Experts' Expert: Über–Chef Daniel Boulud on the best cheap eats in New York

Maybe you were so bedazzled by the maestro's aura when you saw him last week at Macy's that you forgot to ask where's a good place to get a dog in Gotham.

Not to worry — the Wall Street Journal's Katy McGlaughlin tracked him down and popped the question.

Boulud's five favorite cheap, fast and delicious Manhattan food stops are noted in McLaughlin's story in today's paper; the article follows.

Tell you what: If I'm in New York today I'm off with this list for a great day of food fun.

Chef's Choice

Daniel Boulud on his favorite cheap eats in New York

Daniel Boulud, chef and owner of restaurants including Manhattan's haute-cuisine Daniel and DB Bistro Moderne (home of a $69 hamburger stuffed with foie gras and fresh truffles), doesn't do downscale. But when he's off the job, the French chef lays off the caviar. "Not that I live on junk food, but I like cheap eats," he says. In Paris, he goes for the bistro scene -- the "best and cheapest" of which is Le Comptoir in the Latin Quarter, where the chef's choice of five courses costs about $47. As holiday visitors from around the country sweep into New York, where fine-dining costs can be exorbitant, we asked him to pick some places where people can stay on budget but still get great, authentic food.

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F&B Güdtfood
gudtfood.com
269 W. 23rd St., 646-486-4441

The restaurant "has hot dogs from all over the world. They have the Great Dane, exactly what they have in Denmark [$3.50]. They are a little slim and long, with sweet relish, chopped crispy onions and Danish mustard."

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Joe's Shanghai
joeshanghairestaurant.com
9 Pell Street, 212-233-8888
24 W. 56th St., 212-333-3868

The crab and pork soup dumplings (which contain savory broth as well as stuffing) have a "very good crab stock; the crab flavor is almost refined as French cuisine. These are some of the best," even counting restaurants in Hong Kong and Beijing. At Pell Street in Chinatown, $6.25 for eight dumplings; at 56th Street, $8.25 for six dumplings.

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Via Quadronno
viaquadronno.com
25 E. 73rd St., 212-650-9880

It has "a very interesting tiramisu. They serve the biscuit, the coffee," and the mascarpone cream, "and you make your own little mix" ($14 for two people). The panini are also good: "I like the mortadella panini, with a little mustard" ($6.50).

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Daisy May's Barbecue U.S.A.
daisymaybbq.com
623 11th Ave., 212-977-1500

Mostly takeout and delivery, with some limited seating. Mr. Boulud's former protégé, Adam Perry Lang, who worked at Daniel as a line cook, owns the place. "I was very proud to see a chef who found his muse -- that's important." Mr. Boulud likes the ribs ($9.50), the greens ($7 for a medium creamed spinach) and cornbread ($2).

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Franny's
frannysbrooklyn.com
295 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, 718-230-0221

"For me, a good pizza is a blend of a crispy and lightly chewy crust, wide and thinner rather than shorter and thicker. I like the clam pizza," he says, calling it "briny, garlicky, herbal, with a bit of olive oil" ($15).

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Boulud is everywhere: on November 30 the New York Times had a front page Dining section story with a photo of Boulud and his krew preparing a bespoke private meal in the home of a Manhattan couple for a small group of friends invited to a no–limits tenth anniversary celebration.

Turns out that if you've got the cash, Boulud — or almost any world–class chef — will happily stop by with their knives and stuff to prepare you the meal of a lifetime.

That's cash with a boldface capital $.