Daniel Boulud is a star chef, food connoisseur and multi-faceted restaurateur devoted to fine cuisine. From his three Michelin star flagship restaurant Daniel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Daniel Boulud runs an international gourmet empire with a number of additional branches in the US, plus outposts in Canada, Asia and Europe. Inspired by his French origins, Daniel Boulud is known for his light haute cuisine fare that is influenced by American cooking and seasonal accents.
Daniel Boulud, who has lived in the US for more than three decades, has his own cooking show, has published seven cookbooks, and operates eight restaurants in New York and others in Miami and Palm Beach. In the US he is both a celebrity and a leading authority on cooking in general. The various international awards Daniel Boulud has won, plus his restaurants in Toronto, Montreal, Singapore, Beijing and London, have earned him international fame.
In the tradition of French master chefs
Daniel Boulud was raised near Lyon, itself a centre of fine cuisine with numerous award-winning restaurants, on his family farm in the village of Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu. Daniel Boulud began his chef training at the tender age of 14, and only a year later was a finalist in a competition for the most promising young French chefs.
Daniel Boulud has worked under a number of star chefs, including Georges Blanc, Roger Vergé and Michel Guérard; early in his career he had the privilege of working under Paul Bocuse, who is considered one of the top chefs of the 20th century.
The American dream
Having moved to the US in the early 1980s, Daniel Boulud’s first job was as executive chef for the European Commission in Washington D.C. He then moved to New York, where he became Executive Chef Le Régence, at the Plaza-Athénée Hôtel, and then at the renowned French restaurant Le Cirque in 1986. Under his able guidance, the establishment received top distinctions, and Daniel Boulud soon emerged as a star chef. And so the time was ripe for him to make his own culinary dreams come true.
In 1993, Daniel Boulud opened his first restaurant, Daniel, the cornerstone of what was to become an international gourmet empire. Shortly after Daniel opened, the International Herald Tribune named it one of the world’s top ten restaurants. Numerous distinctions soon followed, among them six top awards from the James Beard Foundation, Gourmet magazine’s Top Table Award and three stars from the Michelin guide, as well as The New York Times’ coveted four star rating.
Restaurant Daniel is a Relais Gourmand member of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux association and is also included in Traditions & Qualité’s – Les Grandes Tables du Monde. Daniel Boulud has also received personal accolades for his accomplishments, being named a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2006 for his contributions to French culture, and since 2008 has been a board member of the Bocuse d’Or Foundation USA.
International presence, with perfection down to the last detail
In order for Daniel Boulud’s 15 restaurants around the world to meet his uncompromising standards of excellent service, quality ingredients and consistent cuisine, a tightly run ship and a highly capable team are indispensable. Daniel Boulud and his management team, the Dinex Group, supervise a worldwide team comprised of over 1,200 dedicated individuals, who carry out their daily tasks precisely according to the corporate team’s instructions.
An extremely well-organised schedule, phone and video conferences, and the internet enable the management team to be virtually omnipresent at all of the various establishments. Although Daniel Boulud travels often, he is frequently to be found at Daniel, where he supervises the restaurant from a glassed-in skybox office that gives him a bird’s eye view of his staff’s activities and enables him to take part in the creative process. Daniel Boulud also keeps in constant touch with the managers of his other establishments and visits them regularly.
“Despite my many international obligations, New York has long since become my home. It is here that I have accomplished everything and with Daniel realized my life’s dream,” says Daniel Boulud, commenting on the vibrant metropolis that is a constant source of inspiration to him.
About Gaggenau
Gaggenau is a manufacturer of high-quality home appliances and acknowledged
as an innovation leader in design and technology “Made in Germany”. The company, with a history that goes back over more than 330 years, has revolutionised the domestic kitchen over and over again with its internationally acclaimed products.
Gaggenau’s success is founded on technological innovation and a clear design language combined with high functionality. Gaggenau has been a subsidiary of BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH in Munich since 1995 and is currently represented in more than 50 countries with flagship showrooms in major cities around the world. In 2012, Gaggenau reached a turnover of more than 180 million euros.
For more information, visit www.gaggenau.com.
