Emerging in the 15th century as a reaction to the prevailing aesthetic of lavishness, ornamentation, and rich materials, wabi-sabi is the art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in earthiness, of revering authenticity above all. I
Broadly, wabi-sabi is everything that today’s sleek, mass-produced, technology-saturated culture isn’t. It’s flea markets, not shopping malls; aged wood, not swank floor coverings; one single morning glory, not a dozen red roses.
Wabi-sabi understands the tender, raw beauty of a gray December landscape and the aching elegance of an abandoned building or shed. It celebrates cracks and crevices and rot and all the other marks that time and weather and use leave behind. To discover wabi-sabi is to see the singular beauty in something that may first look decrepit and ugly.
DB Bistro Moderne
55 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
(212) 391-240
Daniel Bouloud has provided some of the most memorable dinners of my life. How often do you remember a dinner that you had over ten years ago? I remember my daughter’s ten year old birthday dinner at Daniel’s flagship restaurant on East 65th Street. The chef made a special chicken dish perfect for a little girl and baked her a small birthday cake.
The service was perfect, the atmosphere was perfect and the food was perfect. We felt each member of the staff had a personal interest in making sure that we had the very best possible experience. The staff treated us as if they were owners, rather than employees, of the restaurant. We left full of gratitude to Daniel for the artistry of the food, elegant comfort of the restaurant and the performance of the staff.
Daniel is one of the great food artists of our time. He has set the highest standards in creativity, service and atmosphere. However, I am sorry to report that none of these qualities were on display at DB Bistro Moderne.
The evening failed when we entered the restaurant. The hostess was dismissive and unwelcoming, and ignored my friendly comment about the weather. For the high prices that DB Bistro charges for its seemingly casual fare, we should at least receive a pleasant greeting. This was in spite of the fact that we arrived around 5:15 for a pre-theater dinner and the restaurant was almost empty.
The atmosphere has the look and feel of an American diner, albeit a rather expensive one. It does not have the look and feel of a modern bistro.
The bar is at the front of the restaurant and there is a community table and booths on each side. The bar has a grey metallic counter. There are glass shelves stocked with wines and champagnes both behind the bar and lining the walls of the restaurant. The walls have wood panels and artsy black and white photographs. Globe lights encased in metallic cages suggest traditional bistro lighting. The color scheme is off brown with salmon accents.
The main dining room at the back of the restaurant has mirrors with photographs suspended over the mirrors. Chandeliers made of globe lights provide the lighting. The restaurant feels clean, sleek, hard and cold. The pre-theater crowd was mostly at the front in the bar area and suited executives were in the main dining room.
We were given a table in a transitional corridor between the bar area and front and the main dining room in back. Our table was next to the coat-check room and we were constantly annoyed by people standing next to our table taking off their coats, retrieving their coats and putting their coats back on. There was a lot of traffic walking back to the main dining room.
DB offers a pre-theatre prix fixed menu. It is three courses for $50. The mains in the prix fix menu were veal, rabbit and stuffed calamari. I don’t eat veal, my wife does not eat rabbit and neither of us like calamari.
From the website:
Chef Daniel Boulud’s db bistro moderne is a contemporary French restaurant, known for chic bistro cuisine. The menu features updated bistro classics with a modern twist and market-driven French-American cuisine, alongside traditional French specialties and seasonal dishes showcasing the Greenmarket’s finest produce.
Some of the traditional bistro dishes are dover sole meuniere (with lemon capers and parsley), a grilled swordfish (with asparagus, potatoes and tomato confit), and the loup de mer (Mediterranean sea bass with potato gnocchi, garbanzo beans and ramps). There are also scallops, amish chicken and hanger steak with frites. The deserts included raspberry mousse, opera parfait, ice creams and cheese.
I ordered the coq au vin (with bacon, mushrooms, pearl onions and farfalle pasta). I imagined that DB would prepare the definitive coq au vin that I could use as a standard to evaluate the dish as I explore New York bistros. My wife had the halibut grand mere (with root vegetables, cipollini onion and bacon).
The bread was presented in a funnel of olive baguette, dinner rolls and a miniature baguette. The olive bread was excellent: flavors of earth and nuts. The miniature baguette was arid and tasteless. Daniel should be embarrassed.
