2009 2 0 0 9 Fall/Winter 2009–2010 Bouley Gastronomique A WORK OF ART An Artist’s Passion ILLUMINATING THE WALLS The Light of Provence LANDSCAPES COME TO LIFE The World Champion of Cheese A MASTER AFFINEUR Recipes : Cheese Fondue And VeGetables From the Chef FOCUS, FINISH, Celebrate I am delighted to share with you the signature Bouley, overlooking Duane Park—constructed and completed by a passionate team of masters in painting, stone, and wood. Artisan purveyors, farmers, and fisherman are proud to provide ingredients for new recipes both in the restaurant and at Bouley Bakery & Market. By The Ounce, our new wine bar, is an extension of my collaboration with wine growers both locally and across the globe. —David Bouley Contents Man Shall Not Live by Yoshi Muto 3 by Bread Alone THE NEW BOULEY A Work of Art David Bouley’s new flagship restaurant at 163 extraordinary quality of service, we always Duane Street could not be more artistic in wore jackets, even though the staff was just as 7 design—from the 16th-century walnut doors, welcoming to diners in casual attire. And the CRAFTING A DESTINY the carefully restored beams, the floor stones food … the food was always an exceptional Master Artisans in Concert from Burgundy, and the 17th-century Versailles experience! Pierre d’ory walls and columns, to the more 10 The cuisine was satisfying but not dominating; than 40,000 pieces of planed-smooth parquet AN ARTIST’S PASSION extremely elegant, but not in the least ostenta- Illuminating the Walls floors. Hand-painted flowers and patterned tious. The tasting menu extended to seven wall murals guide you first from the lounge to or eight dishes, all of which were light and 11 the main dining room, with gilded arched ceil- restrained and never overwhelming. Each small THE LIGHT OF PROVENCE ings; past the library, with pages of first-edition portion on the plates contained a sort of mis- Landscapes Come to Life French books; down to a wine cave, decked sive from the chef and, together, these dishes in the pastels of Provence. Even those apples 13 flowed in a seamless progression that would that line the entrance hall, which you will see MASTER CRAFTSMAN sometimes last four or five hours. It was not and smell again, are beautifully welcoming Rodolphe Le Meunier Brings operatic, more like a series of piano concertos and embracing. His Passion and Cheese or a collection of nocturnes. And it was reason- to Bouley It was in 1993, some 15 years ago, when ably priced, unlike the tasting menus offered I visited Bouley for the first time. I had just at a string of the gorgeous new restaurants that 17 moved to New York City from Japan, a country would follow in Bouley’s wake around the city. WINE BAR that was then facing a widespread economic But above all, the courses presented me with Bouley Opens By The Ounce with an slowdown—although Tokyo, at least, was a new experience in terms of the ingredients, Innovative Pouring System still basking in the afterglow of its euphoric the method of execution, and the structure of excesses. However, the celebrated and the tastes. decidedly luxurious restaurant that Bouley I was used to Japanese cooking, which is built was at that time made a totally different on a foundation of fermented seasonings such impression on me in contrast to the as soy sauce, miso paste, sake, mirin, and extravagance of Tokyo. katsuobushi bonito flakes. Japanese cuisine Perhaps it was because Chef Bouley was a draws upon the time it takes to ferment these pioneer. Back then, there was no such con- spices. And while, typically, most dishes cept as “food mileage” or “locavore.” David consist of the tasting triad of sweet, salty, and Bouley asked for cooperation from universities sour, Japanese seasonings also cover umami, and farmers to grow new, foreign vegetables or the taste of the savory, and sometimes even in the state of New York. Deferring to Bouley’s bitterness as well. > Yoshi Muto is a former New York bureau chief of the Tokyo Chunichi Shimbun newspapers, novelist, translator of novels and plays into Japanese, journalist, and critic for various newspapers and literary media outlets in Japan. 