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Awards: 1992 to the Present
What others are saying about DANIEL
From the three-tiered silver tray laden with canapés of goat cheese or smoked fish to the assortment of tiny chocolates that came with coffee, the meal was on a level with some of the best I'd had in France. There was a beautiful rack of lamb with braised fennel that came with a tiny copper panful of braised lamb and puréed potatoes that was as majestic in flavor as it was diminutive in size. There was an exquisite salad of lamb's tongue and purslane, a Nobu-esque disk of tuna tartare with caviar and fresh wasabi, and a gorgeous tart of minted cherries.
Jonathan Gold, "Restaurant Review : New York," Gourmet, December 2001
DANIEL...a top flight French restaurant, sumptuous and rather grand, but still very much the personal expression of its chef and owner, Daniel Boulud.
There's a definite tone at DANIEL, a warmth usually associated with small neighborhood restaurants, and it emanates from the kitchen.
Mr. Boulud's style is a seductive blend of qualities, robust and delicate at the same time. His reductions are so deep they have no bottoms. His love of peasant ingredients like sardines, anchovies and pork bellies leads him into daring, wrong-side-of-the tracks flirtations that somehow work out, like his braised pork belly and stuffed pig's trotters served with lentils and root vegetables in a black truffle jus.
Best of all, Mr. Boulud is ceaselessly inventive in a free and easy way. Anyone worrying that French cuisine might be runnning out of gas should browse through a week's worth of menus at DANIEL. The influences come from all over the Mediterranean, and as far afield as Japan and India, pulled in and made French with total assurance.
There is no food in France better than what you'll find at DANIEL.
William Grimes, "Dining/Review," The New York Times, March 2001
Tasting one pungent morsel of [Daniel Boulud's] fresh sardines sensuously marinated in lemon and thyme is like Humbert Humbert savoring the name Lo-lee-ta on his tongue. Monkfish is roasted to a juiciness that mingles with the flavor of fresh porcini mushrooms and red wine reduced to its essence. A pert poached quail egg with pearly caviar quivers on buttered toast.
John Mariani, "Best New Restaurants," Esquire, December 1999
One person meets you at the door. Another takes your coat. A third leads you to the maÎtre d'hôtel, who sends you off with yet another to your table. Are there really that many people at Daniel? Perhaps not, but it felt that way, as if we had encountered a huge, smiling and helpful staff long before we reached our table. The new Daniel may forever change New York City's expectations of great restaurants.
How's the food? Do you really need to ask? If you were a fan of Daniel you know what to expect: First rate French food from a talented chef at the peak of his powers.
Ruth Reichl, "Diner's Journal," The New York Times, January 29, 1999
Chef Boulud...is arguably the finest and most inspired chef working today in New York. His impeccable technique allows him to play freely with his imagination. Merely reading his menu whips our curiosity and triggers our salivary glands. Who would not want to try the Nantucket Bay scallops with caperberries, crushed cauliflower and sweet and sour kumquats; the penne with shaved black truffles and baby artichokes; the lobster perfumed with licorice root? Many chefs preach the gospel of devotion to the freshest and finest ingredients and of precision in their preparation, but here the word is made flesh hundreds of times each day. Boulud's cooking is far, far from simple, but what appears on the plate is fresh, uncluttered, harmonious and bursting with the flavors of the two or three prime items. He layers taste upon taste to produce a combination that resonates without diminishing the dominant flavors.
Gault Millau, "Restaurant Daniel," Gayot's NYC Restaurants, 1999
The food was nothing short of wonderful..."This is genius," said my dinner companion as he tasted octopus on oiled green linguine with cilantro and fava beans. "Just four or five perfect ingredients."
Mr. Boulud is a master of all elements of French cooking, whether classical or bourgeois. He is equally at home with a complex modern dish - roasted shrimp with endives braised in tangerine juice and carrots flavored with cumin - or a deceptively simple braised beef with carrots and mashed potatoes that is like nothing you've ever had before...His food is never overwrought or fussy, whether it's a chunk of cod with cockles and caviar floating in an emerald broth, or a pink, juicy lamb saddle stuffed with endive and squash, paired with a lamb chop crusted with black truffles and walnuts.
Concentrate on your food. It doesn't get much better than this (nor does the service).
Moira Hodgson, "Simply as Good as it Gets: Four star frolics at Daniel," New York Observer, March 22, 1999
In New York, you see monuments of excellence and innovation and Daniel epitomizes that...[Boulud] had learned la technique so well that he never has to follow a trend. That permits him to lead.
Michel Guérard, in an article by Jerry Shriver, "An Appetite for Excellence," USA Today, January 20, 1999
...[Daniel] is destined to be Manhattan's holiest gastronomic temple...
This 43-year old Frenchman [Boulud] has become, like Duke, Babe and Woody, a frist-name-only New York treasure.
...a menu executed and served with complete and, to the diner's eyes, effortless control.
Daniel Young, "Daniel, A Culinary Lion's Den," Daily News, February 26, 1999
[Interior designer Patrick] Naggar has turned chaos into order, brilliantly melding a state-of-the-art kitchen with a romantic, Renaissance mise-en-scéne that is the talk of le tout New York.
Alejandro Saralegui, Elle Décor, February 1999
Set in the former lobby of the Mayfair Regent Hotel, (previously home to Le Cirque, where Boulud was once executive chef), this complex restoration has left no ghosts behind in its quest for excellence. Tables are well spaced, allowing for boisterous celebratory gatherings or the intimacy of couples intent on romance. ... Daniel's ever-professional staff excels at discreet and constant service.
Perfectly poised waiters arrive at precisely the right moment to refill a glass or deliver an amuse-bouche. Aside from the thoughtful choreography, the substantial waitstaff is decidedly unpretentious. ... Daniel Boulud's...exquisite menu is a jewel-like kaleidoscope of ingredients that reflects the bounty of the seasons.
Peter and Amy Meltzer, Passport to New York Restaurants, March 1999
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