SADLY, DBGB IS NOW CLOSED.
It seemed to me that the name DBGB refers to the restaurant’s East Village location. It’s just down the street from where the Ramones and the Misfits cemented punk rock into the New York consciousness. Of course, that happened at CBGB, which unfortunately no longer exists on Bowery. But if you pay attention walking up the street, you could probably still hear some head bopping and smell some dried beer.
But none of those happen at DBGB Kitchen & Bar, which leads me to believe that the similar names are either a coincidence or a strange nod to the history of the block.
It’s almost a little sad to think about it in that way because I find the cleaned up, gentrified version of the -BGB family to be a statement on the dumbing down of the neighborhood. Sure, DBGB is fancy and hip but it doesn’t seem to have the character or personality that CBGB did.
Listen to me acting like I spent some rough time in the East Village in the ’70’s and ’80’s. I was barely allowed to watch R-Rated movies back then. But I find the name similarity to be a bit of an anachronism. Really, what do these two places have to do with each other?
Maybe the connecting thing here is beer. CBGB was the diviest of dive bars (you can bet Bud or PBR was their biggest seller). Daniel Boulud’s gastropub has an impressive selection of craft beers and the bartenders offered me a taste of any draft beer I inquired about. I should have just kept asking questions and I might not have had to actually order a beer. By the time I picked this German smoked beer, I was already well on my way to tipsiness.
I could have spent the evening trying all the beers, but I had to get to the list item. There are more than a dozen variations of sausages with different ethnic flavors. Time Out mentions the Beaujolaise, which has French influences and seemed to be one of the more conservative. Just to spice things up, we also ordered the more unusual Thai sausage (with lemongrass, chili, and green papaya).
I found the beaujolaise to be a bit chewy. There were big pieces of mushrooms and bacon in the casing. They certainly added flavor, but I was a little disappointed by the texture. The chewy additions would fall out of the casing and I found the experience to be more difficult than I anticipate with a sausage. The red wine added a little sweetness (and color) and the bed of lentils were hearty and confirmed the dish to be in the world of rustic soul warmers.
I think I did prefer the Thai sausage, with its balanced flavors (the sweet green papaya salad underneath cooled the spiciness of the pork). These smaller and less conventional sausages were served with a delicious garnish of long grain rice and had a more substantial pop.
DBGB actually stands for Daniel Boulud Good Burger. And I suppose DBGB is technically the famous chef’s burger joint (there are 3 gut bomb possibilities), but from my perspective (we sat at the bar), it seemed like this place was all about the sausage and beer. DBSB? Now I’m not sure if it’s a sausage bar or an investment bank company.
Would DBGB’s Beaujolaise Sausage make my Top 100 of the year? A 6 out of 10 because it was definitely interesting and had some good flavors, yet I got hung up with the texture and overload of ingredients inside the casing.
