David Bouley

David Bouley (born near Storrs, Connecticut) is an American chef and restaurateur with restaurants in TriBeCa, New York City. He is best known for his flagship restaurant, Bouley.

Early in his career, he worked in restaurants in Cape Cod, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and, eventually, France and Switzerland. While in Europe, after studies at the Sorbonne, David had the opportunity to work with chefs Roger Vergé, Paul Bocuse, Joël Robuchon, Gaston Lenôtre, and Frédy Girardet.^[1] Having gained that experience, David returned to work in New York City in leading restaurants of the time, such as Le Cirque, Le Périgord, and La Côte Basque, as well as spending time as sous chef in a restaurant opened by Roger Vergé in San Francisco. In 1985, he became chef of Montrachet restaurant. The restaurant quickly drew attention and earned a three-star review in The New York Times. In 1987 David opened his own restaurant, "Bouley," in TriBeCa overlooking Duane Park. Bouley quickly became known as the most notable dining experience in New York and set a new standard for fine dining in America. Among the many accolades earned was a Four-Star review in The New York Times and James Beard Foundation awards for the Best Restaurant and Best Chef among other Beard Awards. Most recently, in 2015, Bouley was awarded the "Best Restaurant Award in the United States" from TripAdvisor's Traveler's Choice Awards, ranking #15 in the world. Bouley also received 29 out a 30 rating in Zagat.

In 1991, Zagat's asked its 7,000 diners, "Where you would you eat the last meal of your life?" Respondents "overwhelmingly" chose Bouley.^[2] In 1997, Bouley restaurant moved location and opened up as the Bouley Bakery earning another Four-Star review from The New York Times. In September 1999, Bouley opened Danube, a Viennese-inspired restaurant, located on Hudson Street, and authored his first book "East of Paris: The New Cuisines of Austria and the Danube".

Following the tragic events of September 11 attacks, Bouley Bakery served as a base to organize as an operation to feed rescue and relief workers at Ground Zero. Known as The Green Tarp, over one million meals for Ground Zero relief workers were prepared in conjunction with the Red Cross. Bouley Bakery re-opened in 2002.

Bouley Bakery earned two Michelin Stars before it changed locations in 2008 and renamed itself back to Bouley Restaurant. His other restaurant, Danube also initially received two Michelin stars.^[3] The Danube location was transformed into a new entity designed by Architect SuperPotato or Takashi Sugimoto called, "Brushstroke Restaurant".

Brushstroke Restaurant, located at 30 Hudson Street, opened in April 2011, is a combined effort between Bouley and the Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka, to share Japanese food culture and products while integrating American ingredients.^[4]

Bouley Test Kitchen is a private event and testing learning center for visiting guest chefs and to develop recipes for the Bouley entities. The facilities were used by the American Team for the Bocuse d'Or Competition 2011.^[5]

Bouley Botanical, on another corner in TriBeCa, located at 281 Church Street, is an event space dedicated to cultivating nutrient-rich plants, served in the flagship Bouley Restaurant. It also serves as an educational forum to develop creative healthy eating lifestyle through its lecture series: The Chef & The Doctor.^[6]

Chef David Bouley, was presented with the Gohan Society’s “Washoku Ambassador Awards”. Honorees exemplify the spirit of Washoku in their cooking and their everyday lives. “Washoku” means the “harmony of food” in Japanese, and it is associated with an essential spirit of respect for nature that is closely related to the sustainable use of natural resources.^[7]

In the summer of 2006, David married collaborator Nicole Bartelme, pioneer of the TriBeCa Film Festival, artist and photographer.^[8]

Books

• East of Paris: The New Cuisines of Austria and the Danube (Ecco) Authors: David Bouley, Mario Lohninger, Melissa Clark (2003).^[9]

References