Sneak Peek: NYC's DBGB

If you were looking for a major NYC chef last night you would have found them all behind the still-under-construction door at Daniel Boulud’s super-deluxe preview party for DBGB Kitchen and Bar. The place was packed with almost every professional cook you could think of; it was like a chef petting zoo. Standing near the open kitchen, snacking on glazed lamb ribs: Bobby Flay, Eleven Madison Park’s Daniel Humm, Marcus Samuelsson, Locanda Verde’s Andrew Carmellini, Hearth's Marco Canora, pastry god Johnny Iuzzini. Sitting at tables, eating the giant, steaming hot Grand Marnier soufflés: Spotted Pig’s April Bloomfield and Minetta Tavern’s Riad Nasr. (Why weren't more chefs sitting? All the lazy food writers snagged the seats.) Most talked-about dish: the Piggie Burger, topped with Daisy May’s BBQ—the only non-house-made item in the restaurant. Best moment: Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s presentation of a roasting pan to Daniel. (The people who have gifted pots and pans to Daniel range from three-star chefs Pierre Gagnaire and Georges Blanc to Jacques Pépin and Anthony Bourdain.) JGV claimed that the pan had been home to hundreds if not thousands of chickens, though an uncharitable chef thought it had been purchased at a nearby Bowery restaurant-kitchen supply store hours before.