GOURMET SCENE OLD AND NEW Daniel Boulud’s Le Pavillon perfectly encapsulates a modern take on traditional French cuisine 64 NetJets
Always bustling with creativity, chef Daniel Boulud is at his best in remaking the Manhattan icon Le Pavillon // By Bill Knott Photography by Thomas Schauer UPDATING THE CLASSICS ON 19 MAY THIS YEAR, after many months of restrictions, restaurants in New York City were allowed to open their doors once more. On the same day, one restaurant – Le Pavillon, on the second floor of the ambitious new One Vanderbilt skyscraper in Midtown – opened its doors for the very first time. Speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City, paid tribute to Marc Holliday, chairman and CEO of SL Green Realty, the building’s owners “for believing in the people of New York City and investing in them,” and to Tim and Nina Zagat, founders of the eponymous restaurant guide, for their continued promotion of the city. But his most fulsome praise was reserved for Daniel Boulud, chef, restaurateur and the culinary mastermind behind Le Pavillon. “Daniel, New York City has always loved you,” he proclaimed. “This is a symbol of New York City coming back, right here, right now.” De Blasio went on to reference the original Le Pavillon, which opened for the World’s Fair in 1939 and continued as a bastion – for a while, New York’s only bastion – of classic French cooking until 1972, acknowledging Boulud’s homage to the original, but saluting the chef’s determination to reinvent. It managed, he thought, to encapsulate the spirit of New York: “Amazing history that we honour, but a place where we always create something new.” Recalling the event, Boulud sounds a little uncomfortable with what he calls “the hoopla of celebration,” but he appreciates de Blasio’s central point. “If I am known for anything, it is the modern interpretation of classics.” One dish on the menu at Le Pavillon is a case in point. “I asked Jacques Pépin [the veteran French chef, writer and TV presenter, who worked at the original Le Pavillon in the late 1950s] what he remembered from the menu, and he said that the most celebrated dish was poulet au champagne. SEA BLISS Halibut, Martha’s Vineyard shiitake, consommé, cabbage and barley from Le Pavillon NetJets 65