David Bouley

David Bouley (May 27, 1953 – February 13, 2024) was an American and French chef. He was a sole owner and chef of restaurants in Tribeca, New York City, best known for his flagship restaurant, Bouley.

Early life and education
Bouley was born on May 27, 1953, in Storrs, Connecticut. He attended the University of Connecticut, later completing the Cours de Civilisation Française at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Career
Bouley worked in restaurants in Cape Cod, Santa Fe, New Mexico, France and Switzerland. While in Europe, after studies at the Sorbonne, he worked with chefs Roger Vergé, Paul Bocuse, Joël Robuchon, Gaston Lenôtre, Frédy Girardet, and Paul Haeberlin. 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 spent 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, which earned a four-star review in the New York Times and won several James Beard Foundation awards, including 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 score of 4.9 out of 5 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.

In 1997, Bouley moved and reopened 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, the 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 Tribeca in 2011. Brushstroke was a combined effort between Bouley and the Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka, to share Japanese food culture and products while integrating American ingredients. It received two Michelin stars.

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 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.

He was one of the first chefs in America to create tasting menus. He was sought out by those with auto-immune challenges. This approach won him Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University and the Rogosin Institute, an affiliate of New York-Presbyterian hospital.

In 2015, Bouley was the first non-Japanese citizen to garner the Japanese Cuisine (Washoku) Goodwill Ambassador honor 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.

He was dedicated to the use of pure ingredients to foster good health. He was a pioneer in using organic, wild-caught, grass-fed, and finished or foraged products. 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, 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).

Personal life
Bouley died from a heart attack at his home in Kent, Connecticut, on February 13, 2024, at the age of 70.

Restaurants
Bouley Bakery earned two Michelin Stars before it changed locations in 2008 and was renamed Bouley Restaurant. His other restaurant, Danube, also initially received two Michelin stars. The Danube location was transformed into a new entity called Brushstroke Restaurant.

Brushstroke Restaurant, located at 30 Hudson Street and opened in April 2011, was a combined effort between Bouley and the Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka, to share Japanese food culture and products while integrating American ingredients.

Bouley Test Kitchen is a private event and testing 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. It was relocated from TriBeCa, lower Manhattan, to the Flat Iron District in October 2017.

Bouley Botanical, on another corner in TriBeCa, located at 281 Church Street, is an event space which serves as an educational forum to develop creative healthy eating lifestyles through its lecture series: The Chef & The Doctor.

Bouley at Home is at 31 West 21st Street in the Flat Iron District. It is a collaboration with Bulthaup Kitchen Design group based in Germany, with divisions across the United States and Europe.

Awards

 * Gohan Society's Washoku Ambassador Award ("Washoku" means "harmony of food" in Japanese)
 * Officier de Bouche from Confrerie Gastronomique de la Marmitr d'OR 2007
 * Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University
 * Honorary Ph.D. From the University of Connecticut
 * Knight in the Order of the agricultural Merit 2022
 * James Beard: Outstanding Restaurant 1991, Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America 1991, Best Chef in America Award 1994, Outstanding Chef 2000

Books

 * East of Paris: The New Cuisines of Austria and the Danube (Ecco) Authors: David Bouley, Mario Lohninger, Melissa Clark (2003).