Daniel Boulud
Daniel
New York
http://www.danielnyc.com
Daniel Boulud´s career as a chef follows a family tradition. His grandfather started a small cafe in southeastern France nearly a century ago, and Boulud grew up on a nearby farm. At the age of fourteen, Boulud began his career in food with an apprenticeship at Nandro, a Michelin two-star restaurant in Lyons. He then worked with a constellation of Michelin-starred chefs, including Georges Blanc, Roger Verge, and Michel Guerard, and in Copenhagen at Denmark´s highest-rated restaurant, Les Etoiles.
In the 1980s, Boulud moved to New York, first to become chef at the Westbury Hotel and then at the Plaza Athenee Hotel, where he opened and brought prominence to its restaurant, Le Regence.
In 1986, Boulud became executive chef at the legendary Le Cirque, which has been chosen regularly by the international press as one of the country´s best restaurants. Under Boulud´s command, Le Cirque was awarded four stars by the New York Times in 1987 and again in 1992.
The next step in a career of superlatives was to open his own restaurant. Restaurant Daniel, on East 76th Street, is in the space formerly occupied by Les Pleiades, one of the chic New York French restaurants in the 1970s. Following a ten-month renovation during which the interior was transformed to a lively young setting with European accents and artwork on loan from neighboring galleries. Daniel opened in 1993.
Contemporary French cuisine is Boulud´s strong suit. He uses the freshest and highest-quality ingredients for a menu based on seasonal dishes, such as summer´s Warm Salad of Asparagus and Artichokes. More than two hundred of his recipes and his artful food styling are featured in the cookbook he published, Cooking with Daniel Boulud (Random House, 1993). And his tribe doth increase ‚Äî Café Boulud in New York, Café Boulud in Palm Beach, Daniel Boulud Brassierie, and DB Bistro Moderne have been created. There´s even a store, for caviar, Scottish salmon, his newest book ‚“Braise,‚” and more.
