Hospitality Design - September 2020 - 37

perspectives interviews
By Alia Akkam, Alissa Ponchione, and Will Speros

AROUND THE TABLE

Chefs and restaurateurs reflect on the power of food and
community in today's new reality

Photos by HELGE KIRCHBERGER and ERIC LAIGNEL

Daniel Boulud

Daniel in New York by Tihany Design
evokes an Old World European charm

For the last 22 years, chef Daniel Boulud has hosted Sunday Supper,
a benefit dinner at his flagship New York restaurant Daniel, that
raises money for Citymeals on Wheels. As co-president of the
board of directors, Boulud was touched during the pandemic to
see a flurry of laid-off workers volunteer with the organization that
delivers meals to older homebound residents across New York's five
boroughs. "I'm so thankful to all of those who felt they had some
spare time to give to the community," he says.
Raised on a farm outside Lyon, France, cooking was an escape
for Boulud. "Dirty fingers, dirty shoes all the time. That was not my
thing," he recalls. "Food was the subject of life," noting his career
kicked off at age 14 when a contessa in his village secured him
an apprenticeship at Nandron in Lyon. Throughout the 1970s, he
worked in the kitchens of French chefs Georges Blanc, Roger Vergé,
and Michel Guérard, before moving to Copenhagen, Washington,
DC, and finally, in 1982, New York to helm the kitchen at the Polo
Lounge in the Westbury Hotel. An executive chef position at Le
Cirque followed, where in between 16-hour shifts, he dreamed of
opening his own restaurant. "It took me six years because when you
don't have the money, you have to make [a name for] yourself to have
people trust you to give you money," he says.
His namesake fine dining restaurant Daniel debuted in 1993
and was the first step in establishing his food empire, which now
includes Café Boulud, Bar Boulud, Boulud Sud, db Bistro Moderne,
and Épicerie Boulud, some of which have also expanded to Miami,
London, and Singapore. A yet-to-be-revealed restaurant inside the
sustainable New York skyscraper One Vanderbilt is on the boards,
as is Brasserie Boulud at the Sofitel Dubai Wafi. His success stems
from his attention to detail, on everything from design to operations.
"My staff can testify to it: I'm hard to please," he says. "But as long as
I'm hard to please, we make the effort to make the customer happy."
Today, Boulud is one of the most beloved restaurateurs in the
industry, as much for his contributions and his mentorship as his
cooking. At the height of New York's COVID-19 crisis, for example,
Boulud and his staff prepared meals for both local hospitals and
World Central Kitchen. With his restaurants forced to shutter, he
also launched Daniel Boulud Kitchen, with meals available for
curbside pickup. "I don't take anything for granted," he says. "In the
low, we have to push high, and in the high, we have to make sure we
don't take advantage of [our ambitions]."
With a new outdoor terrace at Daniel, Boulud is eager to
reunite with the team "and feel that sense of power together," he
says. The future of restaurants might need to be reimagined, but
what "we're not going to lose in this," Boulud assures, "is our talent,
our passion, and our commitment."

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