In 1973, CBGB opened, giving punk its first home. In 2007, the club closed but now chef Daniel Boulud is opening DBGB, a French restaurant, a few doors down. Is paté the new punk rock?

Daniel Boulud is an adorable elf from Lyon, France, who has opened some of the best French restaurants in New York City and arguably the world including Daniel, Bar Boulud, Cafe Boulud and DB Bistro Moderne. But his latest expansion is downtown, both in terms of prices and vibe. It's at 299, a few doors from the old CBGBs space (315) which is now depressingly a John Varvatos store. My gut reaction was "Fuck, there goes the Bowery and following it is any remnant of the gritty New York City I love!" But then I realized I'd been having that allergic reaction automatically for years and years and furthermore, look at the Bowery. There's a Whole Foods on it for the love of God and also the Bowery Hotel and any Stephen Crane and Dead Rabbits remnants of the strip have long faded. And then, there's also the point that actually: DBGB is kind of punk.

According to a recent and very long New York Times profile on Mr. Boulud now is the absolute worst time to open a restaurant.

Does the word ‘bloodbath' meaning anything to you?" asks Clark Wolf, a Manhattan restaurant consultant. "The fact is that if you built your restaurant business on all these Wall Street guys getting ridiculous bonuses selling stuff that turned out to be worth nothing, your business is in trouble."

But Daniel doesn't give a shit. He's opening a restaurant anyway and he's serving veal tongue sauce gribiche for $12 and, like the lyrics to a Ramones song, you might not understand what it is but you'll still pay for it and love it.

Also, whereas GG Allin would roll around on glass and piss as a method of reaching ecstatic excess, DB is topping a burger with Daisy May's pulled pork, jalapeno mayo, lettuce, on a cheddar-cornbread bun with mustard vinegar slaw and calling it The Piggie and that is his way of getting at Allin's fuck you momentum.
And the corollary of excess, hubris, also has something of punk rock to it and here, DB is doing well. According to the Times, DBGB has to clear $4.5 million a year, which would be hard in good times and trebly so in bad ones. It also might be more than CBGB's ever made in its entire history.

In conclusion, punk died a while ago. And it can't be such a bad thing that it's latest replacement is delicious and made out of headcheese.