Relocated, Reimagined, Café Boulud Opens On New York’s Upper East Side

“Creating a new home for Café Boulud has been my focus and priority for the last year,” Chef Daniel Boulud explains. “Given the special place it holds in my heart, I feel very fortunate to be able to bring it back to the Upper East Side and look forward to sharing it with our guests, The restaurant will be a vibrant celebration of my French roots and love for New York.”

The restaurant, named for the one his grandparents ran near his native Lyon over a century ago, became a stalwart of fine dining when it opened in The Surrey in 1998, closing in 2021 due to the pandemic and a change in ownership of the hotel. Now, following a move several blocks south and a significant renovation of the space on E. 63^rd Street that formerly housed the restaurants Park Avenue South and Vaucluse, the new Café Boulud, in partnership with the hospitality division of BARNES International Realty, reopened on December 15^th.

The look, as designed by Jeffrey Beers International, is quite a different one than the previous version. The space is light and airy, filled with Art Deco touches, mirrored panels, teal velvet banquettes, sculpted bronze, gilded copper, and polished stone along with the room’s existing black and white tile, varnished wood flooring and vaulted ceilings with clover shaped molding. European art pieces including works by Matisse, Miro and Calder as curated by Galerie Murlot are also displayed throughout.

Regulars of the previous restaurant, however, will recognize the layout of the menu in four sections which are available in two and three course prix fixe options but with many new offerings : La Tradition – the classic dishes of French cooking; La Saison – seasonal specialties; Le Potager – inspired by the farmer’s market; and Le Voyage – a rotating section showcasing exotic flavors of the world’s great cuisines. The executive chef Romain Paumier, most recently Executive Sous Chef at Restaurant Daniel, is well versed in the culture of Café Boulud, having served as sous chef at the previous location.

In the opening menu, La Tradition features dishes such as Foie Gras à L’Armagnac-duck foie gras terrine with spiced seckel pear, hazelnut and cranberries; Bar En Paupiette Sauce Meurette-black sea bass wrapped in crispy potatoes with leek fondue and red wine sauce, a slight variation from the dish that Chef Boulud created in 1986 when he was the Executive Chef of Le Cirque; and Pièce Duo de Boeuf Périgourdine -braised Black Angus short ribs or NY strip steak with shallot truffle jus, salsify, sunchokes and crosnes (Chinese artichokes.) Among the winter flavors in La Saison: Kampachi Pistache-Grenade-pomegranate cured yellowtail with leek soubise, pistachio coulis and pickled radish; and Canard au Kaki-roasted Pennsylvania duck with persimmon jam, endive and monk’s pepper duck jus.

Creative vegetable choices in the Le Potager menu include Tarte Carotte Vadouvan-curried rainbow carrots with shallot compote and pecorino romano sable; and Raviole Pourpre-beet ravioli with sheep ricotta, pine nuts and preserved lemon. Thai cuisine is the first one featured in the international exploration Le Voyage with dishes such as Crevettes “Hor Mok”-lemongrass shrimp dumplings with minted cucumber “ajad” and toasted peanuts; and Duo du Porc “Chiang Mai”-roasted pork tenderloin, crispy belly, sweet potato, kale and red Thai curry jus.

To conclude, desserts by Katalina Diaz, previously Pastry Executive Sous Chef at Restaurant Daniel, also reflect the menu’s diversity. Choices include French classics like Moelleux au Chocolat, a molten chocolate cake with salted caramel and mint-lemongrass ice cream; winter flavors are expressed with a “Baked” Mont Blanc with chestnut ice cream, ginger sorbet, vermicelle and Swiss meringue; a Canneberge, inspired by the farmer’s market with gingerbread biscuit, cranberry mousse, pomegranate jam and spiced ice cream; and from Thailand, Nam Kang Sai, a dessert for two of combava infused pineapple, Thai basil granite, red bean jellies and condensed milk foam.

More new spaces are on the horizon as well. Next door to the restaurant, Maison Barnes is set to open early next year containing a bar, a dining salon and private dining rooms, as well as a speakeasy and a wine cellar table. The menu will be different from the one at Café Boulud but the overall influences and attention to detail remain the same.