I can’t conceive of cooking in a sunny place like Florida because my motivation comes from the changing seasons. That’s why I decided to live in New York. Daniel Boulud Read Quote
In the springtime, we have softshell crab from Maryland, which I’d never had until I came to America. In the summer and early fall, we have striped bass, ‘stripeys,’ which come all the way up the Hudson River but mostly gather in the sound at the tip of Long Island, off Montauk. Daniel Boulud Read Quote
In the Bronx, you have the southern Italians; in Queens, the Greeks, Koreans and Chinese; in Brooklyn, the Jewish community; and in Harlem, the Hispanics – all with their own markets. Daniel Boulud Read Quote
The hardest thing for a chef is to become comfortable with what you do. Not to be too neurotic and worried with what you are doing and how wrong or right you are. Daniel Boulud Read Quote
I always had a lot of fun in America, with much more freedom than if I had tried to cook in France. I wouldn’t have the same motivation or inspiration, and I wouldn’t have cooked for the same kind of people in France, so it wouldn’t have given me this edge I had in America. Daniel Boulud Read Quote
I think Spain will always remain inspirational, and I think French cuisine will continue to be very French and yet very relevant with its time and keep evolving. But the last thing you want for it is to become too trendy and confusing. It has too much history. Daniel Boulud Read Quote
The biggest thing is education for young chefs and how they should focus on one cuisine rather than trying to imitate too many. It’s like art – you can see the cycles from many past artists and new artists being inspired by past artists. Daniel Boulud Read Quote
Every time – well, not every time, but in celebration of a great review or a great accolade, I take the team of Daniel to Katz’s Deli for lunch. We take the trip on the subway, we were like 40 or 50 people, and we go in the back room and have a pastrami sandwich. Daniel Boulud Read Quote
That’s what’s interesting about the Lower East Side: It’s New York, but it’s also edgy. It’s not as stuffy as Tribeca or Soho. Daniel Boulud Read Quote
