The writer with family dining in Bouludsud Mediterranee
MY SUMMER in New York this year is pretty special with my grandchildren, all three of them, together. From the Philippines, my 13-year-old granddaughter Sophie flew in with mom Stephanie to spend the summer month of July with her cousins–13-year-old Silvian and six-year-old Sabrina, Patricia’s children, who live in New York.
Because we are continents apart, gatherings like this are rare and precious.
To celebrate the Fourth of July, my daughter Patricia, who works for celebrity chef Daniel Boulud, made lunch reservations at Boulud Sud Mediterranee, which is famous for its vibrant Mediterranean-inspired cuisine featuring flavors from the entire Mediterranean region from the shores of France to the coast of North Africa and beyond.
A San Francisco-based Cebuano friend, Mutuc Derecho, who flew in for the Independence Day weekend, joined us.
Boulud Sud Mediterranee is newest of the six restaurants of Chef Daniel located across the world famous Lincoln Center in the Upper Westside.
Patricia was happy to see the restaurant devoid of the usual clamorous guests with majority of New Yorkers enjoying the long weekend out of town.
The lunch turned out to be a treasure trove of flavors, discovering an entirely interesting cuisine using ingredients and methods that can fascinate foodies.
For openers, we were served a variety of Mediterranean Mezze — Babaganoush, Spicy Moroccan Hummus, Taramusalata (Greek-Turkish fish roe dip) and Muhammara (red pepper dip originally from Syria and found in Levantine and Turkish cuisines), served with Lavash (Armenian thin unleavened flat bread) and Dill Potato Chips.
Sparkling white wine was poured into our wine flutes that went perfectly well with the Mezze—all compliments of the GM.
There were six of us so we ordered different dishes. Our Captain, Harold Ruiz, a very friendly Guatemalan, explained the choices we made.
Sophie chose Daniel Boulud Chicken Tagine, an elegant North African stew steeped in flavors of cinnamon and coriander, turmeric, ginger and cardamom combined with tomatoes, saffron, cauliflower and finished with preserved lemons and olives cooked in a tagine, historically a North African dish named after its earthen jar in which it is cooked.
It was served with Moroccan couscous. Mutuc had Tunisian Brik, a spiced vegetable pastry (filo was used) with confit tuna, capers, Gruyére and local hen egg.
Silvian enjoyed the Pimenton Spiced Bavette Steak with patatas bravas, Swiss chard and garlic aioli. Light eater Stephanie settled for the Salad Nicoise with seared yellow fin tuna, haricot ver and red wine dressing. Patricia relished the Za-atar Grilled Mediterranean Sea Bass on a bed of garbanzo beans, pistachio and green tahini. Za-atar is a condiment made from dried herbs mixed with sesame seeds.
I had Harissa Lamb Burger with eggplant, saganaki (Greek fried cheese) and polenta fries. Harissa is Tunisian hot chili pepper paste.
Harissa Lamb Burger with eggplant saganaki, polenta fries
Desserts were fabulous creations of Tunisian Executive Pastry Chef Ghaya Oliveria. Her signature Grapefuit Givré is almost like a dream that left us speechless with delight. Givré means “frost” in French. Uncovering the glorious layers of goodness in this grapefruit sorbet is like digging gems.
The frozen half grapefruit peel filled with sorbet is topped by halva floss, a crispy tuile covers the layer of fresh fruit foam, and chewy loukom (rose candy) buried in the grapefruit sorbet.
A parade of desserts followed but the most remarkable was the mesmerizing Mocha Cube.
