Seven chefs and restaurant owners reflect on how to create memorable experiences for patrons, while propelling the industry forward amidst today’s many challenges.
Daniel Boulud
For the last 22 years, chef Daniel Boulud has hosted Sunday Supper, a benefit dinner at his flagship New York restaurant Daniel, that raises money for Citymeals on Wheels. As co-president of the board of directors, Boulud was touched during the pandemic to see a flurry of laid-off workers volunteer with the organization that delivers meals to older homebound residents across New York’s five boroughs. “I’m so thankful to all of those who felt they had some spare time to give to the community,” he says.
Raised on a farm outside Lyon, France, cooking was an escape for Boulud. “Dirty fingers, dirty shoes all the time. That was not my thing,” he recalls. “Food was the subject of life,” noting his career kicked off at age 14 when a contessa in his village secured him an apprenticeship at Nandron in Lyon. Throughout the 1970s, he worked in the kitchens of French chefs Georges Blanc, Roger Vergé, and Michel Guérard, before moving to Copenhagen, Washington, DC, and finally, in 1982, New York to helm the kitchen at the Polo Lounge in the Westbury Hotel. An executive chef position at Le Cirque followed, where in between 16-hour shifts, he dreamed of opening his own restaurant. “It took me six years because when you don’t have the money, you have to make [a name for] yourself to have people trust you to give you money,” he says.
His namesake fine dining restaurant Daniel debuted in 1993 and was the first step in establishing his food empire, which now includes Café Boulud, Bar Boulud, Boulud Sud, db Bistro Moderne, and Épicerie Boulud, some of which have also expanded to Miami, London, and Singapore. A yet-to-be-revealed restaurant inside the sustainable New York skyscraper One Vanderbilt is on the boards, as is Brasserie Boulud at the Sofitel Dubai Wafi. His success stems from his attention to detail, on everything from design to operations. “My staff can testify to it: I’m hard to please,” he says. “But as long as I’m hard to please, we make the effort to make the customer happy.”
Daniel in New York by Tihany Design evokes an Old World European charm
Today, Boulud is one of the most beloved restaurateurs in the industry, as much for his contributions and his mentorship as his cooking. At the height of New York’s COVID-19 crisis, for example, Boulud and his staff prepared meals for both local hospitals and World Central Kitchen. With his restaurants forced to shutter, he also launched Daniel Boulud Kitchen, with meals available for curbside pickup. “I don’t take anything for granted,” he says. “In the low, we have to push high, and in the high, we have to make sure we don’t take advantage of [our ambitions].”
With a new outdoor terrace at Daniel, Boulud is eager to reunite with the team “and feel that sense of power together,” he says. The future of restaurants might need to be reimagined, but what “we’re not going to lose in this,” Boulud assures, “is our talent, our passion, and our commitment.”
Marcus Samuelsson
In his forthcoming book The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food, New York-based chef, author, and TV personality Marcus Samuelsson puts the spotlight on the recipes and achievements of the myriad talents shaping contemporary Black cuisine.
Considering the current cultural landscape, the debut of The Rise, co-authored by Osayi Endolyn, underscores that a Black chef’s journey is nuanced rather than monolithic. “We know African Americans have contributed enormously to the hospitality industry, from farm to dining,” he says. “It’s something I’ve been focusing on for a long time.”
Born in Ethiopia, Samuelsson’s own career was forged at the age of 19 when he began working at the finest restaurant in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he was raised. He went on to become a partner at Aquavit in New York, win multiple James Beard Foundation Awards, and cook for the Obamas.
Those accomplishments, he explains, would not have come to fruition without the early support of his parents and mentors. That’s why today he is co-chair of Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), a nonprofit that provides guidance to underserved high school students through education and training.
Red Rooster in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood
It is another example of Samuelsson’s efforts to democratize the culinary world, as he did with Red Rooster, the comfort food restaurant he opened in Harlem in 2010. “I felt there was another conversation to be had,” he says. “Being a Black man, being an immigrant, I wanted to tell the story of those two experiences colliding in America.”
