David Bouley remakes the Tribeca space that formerly housed Danube as middlebrow brasserie.

by Josh Ozersky

In Short
David Bouley's Danube had a deserved reputation as one of the most romantic and beautiful rooms in the city, adorned as it was with Klimt murals and a motif suggestive of Austro-Hungarian opulence. Danube is gone, but the room is still there--only now it's housing a more modest brasserie concept. Secession has a big, not especially inventive menu loaded with bistro classics like steak frites, roast duck, and various risotti, along with a selection of high end charcuterie, some pastas, and what seems like dozens of other options. The service is attentive but not to be confused with what it was in years past. The crowds of well-heeled but thrifty Tribeca locals don't seem to mind, however.