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The curtain rose late on Brasserie Boulud across from Lincoln Center, but the spectacular show is worth the wait.
Daniel Boulud’s 225-seat successor to his cherished Bar Boulud and Boulud Sud at 1900 Broadway took months longer to open than planned. Boulud’s Dinex Group team needed the time for construction after the brasserie’s dated predecessors closed in June 2025.
“This was a creation, not a renovation,” Boulud told me.
It required a lot of labor as well as shrinking the grab-and-go Epicerie that stood between the two old eateries and relocating it to the side. Then there was the tortuous permit process involving a slew of city agencies. The end result beautifully restores the famous restaurant row facing the Lincoln Center plaza, which also includes Cafe Fiorello and The Smith.
The new brasserie’s uncompromisingly traditional French menu whips the pâtés off obscure departures that lesser French chefs indulge in to establish their “creative” creds. Boulud and executive chef Christina D’Angelo, a 2-year Dinex veteran, pull it off not by adding modern spins, but through attention to detail to create depths of flavor that do classic dishes justice.
Guests of the Metropolitan Opera, the Philharmonic and other performing arts companies across the street — and ordinary Upper West Siders — can enjoy antique-sounding but crowd-pleasing dishes like escargots persillade and coq au vin without shame.
As at any brasserie worthy of its name, the menu includes a something-for-everyone array of meat and seafood, caviar and smoked fish, a shellfish tower, pâté and mousse from charcuterie chef Arthur Dehaine, pasta, steak frites and, soon, seasonal monthly specials.
Early standouts include plump boudin blanc, richly sauced and garlicky pork and veal sausage ($25) made by Dehaine, and Moroccan-style Merguez lamb and beef sausage attended by harissa-spiced chickpea spinach — a whiff of the old Boulud Sud ($25).
Not to miss is sensuously composed lobster soufflé ($35), a luxuriant assemblage of lobster ringed by creamy lobster mousse made with shrimp, pike, and spices. Tomato- and white-wine based sauce l’Americaine is just the thing for cold nights to come.
D’Angelo brings sparkle as well to duck breast a l’orange ($37), an old warhorse rejuvenated by a flavor mosaic of orange, honey, oregano and pink peppercorn. The meat’s as tender as the glaze is crisp. Flatiron steak, the only savory disappointment among dozens of dishes we tried, has already been yanked.
Finish with pastry chef’s Katalina Diaz’s tarte tatin, a thrill of Honeycrisp apples pan-roasted to sweet-tooth heaven with sugary maple syrup and Calvados wrapped in house-made puff pastry.
Adding to the deliciousness, Brasserie Boulud’s prices are remarkably reasonable in a year of hyper inflation. The juicy-oozy “burger classique” with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and cornichon mayo, for example, is $25 compared to the $26 “burger royale” at rowdy and crowded The Smith down the block.
The crowd is an array of affluent Manhattanites — Boulud fanatics, culture vultures, real estate power-players and hungry locals better dressed than the pasta-gulpers at next-door Fiorello’s. Stylish types head for the moody, 40-seat, no-reservations lounge adjacent to the main room called Bar Viv — named for the late Vivian Milstein, a major financial supporter of Lincoln Center who was building owner Philip Milstein’s mom.
“It’s an adult bar, no children, no dogs,” Boulud chuckled.
Designed by the everywhere-at-once Rockwell Group, the scene flows gracefully past a long, 25-seat zinc-topped oval bar through a sea of leather booths, banquettes and angled mirrors beneath glowing chandeliers.
Brasserie Boulud is finding its sea legs after just two weeks — not surprising for a restaurant so large and complex. Lunch won’t be available until November and outdoor seating not until spring. Boulud said other changes might be in the offing “based on sales,” such as adding a prix-fixe option to a menu that’s currently all a la carte.
Hours, too, are under review. The place is closed Mondays. Last orders are now taken until 11 p.m. weeknights and 11:30 on Saturday.
But Brasserie Boulud has already brought the magic back to the Lincoln Center dining scene. Encore, maestro.