For the last decade, Samuelsson’s shared that narrative, sprouting Red Rooster locations in London and Overtown, Miami’s historic Black neighborhood—he also has eponymous restaurants in Montreal, Bermuda, and Newark, New Jersey plus concepts in Sweden, Chicago, and California—and leaving an imprint on communities in need along the way. During the pandemic, for instance, Samuelsson and his team have prepared and served more than 120,000 meals as part of World Central Kitchen’s Restaurants for the People program.
As for the current racial reckoning happening in tandem with the public health crisis, Samuelsson is encouraging restaurateurs to determine “how you can create a more equal structure in your restaurant.” He recently participated in an Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) panel with fellow Black chefs Mashama Bailey and Kwame Onwuachi, and launched This Moment, his podcast hosted with Swedish hip-hop artist Jason ‘Timbuktu’ Diakité, which discusses systemic injustice. “It’s not a Black issue, it’s an American issue that we have to solve together,” he adds.
Nyesha Arrington
Nyesha Arrington remembers making bulgogi and kimchi with her Korean grandmother when she was only 5 years old. Those nightly cooking sessions and family dinners were an important foundation for the Los Angeles native as she pursued her passion of cooking. “I’m on my destined life journey,” she says. “Nothing else fulfills my soul more than being a chef.”
After graduating from the Culinary School at the Art Institute of California in 2001, she had a wide range of jobs: she was Stevie Wonder’s private chef, worked at the Michelin-starred Melisse in Santa Monica, California, and was executive chef at Spice Mill in the Virgin Islands for two years. It proved to be a formative experience for Arrington, as she conceived dishes from fresh-out-of-the bay sea urchins and spiny lobsters.
But, like many chefs, Arrington had aspirations of opening her own restaurant. After a stint on Top Chef in 2012, the fan-favorite launched the now-shuttered Leona in Venice, California in 2014 and Santa Monica bistro Native in 2017, where she served progressive California cuisine—what she defines as globally inspired and locally sourced. Her time on the cooking competition show combined with the rigors of opening her own venues helped position Arrington for the multifaceted culinary world. “For me, food is a celebration of people and the stories of our ancestors,” she says. “It’s all one huge dialogue that is connected. I don’t only celebrate my culture, I celebrate humanity.”
She closed Native in March and has since honed her skills as a storyteller by hosting Eater’s “Improv Kitchen” series. Making falafel using cauliflower or carbonara from soba noodles showcases Arrington at her best: creative, competitive, and fearless. It has also led her to rethink her role in the often uncompromising restaurant industry. “I feel a huge duty to do more,” she says. “It’s not just about cooking anymore.”
Oliver Mansaray and Daniel Scheppan
Lifelong friends Oliver Mansaray and Daniel Scheppan met in kindergarten 37 years ago. Their first fight, over toys, was placated by a shared love of soccer. They’ve remained inseparable, traveling the world, living together, and in December, opening Kink in Berlin.
Also sharing a passion for the food industry, Mansaray and Scheppan always knew they wanted to open a restaurant together. The idea percolated for decades as they revised business plans and hosted pop-up dinners with Scheppan cooking and Mansaray mixing drinks. When they came across a 19th-century brewery in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg area, everything fell into place. “It was the perfect fit, the perfect location,” Scheppan points out. “It was like a dream come true.”
Kink nods to their mission to personalize and elevate gastronomy in Berlin. With Italian chef Ivano Pirolo helming the kitchen and mixologist Arun Puvanendran as bar manager, “we created a space that is impressive but not pretentious,” says Scheppan. Reflecting their experimental approach, the bar is also home to a laboratory of sorts with the team hosting monthly workshops for those looking to hone their skills and learn new techniques. “We want to be a creative hub for Berlin,” Mansaray says, “and the world.”
