Quick Bite: DBGB Kitchen & Bar

The Significant Eater and I recently stopped in for lunch at DBGB Kitchen & Bar, Daniel Boulud's much-hyped new restaurant in the once rundown, soon to be ultra-trendy Bowery neighborhood. Walking into the main dining room, most foodie nerds will find it difficult to contain themselves once they spot what is essentially a culinary Hall of Fame lining the walls: copper kitchenwares from nearly every famous chef one can imagine: Jacques Pepin, Ferran Adria, Alice Waters, and Dan Barber, just to name a few of the displays I could view from my seat. My personal favorite was Andrew Carmellini's pasta machine. Needless to say, I was slightly distracted throughout lunch trying to check out all of the superstar chefs who were featured on the walls.

Food-wise, DBGB did not let me down. I ordered the basic "Yankee" burger, a standard hamburger with lettuce, tomato, and a Guss' pickle. The Significant Eater went with the DBGB Dog, a hot dog topped with sauteed onions and relish. I would never rate a restaurant solely based on its burger and hot dog, but since so many people seem to do exactly that in these burger-obsessed days, I can easily say that DBGB will be atop many New Yorkers' list. My burger was nicely charred on the outside but cooked to a juicy medium-rare in the center. I was glad that I ordered the most unadorned burger on the menu because the Yankee burger needed nothing else. The hot dog the Significant Eater ordered was well-executed as well; one bite told me that the mildly spiced sausage was handmade by a topnotch kitchen and not just some run-of-the-mill frank. The fries that came with each of our meals were also well-salted and perfectly crispy. Everything went down well with a Sixpoint IPA. For dessert, we ordered the Kreik Beer-Cherry (pictured), a sundae that had lots of cherry and no discernible beer flavor--most likely a good thing.

All in all, I was very impressed by my quick bite at DBGB. I will definitely return to try the its more ambitious offerings, which I fully expect to be just as good as my lunch samplings. Even if they aren't, I will surely continue to stop in for a burger and a beer.