I’ll give a Bouley lunch tasting trip report, but keep in mind this is from someone with extremely limited fine dining experience.
http://www.davidbouley.com/bouley-ma...-tasting-menu/
Had taxi issues, and they had no problem bumping our 2:15 reservation back to 2:30. Got seated in the Red Room downstairs, which was fine and spacious, as there were only 4 tables occupied, but it would probably be nicer to be upstairs with the sunlight.
They bring bread: an apple roll that was awesome, and a baguette that tasted burnt. But who cares. The bread cart is obviously where it’s at.
Amuse bouche: chilled tomato soup with jellied red pepper, a small goat cheese puff, and a cracker with truffle potato and black caviar. Not bad. Don’t have too much to say about it.
1st Course: Both got the Hiramasa and Nantucket Blue Fin. Super fresh and light, with an acidic sauce. Nice start to the meal, as it did start to get heavy by the end.
Bread cart: God. Heaven. Saffron Walnut was by far my favorite. Garlic, olive, and sourdough were all hits too. I assumed the bread cart would come back around again, as I saw it went for a 2nd time to other tables, but it did not come to ours. Disappointing, but obviously I’m sure a request would have been fulfilled if we asked.
2nd Course: Porcini Flan- lived up to the hype. So deep and rich, with an absurd amount of crab. Definitely don’t pass this up. Forager’s Treasure of Wild Mushrooms- Pretty good, but not as powerful as the flan. Grilled toro was a bit underwhelming.
3rd Course: Duck- Excellent. Would get again. Beef Cheeks- the gnocchi was great, but the cheeks themselves were a little bland. Would skip next time.
4th Course: Split the Coconut Soup and the Raspberry Gelato. Can’t go wrong here. Coconut soup was creamy and light, while the Raspberry Gelato was fresh and tart. Both very refreshing.
5th Course: Both got the Souffle. Excellent. Would 100% get again.
Assorted chocolates and cookies came out with 5th course. Like 10 pieces. Was stuffed, and they let us wrap them up for home, no problem.
Wines:
http://www.davidbouley.com/bouley-re...ry-19-2016.pdf
We each got a glass of red, for $11 and $13 each, and were extremely happy with them for the price. I can’t remember which was which, but either the 1st or 2nd wine on the By the Glass list was phenomenal. Super bummed I can’t find it to purchase in stores. Believes it was a Cab Franc.
Although Yelp indicates that it is the norm, there was no gift.
Came out to $175 after tax and tip. Was an awesome belated Valentine’s Day lunch, and I can certainly foresee myself doing an annual outing like this. Guy a couple tables over did the wine pairings, and it looked like a pretty decent deal. Pretty large pours of 6 or 7 wines.