Bouley - View this location on map You will eat well at Bouley, no question about that. There is serious talent in the kitchen, starting, of course, with the chef and owner, David Bouley. There is a readily discernible commitment to the best ingredients and the most effective methods of preparing them. The results include a terrific wild king salmon in a white truffle sauce and a slow-roasted black sea bass that is seasoned, surprisingly and deliciously, with a hint of vanilla. But many dishes lack the kind of excitement diners might well expect from Mr. Bouley, one of the most celebrated American chefs of the last quarter-century, and the service can be spotty. Mr. Bouley's grand plans for a vast culinary empire have never materialized, and his restaurant stands as the default centerpiece of his scaled-back ambitions. It feels like an echo, like embers: warm and inviting, but without a crucial flame. -- Frank Bruni (the hard to please) New York Times food critic. 120 W. Broadway, New York, New York Restaurant

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