Originally from Lyon, France, Boulud was raised on a farm outside the city, but his interest in culinary matters flourished early. As young as 15, he was already showing his cooking abilities, reaching the finals of a national competition for Best Culinary Apprentice. Boulud sought out the experience of the best culinary talent in France at the time to furnish his education, masters such as Roger Vergé, Georges Blanc, and Michel Guérard. Stints at The Plaza Hotel and Les Étoiles, in Copenhagen preceded Boulud’s decision to move to the US to work as a private chef with the European Commission in Washington DC.
In 1982 Boulud took the fateful decision to move to New York City, where he started working as Chef-Adjoint at the Polo Lounge in The Westbury Hotel on the Upper East Side. Another of the chefs working alongside him was a young American called Thomas Keller. Boulud’s star was most definitely on the rise at this point and when he joined the legendary Italian restaurant Le Cirque as Executive Chef, a four-star review in The New York Times established his reputation as a chef of exceptional talent. Food & Wine included Boulud on their Best New Chefs list and the James Beard Foundation recognized his work at Le Cirque with the award for Best Chef in America in 1992. It was to be the first in a six-strong career success of awards by the JBF.
Restaurants
Daniel Boulud has a global presence with 12 establishments in New York, including his flagship restaurant Daniel. He also has restaurants in Miami, Singapore, Dubai, and Montreal, among others. With two Michelin stars, Daniel is renowned for its high-level and refined dining experience. Operating at the pinnacle of sophisticated gastronomy, Boulud manages to also make classic French fine dining accessible to all through more casual concepts and bars that serve exceptional, considered dishes.
Recognized for their quality of cuisine and service, Boulud’s businesses offer high standards of excellence and winning formulas that keep him at the top of the global fine-dining scene. With awards from the likes of the James Beard Foundation and a permanent residence on prestigious restaurant lists like those from The New York Times, La Liste, and Zagat, Boulud's name has become synonymous with what fine dining should be.
Recipes and dishes
Boulud’s cuisine is firmly rooted in his classic training and his French identity, and yet he is unafraid to play with tradition and turn it on its head. He has contributed significantly to the modern definition of American fine dining, willing to take on American classics and reinvent them. A perfect example is his Original DB Burger, a response to a 1999 protest to the opening of a McDonald’s franchise in the small town of Millau, France. Boulud decided to bring the best of French and American traditions together and to elevate the burger, which was at the time, the most expensive burger in the world and remains on the Daniel menu to this day. A glance at Boulud's most iconic dishes shows how he relies on the quality of seasonal ingredients with respectful manipulation according to the French culinary tradition like his crab with tart green apple and celery, guinea fowl terrine with foie gras and pickled porcini mushrooms, or his paupiettes of seabass with Lyonnais potatoes, baked leeks and red wine sauce, or red-wine-braised short rib and foie gras burger.
