PARK Magazine

Chef Daniel Boulud with chefs Guy Gateau, Gaston Lenôtre, Roger Vergé and Paul Bocuse at a charity event in Miami, 1983.
Westbury, Plaza-Athenée, Le Cirque, I met many artists of
the time, including Andy Warhol. But then when I opened
DANIEL, I met Leo Castelli. I opened the restaurant [in
1993] at Les Pleiades, it had been the most famous restaurant
for artists’ gatherings. Les Pleiades was the rendezvous of
the entire art world – artists, dealers, clients - because
Sotheby’s was across the street where now Gagosian is. The
‘70s and ‘80s they [Les Pleiades] were basically fed by the
art world. Leo Castelli was holding court every day there,
with all the great American artists.
Then a friend of mine, Annie Cohen-Salal, do you know
her?
JGC: Yes, you mentioned Annie Cohen-Solal, the French
historian and writer. Her book, Painting American: The
Rise of American Artists, Paris 1867-New York 1948, was
published in 2001. She had the book party at DANIEL with
you?
DB: Oui, we held her book party at DANIEL – a lunch. I
have never seen so many artists together at once as on that
day. I wish I could have asked each one of them to sign my
jacket!
“Food is a Form of Art”
JGC: Let’s discuss what art and food mean to you;
how do they intersect and combine?
DB: Well, I think there is no artist that is not sensitive to
art in a restaurant or in the kitchen. I think food is a form
of art, for sure. It’s definitely a way of transforming and
creating. You know art can be done in many ways, but it’s
often layering something to find the harmony. You want
to find the balance. You want to find creativity as to be
unique, and yet it has to be understood - or, maybe not
understood - but enjoyed for the fact that everyone has his
own appreciation and
interpretation of it.
I think with food sometimes
“MY REAL DREAM
there is a little bit of that. There
ONE DAY WILL BE TO
are certain things that are
BUILD A STUDIO FOR
obviously universally liked the
MYSELF, AND MAYBE
same way, and there are some
PAINT FOR MYSELF.”
things that are not always liked
for the same reason or [in] the
same way, by people, but still are appreciated for the creativity
and artistry in it.
JGC: That’s an elegant way of putting it.
DB: Yes, I feel that it is very much like that. And, you know,
even the composition of seasoning, the composition of
texture. You know in food it is not all about the color, but
more about the layers of taste, and the contrast in those
layers, from crunchy, to gooey, to salty, to crunchy.
I think in art, the longer you look at a painting, the more