Daniel Boulud

Daniel Boulud born 1955 in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, a small village outside Lyon, is a French chef and restaurateur,now based in New York, with restaurants in New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, London, and Singapore. He is best known for  Daniel , his eponymous, Michelin 2-star restaurant in New York City.

 Boulud trained under some of France’s greatest chefs in Lyons, the city that’s considered the heart of French cuisine and where Paul Bocuse and many other famed French chefs built their legends. Boulud first entered the kitchen at only 14 years old, and a year later, he was named a finalist for best culinary apprentice in France. From there,he cookedk cooking at three different three-Michelin-starred restaurants before taking an appointment that would bring him to the United States in 191.

When Boulud first arrived stateside in 1981, he figured he’d only stick around for a couple of years to finish his stint in Washington D.C. as a private chef for an ambassador. But a year later, he headed up to New York and took a job at the Polo Lounge, working alongside Thomas Keller; the city has remained his home ever since.

His American star turn happened after he took the helm as executive chef at the Upper East Side French restaurant Le Cirque. The place had been a hot spot, but the food had lagged the scene. Boulud changed that, turning it into a restaurant worthy of a four-star review from the  New York Times  and eventually earning him a James Beard Award for Best Chef in America.

He opening his flagship fine-dining restaurant Daniel in 1993. The restaurant won raves for the way in which he elevated the French country cooking he grew up on. From there his empire grew, opening Café Boulud, Bar Boulud, DB Bistro Moderne, Boulud Sud, Epicerie Boulud, and spreading to Boston, London, Miami, Montreal, D.C., Toronto, Palm Beach, and Singapore. At DB Moderne, he practically created the gourmet burger when he mixed sirloin with braised short ribs and then added foie gras and black truffle, another example of his taking a humble favourite and giving it a luxurious edge.

Daniel Boulud has won James Beard Awards for outstanding service, outstanding restaurateur, and outstanding restaurant. In 2015, he won the lifetime achievement award from the group that creates the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, and, in 2017 he helped the US team win the much coveted Bocuse d’Or.

SIGNATURE RECIPES

• Crab with tart green apple and celery
• Guinea fowl terrine with foie gras and pickled porcini mushrooms
• Paupiettes of seabass with Lyonnais potatoes, baked leeks and red wine sauce Red wine braised short rib and foie gras burger
• Madeleines as petits fours