Fruits de mers de DBGB.
In Senegal, you can get an order of raw sea urchins, a dozen oysters, a dozen mussels, an order of cockles and a plate of french fries (for a little starchy foundation) for twenty dollars. That was not a typo, I said twenty. 2-0.
As such, I ate quite a bit of fresh-out-of-the-ocean seafood on a recent sabbatical to heaven in West Africa and I developed a taste for it. The kind of taste for something that makes you crave it when you least expect it. When you seem least likely to say to yourself, “damn, I need a plate of cockles,” it hits you.
Then I moved to NYC, where fulfillment of this nicotine-level-intense craving for fresh seafood will cost you an arm, a leg and your first-born child.
But this week I received not one, but two visits from les dieus des fruits de mers. The first in the form of a dozen fresh, light assorted oysters at Balthazar (a post unto itself) and tonight, in the form of…
Red curry mussels.
This is DBGB Kitchen and Bar on Bowery, just off Houston on 1st.
It is impossible for me to even think, let alone say the name without also thinking “BCBG” and or “Heebie Jeebie,” but that’s neither here nor there. It was fantastic. This, again, was tonight’s delight.
And delight they were. The sauce was the perfect amount of spice and curry with thai basil and diced tomatoes. I’m no food critic, but my mouth waters again just thinking about it. I don’t even think I noticed anyone else’s food at the table; I was enthralled with my own.
The ambience is fantastic and uncategorizable and the menu diverse and interesting…
… so long as you eat meat. It is literally impossible to order vegetarian without changing the menu, presenting a challenge to one of my comrades. But otherwise, a truly delicious dinner. Oh, and I started with the “Chop Chop Salad,” comprising a light blend of greens, avocado, peppers, grapefruit, carrot and another one of my new food indulgences, ginger-sesame dressing.
Topped off with a fruity, spicy red… I smack my lips to this. The next time I’m reaching for a nicotine seafood patch, I know I can turn to DBGB to hit the spot.
Although that burger looked damn good…
