Daniel Boulud

With 15 restaurants worldwide, including Bar Boulud at London’s Mandarin Oriental and three Michelinstarred Daniel in New York, Daniel Boulud knows about global eating. He reveals all to Alicia Miller

When I step into Paul Bocuse’s Auberge

in Lyon (bocuse.fr), suddenly I’m 14 again. I trained in the city until I was 17, so it brings back a lot of memories. There are many favourites: Cafe des Fédérations (lesfedeslyon.com) for quenelle with Nantua sauce, or andouillette; Pierre Orsi’s La Mère Brazier (lamerebrazier.fr). Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse is unbeatable for food products – charcuterie, cheese – and Bernachon (bernachon.com) has the best chocolates.

The taste of home is cardoons.

I was raised on a farm near Lyon, where we grew them every autumn – it’s quite a process – then jarred them for summer. It’s something I miss living in New York. They don’t know how to grow them properly in America!

Eating in New York for me

might mean a Japanese restaurant called 15 East (15eastrestaurant.com) or Quality Meats in Brooklyn (qualitymeatsnyc.com). Barbuto (barbutonyc.com) is a classic for roast chicken and smashed then fried baked potato, but my hideaway is Indian restaurant Moti Mahal (motimahaldelux.us). It’s perfect for conversation – last time I took fellow chef Thomas Keller of Per Se (perseny.com). He loved it.

Thomas Keller carried live soft shell crabs

from New York to London for me – but he didn’t know it at the time. We were cooking at a US food event with Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir (manoir.com) and every chef had to bring a typically American ingredient. So I packed a bunch of live crabs between wet newspapers and asked Thomas to bring the bag over for me when he travelled. I only told him what it was once he arrived.

Indochine cuisine is fascinating.

I haven’t been to Vietnam or Laos, but I would love to go. The flavours are very local, but with French influence, technique and balance. It’s fascinating how they use French products in unusual ways – like the basic bánh mì sandwich, which is essentially pâté in a baguette.

I sneak into the kitchen at Dinner,

which is just next to Bar Boulud in the Mandarin Oriental (dinnerbyheston.com). I call it ‘back door eating’ – I get to take little bites here and there, but don’t need to book a table! It’s one of my favourites in London, though I do also like Mall Tavern (themalltavern.com), the Harwood Arms (harwoodarms.com) and Medlar (medlarrestaurant.co.uk).

I have two restaurants in Canada

– one in Montreal, one in Toronto – and I think it’s really becoming a more influential country for food. In Montreal you have great places like Martin Picard’s Au Pied de Cochon (restaurantaupieddecochon.ca), Joe Beef (joebeef.ca) and Toqué! (restaurant-toque.com). In Toronto there are lots of young chefs with cool places. I especially like Ursa (ursa-restaurant.com) and The Black Hoof (theblackhoof.com).

I would have loved to have been an artist

working in different mediums, whether sculpting or abstract painting. Cooking is artistry too, but the product is usually short-lived. One day I’ll rebuild the farm I grew up on, with a big barn, kitchen and art studio. Or I’ll get a little vineyard in Beaujolais...