When it came to opening Kink, the first-time restaurateurs weren’t deterred by the chaos and stress that often fractures relationships. For almost four decades, they have cultivated a fluid, open approach to their friendship that translated into smooth day-to-day operations. “We risked everything, but there was never the feeling of regret or doubt,” says Scheppan. “It’s not a two-man show. It’s a whole team. They put everything out there—all their love and energy—and we try to channel that vision to contribute to Berlin’s [F&B] scene.”
On opening night, the two-story space was buzzing with people, the garden was full, and the DJ was playing music. “We were sitting there, like, ‘Damn, we have a restaurant. Look what we did in almost no time at all,’” says Mansaray.
Lindsay Tusk
Before Quince moved to its current home in San Francisco’s Jackson Square, the Michelin-starred restaurant was located in a lower Pacific Heights Victorian townhouse. “The dining room was modest, but there was a sweetness to it,” says Lindsay Tusk, who opened the restaurant with her husband, chef Michael Tusk, in 2003.
Years later, the Tusks continue to mold the city’s dining scene. Quince, now situated in a brick-and-timber building dating from 1907, shares walls with their more casual and animated Cotogna. And just a few blocks away is their newest arrival, Verjus, an ode to Spain and France’s quirky natural wine bars.
Uniting all three restaurants is Michael’s devotion to cooking with fresh produce. The majority is sourced an hour north, from the coastal Fresh Run Farm in Bolinas, run by third-generation farmer Peter Martinelli who grows heirloom vegetables, fruits, and flowers exclusively for the Tusks.
During the pandemic, Quince has deftly transitioned into an experiential outdoor experience. Dubbed Quince at the Farm, the duo is offering a series of weekend lunches slated to run through October that alternates between two enchanting backdrops: Fresh Run and the olive oil-producing McEvoy Ranch in Petaluma, where Martinelli also tends a few acres.
Multi-course meals served in open-air greenhouses or a Chinese pagoda star vegetables “pulled from the earth that morning,” Lindsay says. The leisurely afternoons are bolstered by games of horseshoes and hands-on harvesting sessions. “You see people sink into the experience,” she says. “The farm had come to Quince for so many years, and now it is Quince’s turn to come to the farm.”
JJ Johnson
This past Juneteenth was the busiest day in the history of FieldTrip, a rice bowl-centric concept launched last year by chef JJ Johnson in Harlem. Here, patrons are greeted by the fast-casual spot’s motto: “Rice is Culture,” a nod, Johnson says, to the ubiquity of rice at dinner tables, but presented in an elevated way. “Rice is like a childhood memory,” he says. “You grew up on rice, the first thing you probably ate was rice. It’s the ingredient that connects us all.”
Johnson made a name for himself after winning Bravo competition show The Dinner Party in 2011, where he caught the attention of Harlem restaurateur Alexander Smalls. The two hit it off, traveled to Ghana together to study West African cuisine, and returned to open the Cecil Steakhouse in Harlem. They also co-authored the Afro-Asian-inspired cookbook Between Harlem and Heaven, which earned them a James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook.
FieldTrip is another evolution for Johnson and reflects his mission to entice the everyday working-class person to choose his neighborhood restaurant over chain alternatives. “That was my fight before [the coronavirus],” he says. “When the pandemic came, the spots they would normally go to closed and they thought, ‘All right, I’m going to come in here.’”
While plans to grow FieldTrip have been put on hold due to COVID-19, Johnson is hopeful he will further his mark on the New York culinary scene. “For a Black business owner, there’s not many times in our career we get a moment to talk about expansion,” he says. “If I expand, then potentially. I can employ more people who look like me.”
This sense of community is a defining characteristic not only of FieldTrip, but also Harlem, which Johnson hopes visitors will embrace and be inspired to return to. “Take 15 percent of what you make and try a Black business,” he advises. “Walk the community. Say hello to people.”
Photography by Helge Kirchberger, Eric Laignel, Jake Ahles, Robert Rieger, Kyle Johnson, Joe Weaver
This article originally appeared in HD’s September 2020 issue.
