David Bouley

David Bouley (born May 27, 1953) is an American chef with dual French citizenship. Sole owner and chef with restaurants in Tribeca, New York City. He is best known for his flagship restaurant, Bouley, synonymous with high standards, Nouveau Cuisine redefined in the guise of a lighter French paradigm for the highest density of food nutrition and community.

Early in his career, Bouley worked in restaurants in Cape Cod, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and, eventually, France and Switzerland. While in Europe, after studies at the Sorbonne, he had the opportunity to work with chefs Roger Vergé, Paul Bocuse, Joël Robuchon, Gaston Lenôtre, Frédy Girardet, and Paul Haeberlin.[1] Bouley 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, awarded three stars in its first three weeks by the New York Times. In 1987 he became Chef/Owner of his namesake restaurant, "Bouley," in TriBeCa overlooking Duane Park. The restaurant earned a four-star review in The New York Times and won over six James Beard Foundation awards which included Best Restaurant and Best Chef. In 2015, Bouley was awarded the "Best Restaurant Award in the United States" from TripAdvisor's Traveler's Choice Awards, ranking #14 in the world. Bouley also received a 29 out of 30 rating in Zagat for decades finishing with a 4.9 out of five in 2020.

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. 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 September 11 attacks, Bouley Bakery served as a base 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 to the general public in 2002.

In 1999, Bouley Bakery earned four stars by The New York Times and two Michelin Stars before it changed locations in 2008 and was renamed Bouley Restaurant. His other restaurant, Danube, also received two Michelin stars. The Danube location was transformed into a new entity called Brushstroke Restaurant in 2011.

Brushstroke Restaurant, located in TriBeCa, was a combined effort between Chef Bouley and the Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka, to share Japanese food culture and products while integrating American ingredients. It received two Michelin stars, becoming a leader in Kaiseki cuisine.

Bouley Botanical, on another corner in TriBeCa, was an event space dedicated to cultivating nutrient-rich plants, served in the flagship Bouley Restaurant. It also served as an educational forum to develop creative healthy eating lifestyles through its lecture series: The Chef & The Doctor. Its inception in 2013 continues today on multiple platforms.

Bouley Test Kitchen from 2005 to 2020 was a private event space and learning center for visiting guest chefs and for developing recipes for the Bouley enterprises. The facilities were used by the American Team for the Bocuse d'Or Competition 2011. In 2018 the Test Kitchen moved to the Flatiron District with a new entity Bouley at Home. Guests were seated at three long white counters created in conjunction with Bulthaup Kitchen design to showcase the methodology, building blocks, and techniques that define Bouley cuisine.

In March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bouley Test Kitchen closed and Bouley at Home moved back to TriBeCa serving as an R&D studio for his upcoming book Bouley at Home: Living Pantry.

Dedicated to sharing pure and specialized limited cultivated products with his clientele, Bouley is one of the first chefs in America to create Tasting Menus. Since the 1980s his personalization of each customer’s likes and desires of specific ingredients is health-driven. It’s said that Bouley may not remember a customer’s name but knows exactly what they ate from a 12-course meal several years later. He is sought out by those with auto-immune challenges. This approach has won him Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University and the Rogosin Institute, an affiliate of New York-Presbyterian.

In 2015 Bouley was the first non-Japanese citizen garnered the Japanese Cuisine (Washoku) Goodwill Ambassador, by the Japanese Government. Washoku means "harmony of food" and is associated with an essential spirit of respect for nature that is closely related to the sustainable use of natural resources. NHK’s 2019 documentary traces Bouley’s exploration of longevity through artisanal products and their growers, including doctors, biochemists, and nutritionists. Throughout 35 prefectures, A Magic of a Dish demonstrates and quantifies health benefits with a focus on fermented foods. Episodes continue to be added into 2022.

Since the inception of his first restaurant, Bouley is dedicated to the use of pure ingredients and techniques to create “unbreakable health”. He is a pioneer in using organic, wild-caught, grass-fed, and finished or foraged products. Working with farmers to grow nutrient-dense herbs and vegetables, like the fingerling potatoes, as early as the 1980’s to the present. Chef Bouley was invited as a commencement speaker for the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources at the University of Connecticut and an honorary degree recipient of Doctors and Humane Letters.

In 2020, mid pandemic, the French Government bestowed upon Bouley the honor of the title of Knight in the Order of the agricultural Merit (Ordre du Mérite de l’Agriculture et de l’Alimentation). One of five categories of The Legion of Honor, it is the highest decoration in France: an order of merit bestowed for outstanding contributions to food and agriculture. Bouley accredits Mother Nature for allowing synergies to share her gifts of joy, altering one’s health to change lives.