Restaurants and museums closed, shows stopped … in New York, the Manhattan blues

By Arnaud Leparmentier

Posted today at 01:41

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It was early March, the time of recklessness. That evening, French chef Daniel Boulud hosts his annual gala dinner in New York City to fund hot meals for the elderly. Other celebrities of French gastronomy are part of the celebration: the Troisgros family, from Roanne (Loire), made the trip, as did Julien Royer (Odette, in Singapore), or Alexandre Gauthier (La Grenouillère, in La Madelaine -sous-Montreuil, in Pas-de-Calais). We already nudge each other, as a precaution, before tasting the scallops with rutabagas or pancakes with truffles. The gala will raise $ 1 million (820,000 euros).

More New Yorkers than New Yorkers, Daniel Boulud is fond of these social events. Landed in Manhattan in 1982, this native of Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu (Rhône), who still has a slight Lyon accent, does not deny his origins, exhibiting a photo of his birthplace. But he is above all an entrepreneur, a marketing champion whose name goes from north to south of Manhattan: Daniel, Café Boulud, Boulud Sud, DB Bistrô Moderne, Epicerie Boulud. Eight hundred employees, $ 70 million to $ 80 million in sales.

Fighting commotion

This empire collapsed with the crisis due to Covid-19. The disaster came three days after the famous gala, when he learned that one of his clients, the head of the New York Port Authority, had tested positive. At the time, a single case led to a commotion. Without waiting for the governor of New York to order the confinement of the city, Boulud closes all its restaurants. “In one week, we went from 800 to 8 employees”, he explains, mask on his face, in his gourmet restaurant, the Daniel.

In this month of November, from his office, Boulud watches over the kitchens, tastes a dessert recipe and prepares the revival of his restaurants. Not all are in the same boat: their future depends on their location. He had purposefully installed them near the city’s artistic and tourist hotspots. Visiting his culinary empire is a journey through cultural New York in crisis.

Departure of our stroll at “Ground Zero”, in the south of Manhattan, in the Oculus, the shopping arcade located at the foot of the World Trade Center. Tourists and finance executives have deserted the area around the September 11, 2001 Memorial. The 100 observatory^e floor is only open on weekends, and one is quite alone at the Boulud Epicerie to taste two madeleines, at 2.50 dollars each. “It’s not brilliant. The business has not returned ”, deplores the French chef.

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