THURSDAYS with TT: DBGB Kitchen & Bar

Over the past couple of months I have become quite the food blogger. I or (CT) bring a camera to every restaurant we go to. Since Yvo has been busy with school, I am stepping up and will now have a weekly column, Tuesdays with TT. Bon Appetit!

UPDATE: I am becoming a blogging machine, so I will also be reporting on Thursday afternoons for you.

CT’s sister and her brother-in-law are not only high school sweethearts, their birthdays are a week apart. Isn’t that cute? I was invited to the dual-family brunch to celebrate both of their birthdays at DBGB Kitchen & Bar. It is one of the newer restaurants in the building Daniel Boulud empire. The restaurant’s name is a homage to CBGB, the pioneering music club that used to be a few doors up on Bowery. It is quite amazing how this neighborhood is changing. Bowery used to be one of the most rundown streets in Manhattan, but with DBGB, Whole Foods, and now Pulino’s, it has become quite gentrified. Is that a good thing? It remains to be seen. There ended up being 10 of us, so it was quite a large brunch crew, so I wasn’t able to document all of the food, but I got most of it.

Since it was brunch afterall, we started with some cocktails.

CT got the blood orange spritzer with gin. She could have gotten it with vodka, but I think gin was the better choice.

I got the Aztec. It had tequila, jalapeno, and cucumber slices. Quite strong, but quite tasty.

One of the stars of the menu is the selection of sausages, nine to choose from. The birthday girl decided it would be best to order a whole bunch for the table to share as appetizers.

Chipolata- pork sausage link, pommes mousseline, burgundy truffle. (below center, with truffle on top)

Espagnole-fresh chorizo sausage with piperade, basil oil. As expected from a chorizo, this had some nice heat to it. (below, right, red)

Boudin Basque- spicy blood & pigs head sausage, scallion mashed potatoes. One of the most unique sausages on the menu. I haven’t had blood sausage in a long time. It was quite good. The black blood was nice and creamy and worked well with the chunks of pigs head.

Tunisienne- spicy lamb & mint merguez, lemon braised spinach & chickpeas.

Vermont- smoked pork & cheddar link, hash browns, red onion crème frache. This was also very good. Pork + cheddar = WIN. I really like the hash browns too.

As if this wasn’t enough to start with, we got some other appetizers too.

Charcuterie plate- tasting of pâté, saucisson, rillette, & fromage de tête with sourdough toast. All of the items here were very good. I think I might have a heart attack before the end of the meal.

Housemade blintzes- ricotta cream, poached rhubarb. I had a taste of this and it was pretty amazing. So rich and creamy. Quite better than the frozen blitzes I am used to.

The Viennoiserie was also ordered for the table. It is a basket of fresh baked pain aux raisins croissant, pain au chocolat, & madeleines with butter & jam. Fortunately for CT & I, the other end of the table grabbed most of these items, so we were able to hold off. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take a picture.

For mains, CT & I decided to get two of the burgers on the menu and share them. Daniel’s Piggie & Frenchie burgers have gotten some good press since the restaurant opened. He even gave out the Frenchie back in January in a food truck as part of a NBC contest.

The Piggie- 6 oz beef patty topped with Daisy May’s bbq pulled pork, jalapeno mayonnaise & boston lettuce on a cheddar bun with mustard-vinegar slaw & fries. I like Daisy May’s pulled pork a lot and used it get it from their cart when I used to work near there. To have it on top of a burger? Yes please. The burgers are pretty small, but the flavor is big. Very tasty and all the ingredients work quite well together.

inside shot

The Frenchie- 6 oz beef patty with confit pork belly, arugula, tomato-onion compote & morbier cheese on a peppered brioche bun with cornichon, mustard & fries. WOW! Pork belly on a burger! Basically it is the most decadent bacon cheese burger you ever had. I think I liked it even more than the Piggie. Take note too that the fries were amazing. Perfectly crisp and then give you a ton of them. I am so glad CT & I decided to share these burgers.

inside shot

Since it was a birthday celebration, we were getting dessert. I was pretty full and used this opportunity to get something light since I probably ingested enough salt to kill a small dog. Their sorbet of the day was grapefruit. I got a scoop. Boring for some, but perfect for me. It was nice and tart- very grapefruity.

CT got the strawberry sundae. Unfortunately the DGBG website has an old menu listed, so I can’t give you an exact description. The ice cream was basically strawberry cheesecake in ice cream form. There were also marshmallows, strawberry sauce, and whipped cream. CT was quite happy with her dessert. I thought I took a picture, but I guess I accidentally deleted it.

CT’s sister got Mymi’s Rhubarb Tart- italian meringue, rhubarb ice cream. She liked it a lot. Her husband got the cheese plate and was also quite happy with it.

The design of the restaurant is very cool. It is a slightly open kitchen, but the star is the copper cookware that lines the shelves. Each item was donated by a world-renowned chef. There is a tag above each one to show where it came from. Here is shot of the pot donated by one of my favorites, Anthony Bourdain.

All in all a great meal to celebrate a special occasion. Everything was delicious. It was very generous of CT’s father to treat us. I would definitely recommend this if you have a special occasion coming up, but not if you have a doctor’s appointment. They also have a great beer list, so The Beer Boor may have to make a visit.