My coq au vin was not the traditional dish. It was a failed departure.The first bites of the chicken were rich and flavorful in a deep brown stock but it lacked any subtlety of flavor. The stock soon became dense and heavy. The delicate flavor of the onions was lost in the heaviness of the sauce. The flavor of the chicken was lost in the heaviness of the sauce. It became boring and I saw no reason to finish eating it.
My wife’s halibut was perfectly cooked: moist, firm and flavorful. The vegetables were parsnips and onions and were a compliment to the fish. All of the elements of the dish were white, whereas all of mine were brown.
The service was professional and pleasant. The timing was spot on.
For desert we shared the dark chocolate-almond dacquoise (with jivara mousse, espresso cremeux, and amaretto ice cream). The ice cream was delicate, subtle and flavorful. A dacquoise is a desert cake made with layers of almond and hazelnut meringue. It takes its name from the feminine form of the French word dacquois meaning “of Dax” which is a town in southwestern France. It was sugary and bland and we did not finish it.
We were disappointed in the dinner. I struggle to put my finger on the reason. It was something more subtle than its failure to meet Daniel’s high standards.
Restaurants offer an exchange of value. The patron exchanges money and time for a dining experience. The experience is atmosphere, service and food. Great restaurants have an element of theater. Dining is an art form and an entertainment.
Why is this not the same transaction as purchasing a blender? I go to Crate and Barrel and exchange a blender for money. Yet, I am not bringing the blender into my body nor am I looking for an interaction with the Crate and Barrel staff to nourish my body, mind or soul. I am not looking for Crate and Barrel to provide me with an artistic experience. I want the best price and quality, and I want to complete the transaction as efficiently as possible. Crate and Barrel seeks to maximize its profits, and it cares very little about what it sells as long as it meets its corporate its purposes. My goal is to purchase the blender with the least cost and inconvenience.
DB Bistro is providing a Crate and Barrel experience. It feels as if it is selling blenders to maximize its profit. I was interacting with a corporation as soulless and monochromatic as Crate and Barrel. There was no art in the experience. There was no joy from the staff, and no personal investment in my experience. There were no little touches from the staff that often make the difference between a banal restaurant experience and a good one.
The staff were employees rather than owners or artists who were co-creating an artistic experience. They were simply executing their business plan of efficiently converting food and alcohol into profit. Daniel has built a restaurant empire. He has eight in New York and eighteen total including Singapore, London, Montreal, Las Vegas and Palm Beach.Recently, I noticed that Daniel has partnered with Air France to provide food for its airline. I wonder if Daniel is having problems with management and quality control? Has he traded art for money?
The other problem is that a traditional bistro must have an authentic, warm and welcoming atmosphere. You feel that life is good when you are in the warm embrace of an authentic bistro. You want to linger over your dinner and extend the experience. At DB Bistro Moderne we just wanted to complete the “transaction” as quickly as possible so we could be on our way.
This restaurant is expensive. For $35 mains, am I not entitled to a bit of art rather than a cold exchange of food for money to increase the marginal utility of a soulless corporation? At this price point am I not entitled to receive excellence rather than mediocrity?
Next time, we go to Broadway we will dine elsewhere. I will be happy to buy my next blender from Crate and Barrel.
Because I have been such an enthusiastic patron of Daniel’s restaurants for a very long time, I suggest he consider the principles of wabi-sabi in running his empire. He should consider such notions as simplicity, earthiness, intimacy, and naturalness. Authenticity, imperfection, and the beauty of a single rose would go a long way.
Ratings
Service- 5 (Professional but robotic and unengaged. The snotty hostess and bad table did not help.)
Archetype- 2 (Has none of the elements of the bistro Archetype. It is a designed contemporary space but feels consciously designed rather than natural and authentic. Noise level is high.)
Food- 4 (Some dishes were quite good, others failed. Daniel should not fail)
Energy- 2 (The food may be “chic bistro cuisine” but the atmosphere, design and overall experience were not. )
Reviews of DB Modern Bistro
http://events.nytimes.com/mem/nycreview.html?res=9D01E4DF1631F931A1575BC0A9679C8B63
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/db-bistro-moderne/
http://www.viamichelin.com/web/Restaurant/New_York-10036-db_Bistro_Moderne-69453-41102
Wabi-Sabi
Leonard Koren, Wabi-Sabi For Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers (Imperfect Publishing 1994)
Robyn Griggs Lawrence
http://www.utne.com/mind-and-body/wabi-sabi.aspx
Dacquoise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacquoise
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/7213-chocolate-espresso-dacquoise