acting as chef charcutier. Executive chef Damian Sansonetti handles the coq au vin, steak-frites, beignets de mérou ("fish and chips" of grouper), and raie forestière (mushroom stuffed skate).
Charcuterie is especially popular at the communal table as well as the "tasting table in the round." A custom creation from Bar Boulud designer Thomas Schlesser, the 14 seat table provides access to the center for the sommelier, while an integrated steel rack dangles an inverted Riedel glass like a carrot directly before each seated diner.
Defying comparisons to a wine bar, which tends to offer most wines by the glass and highly international lists, Bar Boulud's wine list is restricted almost exclusively to Burgundy and Rhône wines, with about 20 poured by the glass. "I don't really know what a wine bar is," says Johnnes. "I take into account the style of food. When I think about the wine, I am only thinking that the wine has to be in stride with the concept of the restaurant and the food." In addition to focusing on the favorite wines of Lyons, the wine list parallels the food menu in its conciseness, with about 300 wines at opening time, and value, with over 70 wines priced under $50.
Within each region, Johnnes uniquely organizes the wines as "Les Découvertes" (discoveries), "Les Classiques" (classics), and "Les Legends" (legends). The Découvertes include lesser known wines, often representing great value; Classiques include the classic appellations; Legends is reserved for heavy hitters, like Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 1985 ($4,250) and Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1990 ($2,000).
By focusing on Burgundy and the Rhône, Bar Boulud is also able to offer some of the regions' more idiosyncratic wines, rarely seen on large international lists, including a good selection of Cru Beaujolais, an Aligoté from François Mikulski by the glass ($9), and a Passetoutgrains, a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay, from Digioa-Royer 2005 ($39).
According to sommelier Steven Meir, Les Découvertes are finding fans among the adventurous and budget-conscious alike. "I think people are really excited about the category. In a way, everyone wants to be part of something from the ground floor, to be part of the discovery. It seems like the category that is the hottest at the moment," says Meir.
Shopping for value within Burgundy and the Rhône, especially with withering dollars in hand, Johnnes often reaches for the less prestigious wines of great producers, like a basic Bourgogne Blanc 2005 ($70) from Meursault superstar Domaine Roulot, and also a handful of bargain vins de pays, like Domaine Charvin V.d.P. Principaute d'Orange 2005 ($32).
The section titled "Cousins" offers about a dozen wines from around the world for each of the classic Burgundy grapes and Rhône blends. Here, New World diehards will find Ken Freeman Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Keefer Ranch 2005 ($120) or Lewis Cellars Chardonnay Sonoma County 2006 ($102). These are clearly the sort of successful cousins you want to invite for dinner. The remainder of the world is covered in a mere 28 wines—"Les Coups de Coeur"—with extra consideration, and pages, permitted for Champagne and dessert wines.
The wine list and menu at Bar Boulud dance in tandem, picking up each other's subtle cues. "Bar Boulud is modern, but evokes the bistro. There is a perfect pairing between what we're doing. He wants to cook the classic dishes and I want to provide great wine at all price points," says Johnnes. With the wines of his home proudly on display, Boulud's passion for wine is abundantly apparent. "Daniel is one of those rare chefs who really has a great appreciation and understanding of wine. He takes a great interest in collecting and enjoying wine. Here, he has a foot in the classic French restaurant, but also in the future. There are many places all over the country that call themselves wine bars, but how many chefs of his caliber have created a great wine bar?" poses Johnnes.
Bar Boulud is planning to expand into the adjacent building and will finally get the "bar" that its name portends, but for now, "If you sit, you're gonna have to eat," quips Boulud. Likewise, with wine appearing everywhere, even in the form of framed wine stains on the wall, it would take serious willpower to resist a glass with dinner, especially once the sommeliers begin plying flights and the nightly charcuterie tasting, consisting of a half glass each of a select red and white. "For me, I started by opening a big restaurant and little by little I'm going back to something more casual, but also soulful. Today we are getting into places that are more soulful. This could mean burgers, or anything executed with real study and focus. For me, it happens to be charcuterie and wine," says Boulud.
