Daniel Boulud Opens His First West Coast Restaurant in Beverly Hills – The Hollywood Reporter

Chef Daniel Boulud may have been born in France, but he is a long-time New Yorker, opening his two-Michelin-star Daniel Restaurant there in 1993. “I have lived in New York City longer than I have lived. in France,” said celebrity chef, whose culinary empire includes restaurants in Toronto, Dubai, Washington, DC, Singapore, Bahamas, Palm Beach, Miami, Massachusetts, and Montreal.

But Boulud had never opened a restaurant on the West Coast before. That will change next year when he launches a location in Southern California at Mandarin Oriental Residences, currently under construction and due to open in late 2022. Located at 9200 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, the project The 323,000-square-foot luxury condominium from real estate developer SHVO will include a library, lounge, meeting space, rooftop swimming pool, fitness and wellness center, and areas Indoor-outdoor area for yoga and meditation. The property will have 54 mansions, some of which will have ornamental gardens inside.

All of those amenities will be exclusive to condo owners, who will also have access to Boulud’s on-site food service available by the pool or delivered to their home.

However, the chef will also create an unnamed restaurant on the ground floor of the Mandarin Oriental project that will be open to the public.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Boulud describes the look of his under-construction restaurant: “There will be a beautiful garden with two areas at the front entrance, like a hidden garden. I think the restaurant will be intimate. It [won’t] looks feminine or masculine but it has a really soft style. It won’t feel boring,” he said.

The vibe, he added, will be “casual chic. That would be I think a great, fresh place – comfortable and sophisticated at the same time. The restaurant will be designed by artist and designer Marc Ange of Studio Ange, who has created everything from carriage interiors for the Orient Express to perfume bottles for Christian Louboutin and Jean Paul Gaultier.

The restaurant’s cuisine will “bring a touch of French New York to LA,” says Boulud. I won’t make a bowl of three with just blood sausage inside but I will make it possible for my friends who are foodies, that really like the old French classics. But no, I want to make sure that my culinary DNA is French but also with a lot of inspiration arising from my experience here in the US. On top of that, Boulud wanted to strike a balance with the ‘LA lifestyle – you know people love to eat good food but they also like it to fit their lifestyle’. And he’s also excited to open a restaurant in a city known for its fresh produce. “In LA, the ingredients are exquisite. It’s vegetable heaven,” he said. The wine program will feature both France and California.

Boulud recalls that he first visited Los Angeles in 1981, the same year that Wolfgang Puck, who would later become close friends, published his first cookbook, Modern French cooking for an American kitchen. “I’m on tour in California and I’ve just arrived in the US, I’ve visited San Francisco and LA and of course Disneyland,” Boulud said.

“Of course, over the years I have returned to LA many times for charity events but also to meet friends and spend time in different parts of LA, I have many friends in LA. there. I have a family that lives there. About a decade ago, I did a program called After Hours with Daniel Boulud and I spent two weeks in LA cooking at many of my friends’ restaurants like Father’s Office or of course [Mozza’s] Nancy Silverton and I had so much fun. I feel as though if I had never moved to New York I would have moved to LA. ”

Boulud had previously floated the idea of ​​opening a restaurant in LA years ago at the Sunset Tower on the Sunset Strip. “[Hotelier] Jeff Klein used to be a partner at the City Club hotel in New York,” said Boulud, “and when he took over Sunset Tower, we talked, “Oh, that would be a great idea if you opened it up here.” there.” But I was not ready. ”

He also told his long-time friend Puck that “if you go to New York, I will go to LA one day. So I go a little behind because he opened Four Seasons about four or five years ago in New York,” he said.

When this reporter noted to the chef that no LA restaurant had yet earned three Michelin stars — while San Francisco has three that have — Boulud said: “I wanted to create a great restaurant. for LA but don’t count me carrying three stars. I leave it to some very good and talented young chefs out there who deserve what they do. I think LA definitely deserves better recognition for their star chefs as there is so much great talent in LA and great trends and movements in the culinary world started in LA.”

And where does Boulud like to eat while he’s in LA? Spago tops the list. “Of course, Wolfgang is always my first stop. Because every time Wolfgang was in New York – and before he opened a restaurant downtown – he always came to me for dinner or sat at the bar at Daniel’s and had a bite to eat with me. “

Chef Boulud also just opened a new restaurant in New York, Le Pavillon. “It’s in the new skyscraper One Vanderbilt and there are dishes that have become classics there, like the Vanderbilt oysters that we make, which are oysters in the shell, hard-boiled, with a herb and seaweed crust. ”

Meanwhile at Restaurant Daniel, 28 years old and recently reopened with a fresh design, “the menu is always seasonal and rotating. We have California abalone now,” he said, noting that the menu always features California produce, shrimp dips from Santa Barbara or artichokes from California. I look forward to paying a little homage to Castroville in LA and having a dish with artichokes. ”