There’s no need to score a reservation at one of Daniel Boulud’s popular restaurants for a select group of well-heeled diners: They have brought the Michelin-starred chef to their doorstep.
Boulud – whose vast empire spans from his French flagship Daniel to the recently opened Japanese speakeasy Joji – will launch his first private eatery, Boulud Privé, on the 27th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Residences at 685 Fifth Ave., Side Dish can reveal exclusively.
“We’ll provide casual dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” said Boulud, a recipient of France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur.
Boulud Privé’s indoor/outdoor space offers sweeping views of the city’s skyline to the 69 residences in the ultra-luxury 55-story glass tower, where a recently-sold studio fetched a record $3.88 million.
The perks will now include in-residence dining and an at-home sommelier service of curated vintages to stock the condo owners’ wine fridge.
“Our team can create menus from our menus. It’s like Uber Eats, but exclusively for my own offerings. I do my own Uber Eats,” Boulud quipped.
Private restaurants — often known as ‘the dining room’ — were common among a certain set of old-school Upper East Side co-ops, but they came to be de rigueur for the city’s new crop of luxury buildings, which have become like urban country clubs with no need for its “member” residents to ever leave the premises.
The trend started with 15 Central Park West and climbed to ever higher heights at buildings like 220 Central Park South and 432 Park Ave., the troubled 1,396-foot-tall skyscraper that once tried to recruit Boulud to helm its private restaurant.
“At the time, I was doing other projects and couldn’t, but I presented the young chef who is still running it,” said Boulud, referring to Michelin-starred Australian Chef Shaun Hergatt.
The trick to running a private residents restaurant, Boulud said, is that “you have to be able to do dishes that change with the market, but also have simplicity.
That means a perfect spaghetti and tomato sauce and also healthy, fresh and simple options. It’s a service and convenience for residents who don’t always want to go out.”
The ingredients are the stars, he adds, from a perfect waygu steak to seasonal vegetables and burgers.
“We try to cook food you will enjoy — a tasty, simple, easy menu — not a multi-course experience like a Cafe Boulud or Le Pavillon,” he added. “We don’t run it like a restaurant but like a private dining room.”
The addition of Boulud Prive caps a stellar year for the legendary chef.
He celebrated Restaurant Daniel’s 30th anniversary, opened Blue Box Cafe by Daniel Boulud at Tiffany & Co’s flagship on Fifth Avenue and just last week reopened his iconic Cafe Boulud in a glittering new location at 100 E. 63rd St.
“It’s a new team, a new location, and a new era. It’s really nice, like a rebirth,” Boulud said.
While Cafe Boulud — named for the chef’s great grandparents’ restaurant on their farm in Lyon, France — in New York was a staple of the Upper East Side elite’s dining options, it shuttered in 2021 following a change of ownership at the Hotel Surrey.
The new Cafe Boulud, where Altamarea Group’s Vaucluse once stood, will partner with Barnes International Realty, which will open Maison Barnes at the same address next year.
The French, ‘salon style’ space will feature a bar, dining area, private dining sections, a speakeasy and a wine cellar, according to BIR’s New York director Georgette Farkas, who worked closely with Boulud for two decades.
“I am delighted to take part in bringing you this ensemble of fine dining and event experiences created by Chef Daniel Boulud and Barnes International, for a luxurious taste of l’art de vivre a la Francaise on the Upper East Side,” Farkas wrote on her LinkedIn account.
Added Boulud: “We will pair with the best brands and hold events around wine, jewelry, fashion, cars, boats, and more.”
Boulud and his hospitality company, the Dinex Group, have been on a roll since the pandemic ending, opening hotspots like Le Pavillon, where a swath of 42nd St. was shut down to truck in 10,000 pounds of black olive trees hoisted by crane into a window at One Vanderbilt, the $3.3 billion, 1,400-foot-high office tower.
He also launched Joji, the killer sushi spot hidden inside Grand Central station, Le Gratin downtown and Centurion NY.
A Mandarin Oriental Residences in Beverly Hills will also house a private Boulud restaurant. The property’s rooftop terrace lounge was recently booked for an event honoring Penelope Cruz, star of the upcoming Michael Mann film, “Ferrari.”
Cruz’s friends Salma Hayek and Kristen Stewart hosted the gathering – which included celebrities Geena Davia, Eiza Gonzalez, Patricia Arquette, and Vin Diesel.
We hear … Outdoor igloo dining — which popped up during the pandemic — remains a popular option from the city to the Hamptons. On the East End, Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa is offering chic igloo dining. On New Year’s Eve, the igloos can be rented for $250 for two-hour rentals, plus a minimum of $500 for food and beverages, with sharable plates like artisanal meats and cheeses and wild mushroom arancini — for up to six people per igloo.
Meanwhile in the city, Chelsea’s Somewhere Nowhere offers eight heated teardrop-shaped rooftop igloos for up to five guests overlooking the Empire State Building. They each come with an integrated Alexa music system, so diners can control the playlist if not the weather. Their winter cocktails include a choctail made with Woodinville bourbon, Trader Vic’s chocolate liqueur, Rumple Minze, hot chocolate, butter and marshmallows and small bites curated by executive chef Sandy Hall like wagyu beef sliders and mushroom crostini.
The igloos can be booked from Wednesday through Saturday, beginning at $85 per person. Each igloo reservation for two or more includes a bottle of champagne.
We hear … Upper East Side’s Mark Hotel, at the corner of 77th and Madison, has launched The Mark Chalet by Jean-Georges Vongerichten to cure your fix for Alpine fondue. The chalet, with wood paneling, gingham and old school ski vibes, is the perfect spot for people watching over Swiss fondue, Veal Zurichoise with Spätzle, mulled wine and hot toddies. It will remain open until March 1, with Pierre Schultz as executive chef.
For a more low-key holiday affair, Stretch Pizza, at 331 Park Avenue South, offers a $24 everything bagel pizza with cream cheese, aged mozzarella, everything bagel spice and chives — along with an option to zhuzh it up with caviar for $120.24 to celebrate the holidays, washed down with a triple lux for $17 — Luxardo sour cherry gin, Luxardo bitter ross, Luxardo Aperitivo and Mamatti for Stretch’s twist on a Negroni. And yes, you can also get it delivered.
Meanwhile neon pink Instagram lovers can click away at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge, located at Moxy Times Square, which has created The Pink Winter Lodge: Neon Frost Edition for the holidays, featuring metallic pink fringe, neon walls, and pink trees, along with its iconic carousel and snaps inside a custom snow globe. Cocktails include the pink “boozy hot chocolate,” Après Ski, the All that Glitters cocktail and the Après Cookie Skillet — all under a retractable roof and city skyline views.
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