INDULGE: TASTE Bull Run
NEW YORK
Chef Herb Wilson Takes the Bull by the Horns
By Andre J Durall
In lower Manhattan’s financial district, finding a place to sit down for a proper meal is no easy task. This is a utilitarian neighborhood of office buildings and white-collar worker bees who report to their jobs by 9 a.m., grab lunch by 12, and vacate en masse when the clock hits 6. But, for those blue-suited denizens who do their best business over steak and red wine, there’s Bull Run Restaurant.
With its straight-backed cherrywood chairs, white cotton tablecloths and graying regulars, this lunchtime destination (just blocks from Ground Zero) seems austere at first. Then executive chef Herb Wilson defies the atmosphere by creating scrumptious looking plates in Bull Run’s exposed kitchen.
Since he started there over four years ago, this noted purveyor of French, contemporary American and Caribbean cuisine has injected the restaurant’s steakhouse fare with his subversive whimsy. Instead of plain old shrimp cocktail, the forty-something New York City native serves a lobster-mango spring roll with a chili mayonnaise and spicy peanut sauce ($14). However, with offerings like Bull Run’s 12-oz. Herford beef burger ($15) and Certified Black Angus New York strip steak ($34), Wilson maintains his irreverent approach to fine dining. “A lot of chefs think they’re above making burgers. They take themselves too seriously,” he declares. “My theory is we’re here to make the customer happy. We’re not doing brain surgery. We’re cooking food.” Another reason customers should be happy, or at least never bored, is because Wilson overhauls Bull Run’s menu every season. “Basically we’re cooking what’s on the market,” he says. “In the summer, it’s watermelon and lots of fish. For fall, it’s apples and heartier dishes like a pecan-mustard chicken breast with a bourbon sweet potato puree.” Hmm, sounds like Bull Run just gave food lovers a reason to go downtown.
Bull Run Restaurant
52 William St.
New York, NY. 10005
212.859.2200
