Top chef Daniel Boulud to open private NYC restaurant at luxe Fifth Avenue tower

There’s no need to score a reservation at one of Daniel Boulud’s popular restaurants for a select group of well-heeled diners: They have brought the Michelin-starred chef to their doorstep.

Boulud – whose vast empire spans from his French flagship Daniel to the recently opened Japanese speakeasy Joji – will launch his first private eatery, Boulud Privé, on the 27th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Residences at 685 Fifth Ave., Side Dish can reveal exclusively.

“We’ll provide casual dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” said Boulud, a recipient of France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur.

Boulud Privé’s indoor/outdoor space offers sweeping views of the city’s skyline to the 69 residences in the ultra-luxury 55-story glass tower, where a recently-sold studio fetched a record $3.88 million.

The perks will now include in-residence dining and an at-home sommelier service of curated vintages to stock the condo owners’ wine fridge.

“Our team can create menus from our menus. It’s like Uber Eats, but exclusively for my own offerings. I do my own Uber Eats,” Boulud quipped.

The restaurant will be located on the 27th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Residences; DBOX for SHVO

Private restaurants — often known as ‘the dining room’ — were common among a certain set of old-school Upper East Side co-ops, but they came to be de rigueur for the city’s new crop of luxury buildings, which have become like urban country clubs with no need for its “member” residents to ever leave the premises.

The trend started with 15 Central Park West and climbed to ever higher heights at buildings like 220 Central Park South and 432 Park Ave., the troubled 1,396-foot-tall skyscraper that once tried to recruit Boulud to helm its private restaurant.

“At the time, I was doing other projects and couldn’t, but I presented the young chef who is still running it,” said Boulud, referring to Michelin-starred Australian Chef Shaun Hergatt.

“We’ll provide casual dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” said Daniel Boulud, a recipient of France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur; Getty Images for Haute Living

The trick to running a private residents restaurant, Boulud said, is that “you have to be able to do dishes that change with the market, but also have simplicity.

That means a perfect spaghetti and tomato sauce and also healthy, fresh and simple options. It’s a service and convenience for residents who don’t always want to go out.”

The ingredients are the stars, he adds, from a perfect waygu steak to seasonal vegetables and burgers.

“We try to cook food you will enjoy — a tasty, simple, easy menu — not a multi-course experience like a Cafe Boulud or Le Pavillon,” he added. “We don’t run it like a restaurant but like a private dining room.”

Boulud Privé’s indoor/outdoor space offers sweeping views of the city’s skyline to the 69 residences in the ultra-luxury 55-story glass tower; DBOX for SHVO

The addition of Boulud Prive caps a  stellar year for the legendary chef.

He celebrated Restaurant Daniel’s 30th anniversary, opened Blue Box Cafe by Daniel Boulud at Tiffany & Co’s flagship on Fifth Avenue and just last week reopened his iconic Cafe Boulud in a glittering new location at 100 E. 63rd St. 

“It’s a new team, a new location, and a new era. It’s really nice, like a rebirth,” Boulud said.

While Cafe Boulud — named for the chef’s great grandparents’ restaurant on their farm in Lyon, France —  in New York was a staple of the Upper East Side elite’s dining options, it shuttered in 2021 following a change of ownership at the Hotel Surrey.

The addition of Boulud Prive caps a stellar year for the legendary chef; DBOX for SHVO

The new Cafe Boulud, where Altamarea Group’s Vaucluse once stood, will partner with Barnes International Realty, which will open Maison Barnes at the same address next year.

The French, ‘salon style’ space will feature a bar, dining area, private dining sections, a speakeasy and a wine cellar, according to BIR’s New York director Georgette Farkas, who worked closely with Boulud for two decades.

“I am delighted to take part in bringing you this ensemble of fine dining and event experiences created by Chef Daniel Boulud and Barnes International, for a luxurious taste of l’art de vivre a la Francaise on the Upper East Side,” Farkas wrote on her LinkedIn account.

Added Boulud: “We will pair with the best brands and hold events around wine, jewelry, fashion, cars, boats, and more.”

The perks at Mandarin Oriental Residences include in-residence dining and an at-home sommelier service of curated vintages to stock the condo owners’ wine fridge; DBOX for SHVO

Boulud and his hospitality company, the Dinex Group, have been on a roll since the pandemic ending, opening hotspots like Le Pavillon, where a swath of 42nd St. was shut down to truck in 10,000 pounds of black olive trees hoisted by crane into a window at One Vanderbilt, the $3.3 billion, 1,400-foot-high office tower.

He also launched Joji, the killer sushi spot hidden inside Grand Central station, Le Gratin downtown and Centurion NY.

A Mandarin Oriental Residences in Beverly Hills will also house a private Boulud restaurant. The property’s rooftop terrace lounge was recently booked for an event honoring Penelope Cruz, star of the upcoming Michael Mann film, “Ferrari.”

Cruz’s friends Salma Hayek and Kristen Stewart hosted the gathering – which included celebrities Geena Davia, Eiza Gonzalez, Patricia Arquette, and Vin Diesel.