NYC’s Powerhouse Fine Dining Chef Daniel Boulud to Open First LA Restaurant

Daniel Boulud, one of the most celebrated chefs and restaurateurs in the world, is finally making moves in Los Angeles. The New York City-based French legend, known for his fine dining prowess at places like the eponymous two-Michelin-starred Daniel, is set to open his first restaurant in LA in the not too distant future, as part of a multi-million-dollar development along Wilshire Boulevard.

Eater has confirmed that the upcoming (and unnamed) restaurant is set to open at the glassy multi-story corner building at 9200 Wilshire. The development is being led by SHVO, a giant in the real estate and investment game with buildings across New York City, Miami, and beyond — including the Transamerica Pyramid building in San Francisco. The opening, which does not yet have a date, puts one of America’s most recognizable fine dining chefs just blocks from iconic brand names like Spago, Rodeo Drive, and the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons hotel.

Eater spoke with Boulud regarding the upcoming opening, and what Los Angeles means to him overall, though he declined to offer specifics about the restaurant itself so far out from completion. “My love and relationship with Los Angeles started a long time ago,” says Boulud. “I visited for the first time maybe 30 years ago, and I always told Wolfgang [Puck] that if he opened in New York then I would open in Los Angeles.” Puck opened his upscale steakhouse Cut in NYC’s Financial District in 2016.

Courtesy SHVO

“To me Los Angeles is like the south of France,” says Boulud of the cuisine here, with nods to coastal pan-Mediterranean fare and a more laid-back approach to dining overall. His first LA project, he said, would be “casual, but with the status of a very nice restaurant.”

Boulud’s eventual arrival in Los Angeles is big news not only for fans of the French iconoclast’s cooking, but for Beverly Hills in specific. The city has been teeming with new dining life for months now, and some of the biggest restaurant openings to come are centered on the wealthy zip code, including the brand new Matu and the upcoming Tatel. Not far away, the legendary Alice Waters of Chez Panisse makes a big LA splash, opening a restaurant soon at the Hammer Museum in Westwood. More news on the Boulud restaurant as it comes.

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