I finally got to check out Daniel Boulud’s new gastropub DBGB last week. There’s a casual and energetic vibe to the place yet it still feels upscale because the high ceilings and open kitchen give the dining room a modern spacious appeal. An interesting touch was the copper cookware on display along the walls, each with a famous chef’s name placard beneath. Did each of those chef’s donate pans to Daniel for this venture? Pretty cool.

Since I was with a party of ten, we managed to sample a large portion of the menu, and for the most part, boy was it impressive. A couple of the apps were just ok, like the escargots and the asparagus with fried egg in mustard dressing, but everything else was really stellar. One of the best was this grilled octopus dish:

There was definitely a nod to the Mediterranean with this dish as you can see a mound of eggplant puree on the back of the plate along with those fried sticks of what seemed to be rectangular falafel. Fantastic dish.

Three of the most delicious things we had that night were from lesser-used animal parts. Squares of tender and flavorful tripe were made “crispy” by being battered/breaded and fried. It was served with a great little mustard sauce too. I’ve had a lot of tripe in my day, but this crispy preparation was a new one on me and I loved it. The same can be said for DBGB’s crispy pig trotters- another unusual animal part that is very familiar to us Asians but prepared here with the surprising addition of a highly seasoned crispy breaded exterior. So awesome, it was one of the highlights of the night for me. But probably the real star of the meal was this beef bone marrow dish:

I love when marrow bones are cut length-wise like this. In a sinister practice of torture, other places cut it cross wise, give you a tiny spoon and laugh as you desperately struggle to get at the goods. Here, as you can see, you have easy access to all the marrow and you can (and we did) scrape out every last bit. Admittedly those little toast sticks were somewhat inadequate for all that marrow, but man, when stuff is this mind-blowingly delicious, I can’t nitpick. Those little beads of goodness you see are mildly pickled mustard seeds which give just enough of an accent to cut the richness of the marrow. What a killer dish!

DBGB is particularly known for their forcemeats and we made sure to try lots of them. Their fromage de tete, head cheese to you and me, was just ok, not as interesting as I would have hoped. But their sausages, oh man, from top to bottom, they were all very impressive. We sampled 8 or 9 varieties and the layers of flavor across the board made it obvious that they really took care in crafting each one. The chorizo was probably my favorite as it packed the boldest punch. But even the sausages that seemed more unrefined on the surface, like the Vermont which had cheddar cheese oozing out of it, still had incredible depth of flavor that made it irresistible. Not just good I’m telling you, absolutely irresistible.

We also sampled their trio of burgers. Although there were three varieties, the differences didn’t grab me as I was mainly drawn to the quality of the meat. We ordered them medium rare but the inside of the burger was still pretty much raw. But when the quality of meat is this good, I actually prefer my burgers this way, so this was a happy accident for me. But it is very rare (pun intended) to find beef this good.

Desserts were uneven, ranging from a rather bland Baked Alaska, to a fantastic chocolate crepe with roasted cherries. The ice creams that I tasted were all excellent though.

All in all, it was a tremendous meal. But more than anything else, it is the bone marrow and the pig trotters that have me pining for a return visit. Knowing me, I will satisfy that craving soon!