Boulud buzzes back into Canada

Daniel Boulud at the press announcement of his new restaurant in late October.

By Leslie Wu, Senior Contributing Editor

TORONTO—New York-based celebrity chef Daniel Boulud is once again setting his sights northward, with a confirmed space in the Four Seasons hotel, re-opening July 1, 2012.

Café Boulud and a street level restaurant, likely called d Bar, have the backing of the native of Lyon, France. He operates 14 restaurants around the world, most of them in New York.

The Toronto version of Café Boulud will have the same menu as its New York counterpart. There, Boulud combines classic French cuisine, seasonal ingredients, vegetables and more eclectic international dishes. Boulud said he wants to use as many local Ontario ingredients as possible in the new restaurants.

“I was born on a farm. It was not even a question of local; it was a question of feet—50 feet, 100 feet from the table. The extension of local goes a little wider now, but when I was a young chef, I was doing the farmer’s market with my father.”

Café Boulud will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with dishes from the Mediterranean and North Africa, with an emphasis on lighter, olive-oil based cooking. The restaurant will also offer outside dining in the summer.

An executive chef has not yet been named, but Boulud said he has a Canadian candidate in mind for the job, with the successful candidate to be announced in the spring.

The street level bar is a more casual space with entrances off both Bay Street and Yorkville Avenue. Boulud’s well-known db Burger will be on the menu, along with in-house charcuterie and sausage. Craft beer, wines by the glass and cocktails designed by Xavier Herit are on the menu.

While Boulud admits he cannot be everywhere at once, he does intend to get to Toronto to check on the operation as much as he can, given the close proximity to New York City.

“I believe in young talent and I nurture young talent. We really strive in growing young talent and we give them opportunity,” Boulud said.

On the occasion of the company’s 50th anniversary, Guy Rigby, Four Seasons vice president of food and beverage for the Americas, said they wanted to create a restaurant space with a top name chef befitting Toronto, the head office for Four Seasons, and the hotel and private residences. With his name on restaurants in New York, Miami, Palm Beach, London, Beijing and Singapore, Boulud’s most recent foray into Canada was the two restaurants Lumière and db Bistro Moderne in Vancouver. Boulud, who took the helm of the two west-coast eateries from Canadian chef Rob Feenie, closed both properties earlier this year on March 13. A Montreal restaurant is set for a 2012 opening at the new Ritz-Carlton.

Boulud has three Michelin stars from his New York-based restaurant Daniel.