Cafe Boulud

This slightly more casual restaurant in Daniel Boulud’s empire is located on the Upper East Side in the Surrey Hotel.  You enter the restaurant to a relatively square room of all earth tones and no bar area.  There is a separate bar by Boulud, Bar Pleiades, located across the hotel lobby.   Maybe it’s the upper east sider in me, but I thought the space was comfortable and inviting with leather banquettes and large mirrors lining most walls.  But, after one of my friends said she felt like she was in the conference room/event space of a hotel rather than in a Michelin star restaurant, I realized that I couldn’t help but agree.  We decided this was fitting, as it was in fact located in a hotel.  The other thing that can’t go without notice is that the clientele is predominantly an older set…We were probably the youngest people dining there by a generation or so, but despite this, it didn’t feel uncomfortable or stuffy. 

I was very pleased with my experience at Café Boulud and would certainly go back for a fancy meal out.   Having said that, it wasn’t my favorite of the Michelin Stars I’ve been to, as not every dish was a wow.  It’s just that there are certain things beyond food that elevate a restaurant above the rest, and Café Boulud gained serious points by doing some of these things as well as delivering a few wow bites.

The menu is categorized into what Boulud views as his four primary culinary inspirations (classic French, seasonal, Farmer’s market, and world cuisines), with multiple options for each course under each category.  The menu is either a la carte or a 7-course tasting menu.  We decided to order a la carte.  I found 3 courses to be the perfect amount of food, but I have heard from other friends who have dined here that they didn’t feel as if they had enough food.   The wine list at Café Boulud includes a wide array of bottles at a nice range of price points.  We selected a reasonable bottle of Gruner Veltliner, which was very good and paired well with our dishes.

As soon as we ordered, our attentive servers arrived with the amuse bouche, a mini sweet pea risotto ball that had hints of meyer lemon zest throughout.  I loved this salty, crunchy, sweet rice ball, but my friends thought the salt level was a bit overwhelming.  The bread basket arrived with a variety of choices including cranberry walnut, olive, and country.  The breads were above average, but I expected them to be more extraordinary, as I had been thoroughly blown away by the bread basket at Daniel.

The three of us decided upon splitting 2 appetizers, but when the appetizer course arrived, they brought an extra dish.  Obviously, this is one of those classy touches I was speaking of earlier.  The two appetizers we ordered were the Hamachi Crudo with edamame, jicama, and pickled ramp and the artichoke tortellini with shaved parmesan and crispy artichokes in a white wine broth.  The free appetizer that arrived was chilled carrot veloute with a carrot fritter and cilantro foam.   The three of us agreed that the Hamachi was our favorite followed by the artichoke.   The Hamachi was beautifully fresh and the pureed edamame, buttery fish, and crunch of the jicama was a perfect pairing of texture and flavor.  Not to mention that the pickled ramp vinaigrette added the perfect mild zing.  The artichoke tortellini was good, but needed more artichoke flavor to it.  It was definitely missing something.  The carrot veloute was wonderfully silky, but I on principal don’t love cold soup and the overall flavor was a bit too bland.  Although, I suppose the thought is to let the carrots speak for themselves I still believe it needed something.  One of my friends described the veloute perfectly when she said she felt like she was eating baby food.

For my main course I had the Vermont poulet with peas in white wine with this really wonderful herb soufflé-like round and velvety chicken jus.  The chicken was one of the tenderest and moist chicken preparations I’ve had and the jus was the perfect richness.  Really delicious and something I’d order again.

Dawn had a wonderfully spicy baked rice (sort of paella like) with sea scallops, octopus, and mussels.  The rice was baked in a pan, which resulted in a variety of textures throughout the rice that added a lot to the dish.  According to Dawn, all the seafood in the dish was cooked beautifully and the scallop I had was no exception.  Jen had the Halibut, which was very simply prepared and a perfectly cooked piece of fish that would satisfy me in how reliably good it is, but would never wow me.

For dessert, we again only ordered two to split but three arrived, which was even more astonishing because that means they brought us two free dishes.  And then to top it all off, I had decided not to order port with dessert because the only port they offered was $30 a glass and that’s just outrageous.  When the after dinner drinks arrived, the waiter had poured me a glass of another aperitif on him.  The desserts we ordered were the salted caramel with milk chocolate brownie and caramelized milk sorbet and black forest cake with dark chocolate mousse, cherries, and nougat ice cream.  The additional dessert they brought was the strawberry vacherin with meringue and macerated strawberries.  I have to say the desserts were all incredibly good, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be the strawberry one.  As they do at Daniel, they brought warm lemon madelienes in addition to the dessert which were amazing.

I had a great experience at Café Boulud and thought the food was delicious and well conceived.  I can see how it earned a Michelin star with its well prepared food and elevated yet comfortable service.