Our last dinner spot in NYC was Daniel Boulud’s DBGB Kitchen and Bar. I’ve had the burger at Daniel’s DB Bistro Moderne which is just one of his many restaurants. DBGB is his answer for the meeting of French brasserie and American tavern. There were tons of house-made sausages, twenty-two tap craft beers, burgers, and several other dishes to please your palate.
We started with ordering the hand-cut steak tartare. It came served with grilled ciabatta, quail egg, cornichons, and pickled ramp. There was nothing wrong with this dish, and as Anthony Bourdain will tell you, putting a runny egg on anything will make it taste good. I could have used a little more ciabatta, but the pickled ramp added a good amount of acid to cut through the raw meat.
My brother and his girlfriend joined us for dinner, so it was nice to see the other plates and hear what they thought. My wife ordered the pork loin schnitzel; it came served over a spinach and bacon salad with fingerling potatoes. I had a few bites of hers and would order it in a heartbeat if we make it to DBGB again. Not that mine was mediocre by any means, hers just had tons of great flavors. The warm spinach salad was full of flavor and a nice contrast to the schnitzel. The potatoes had some flavors I couldn’t even put my finger on. Hey, look at that pun, fingerling potatoes.
Anyway, I ordered a burger called the Piggie. This burger was a six-ounce beef patty topped with bbq pulled pork, jalapeno mayo, mustard vinegar slaw, and Boston lettuce on a cheddar bun. The burger definitely had a smoky flavor coming from the bbq. The jalapeno mayo added a little kick but certainly didn’t overpower. I could have used a little more flavor coming from the mustard vinegar slaw to contrast with bbq. My brother also ordered a burger; he had the Frenchie which came with a tomato-onion compote, confit pork belly, and morbier cheese. He thought his had a little too much of a smoky flavor, but he has spent too much time in front of a smoker (having worked as a chef in a BBQ joint).
Out of the two upscale burgers I had in New York (ABC Kitchen and DBGB Kitchen and Bar), I would have to say ABC Kitchen was a little more daring with their burger.