2009–2010 Bouley 903 Advetorial 11/16/09 4:58 PM Page 1 uscan estates Poggio al Tesoro style of Poggio al Tesoro’s wines; 20 acres in Bolgheri and San Polo in ripeness, muscular body, and richness are currently TMontalcino are a partnership are effortlessly combined with producing Brunello between Marilisa Allegrini, a leading complexity and elegance. di Montalcino. Italian wine producer from the Marilisa and Leonardo began a All San Polo vineyards Valpolicella area, second project in have been planted at a high and Leonardo Tuscany with the density with Sangiovese and LoCascio, San Polo estate in Merlot grapes. In an effort to President, CEO 2007. This prestigious employ environmentally sound and Founder of property, located in and sustainable agriculture, natural Winebow, a leading the southeastern compost and nitrogen-rich plants have importer of fine part of Montalcino, replaced the chemical treatments in the Italian wines. overlooks the vineyards. A modern, underground It is with great enthusiasm and the Sant’Antimo Valley and Mount winery and cellar provide the best highest commitment to quality that Amiata. It consists of 52 acres, of environment and technology for Marilisa and Leonardo have crafted which 40 are dedicated to vines. Only state-of-the-art winemaking. top-class wines with unmistakable personality from two of Italy’s most POGGIO AL TESORO acclaimed wine regions. Vermentino Solosole IGT Toscana In 2001 Marilisa and Leonardo This unique Vermentino is named Solosole, just sun, because founded Poggio al Tesoro, a beautiful only the sun is allowed to influence its aromas: there is neither estate in the celebrated area of blending with other grapes nor wood aging to interfere with Bolgheri, a premiere appellation situated the pure flavors of the Vermentino grape. Solosole offers in the upper Tuscan Maremma. delicate aromas of acacia flowers, apricot and banana. The perfect quantity of sunlight The vibrant acidity frames the fruity flavors and lingers throughout the year, the proximity to pleasantly on the finish. the sea, and the uniqueness of SAN POLO Bolgheri’s terroir are reflected in the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG San Polo Brunello, made from 100% Sangiovese Grosso, is produced from estate vines in the Montalcino appellation that follow the strict, low yields mandated by the local Consorzio. This full-bodied, elegant Brunello offers aromas of violets and small red fruits, followed by subtle notes of coffee. The finish is long, with round and refined tannins surrounding the juicy texture. I MPORTED BY W INEBOW I NC., NEW Y ORK, NY • WINEBOW. COM I MPORTING AND D ISTRIBUTING P REMIUM W INES AND S PIRITS FOR M ORE T HAN 25 YEARS Heart of the Chef Constructing signature arches with Martin Bouley. Stone design by Claude Puaux. “Restaurants start when the guests sit down at the tables, and cooking can only be considered an art once the customer has finished the last bite,” Bouley has said. In contrast, David Bouley’s cooking utilizes fruit In that light, cooking is an art form, if not truly instead of fermentation. Based on the French art. Besides, like art, if cooking is not original, it is fundamentals of au fond, bouillon, fumet, and jus, nothing. Furthermore, if you can record or video- he seeks sweetness, sourness, and bitterness in tape a musician at one of his or her concerts and it fruits and herbs and finds additional umami in is considered art, why not consider cooking an art, tomato water. Bouley’s cuisine has healthy flavors when the chef works in front of you, live? gathered from nature, not from over time, although Herein lies the two elements of art I find in Bouley’s it personally took me a long while to identify and latest incarnation: one being the restaurant itself, appreciate this structure. as a container; the other, the food. The former is I ended up shuttling over to Bouley every month full of real artifacts, withstanding the test of time Compagnon (master craftsman) until it closed its doors in the summer of 1996. and providing shelter and context for the latter, the Jean-Claude Lecompte finishes During that period, I seldom, if ever, had the same fugitive art of cooking. beams sourced from France. menu twice, with the exception of the signature “Restaurants start when the guests sit down at the seafood in the herbal ocean-broth dish. tables, and cooking can only be considered an It was always delicious, but I often wondered if it art once the customer has finished the last bite,” wasn’t also art? Bouley has said. The inspiration for his art is his customers; they help him generate the improvised, But unlike art, which boasts transcendence as a unlisted chef’s menu every evening. They are the trait, cooking cannot exist beyond a specific time reason you will find him cooking each night in his and place. After all, you cannot preserve it. You restaurant. And he is the reason I ate at Bouley so can only consume it, which means it is destined to many years ago and hurry back today as well, as disappear. Perhaps the closest cooking has come if revisiting a favorite art collection that is on show to a true art form is in the ritual of the Japanese again at a local museum. tea ceremony that is based on the philosophy of ichi-go ichi-e, which, literally translated, means It has been written that man shall not live on bread “one time, one meeting.” The idea is that every alone.