Origins of Daniel Boulud

Raised on a farm outside Lyon, Daniel Boulud worked under French master chefs such as Roger Vergé and Michel Guérard before moving to New York City in the Eighties. Now he oversees restaurants in nine cities, including Miami, Singapore, Dubai and Nassau. His flagship Manhattan restaurant, Daniel, has two Michelin stars.

Mushrooms

In France seasonality is so important. I grew up in the countryside near Lyon, and every week was a celebration of something coming into season. My fondest memory is going mushroom picking on a rainy day and bringing them back for my grandmother. Still, when I visit now, I go foraging with my brother. Spring, summer, autumn, there are always different mushrooms – mousseron, trompette, rosé des prés.

Beaujolais

Beaujolais is next door to Lyon. I remember being 17 and driving from village to village with my girlfriend stopping at little cooperatives for tastings. I still love Beaujolais wine: try Beaujolais cru villages like Saint-Amour, Chiroubles or Morgon, from a producer like Jean-Paul Brun. Perfect with coq au vin or a burger.

New York City

New York, where I live and have most of my restaurants, is on about the same latitude as where I grew up. The cycle of life around the table and cooking is much the same. The difference is that here you’re surrounded by every cuisine, with strong Asian, South American, Caribbean and European influences. We really benefit from that. Cooks from different cultures always bring something new to my kitchens.

Avocado

Comfort food? I love bread, of course, but I always have avocado on hand. I split one in half, put a little balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper inside, and eat it like a dessert. I have a supplier in Queens – all he sells is avocados straight from Mexico. He ripens them to the perfect texture, then when he delivers, it’s butter.

Alain Passard

I’ve opened a new restaurant, Le Pavillon, where the menu is 40 per cent vegetarian. But I think back to 30-something years ago, when there was mad cow disease in France, and chef Alain Passard in Paris decided to ban meat and become a vegetable-focused restaurant. He wasn’t trying to start a movement, he was just making a point. It was a bold move – he risked his three Michelin stars to make things like carpaccio of radish. But his food was playful and delicious. Now, when so many chefs have adopted a vegetarian menu, it’s good to see how much impact he’s had. I see him as an avant-gardist of a movement we all have to be responsible for.

Paupiette of sea bass

Some of my dishes quickly became very popular, like paupiette of sea bass, which I created at Le Cirque in the Eighties. The sea bass fillet, seasoned with thyme, was roasted inside potatoes and served on leeks with red wine sauce. It was an instant classic and I couldn’t take it off the menu. Then one day, my chef had a tantrum and said, ‘We’re tired of cooking it, it’s too popular.’ They were right in a way; I didn’t want to do it any more either. So we created a new version, preparing the same ingredients differently: the fish is slow-baked and the potato covered in leek velouté.

Hot dogs

One of my first food memories from the US was eating a hot dog at a fair in the Eighties. Fifteen years later I created my own version, with what we called ‘bastard sauce’ – French mustard, American mustard, ketchup and mayo. I love sausage – after all charcuterie is big in Lyon – and in America there is an entire world of it, from eastern European to African. A Thai-style sausage even inspired me to make my own version of a Vietnamese bánh mì.

The Bahamas

One of my newest restaurants is Café Boulud at the Rosewood Baha Mar in Nassau. Conch (sea snail) is really popular in the Bahamas, and when I visited the fish market I saw a conch master making ceviche at a table. Behind him was a mountain – no, a whole coast! – of shells he’d opened. He gave me a masterclass. We’ve served conch as a crudo at Café Boulud before, but now I want to bring him in to do it.