New York Meets France at Daniel Boulud’s New Steakhouse La Tête d’Or
On a Friday afternoon in early November, an army of captains in black suit jackets with white trim are working in the sumptuous dining room with soaring ceilings at La Tête d’Or, chef Daniel Boulud’s first steakhouse. In the kitchen, there’s another army — this one of chefs in whites breaking down large cuts of beef, prepping bone marrow to a precise internal temperature of 53 degrees, and plating a smoked salmon appetizer.
Boulud is one of New York’s most prolific and celebrated restaurateurs, with 13 restaurants in New York alone, but he still seems to know the name of everyone in the kitchen and what they’re working on.
Nothing is left to chance at La Tête d’Or, which officially opens tonight, Nov. 19, a block off of Madison Square Park. Named for a park in Lyon, France, where Boulud grew up, the restaurant is arguably the chef’s most American project yet. There’s a soft-serve machine, a New York strip steak, and a tableside Caesar salad, but it still has a strong French inflection. “It’s the first time I’m flirting with the American DNA, a true American classic,” Boulud jokes.
We chatted with him and Sebastien Silvestri, the CEO of Boulud’s hospitality company, The Dinex Group. Here’s what to expect when you visit La Tête d’Or.
The Resy Rundown
La Tête d’Or
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Why We Like It:
Celebrated chef Daniel Boulud puts a French twist on a classic New York steakhouse just off of Madison Square Park. Here, a mix of American and French beef cuts are cooked over a custom-designed grill that’s open to a stunning dining room. -
Essential Dishes:
To start, there’s tableside Caesar, wood-fired bone marrow canoes, and plateaus of seafood, but you’re here for the steaks, which can be paired with sauces like au poivre or horseradish cream, seasoned butter, and sides including no fewer than six preparations of potatoes like pommes frites (French fries) and a baked potato “tartiflette,” a riff on a rich potato dish from the French Alps. -
Don’t Skip Dessert:
Boulud is fascinated by American ice cream stores, so expect sundaes with soft-serve and toppings like passionfruit marshmallows and housemade sprinkles. There’s also a devil’s food cake and a cookie plate.
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Who and What It’s For:
La Tête d’Or sits in the middle of the Venn diagram with steak lovers on one side and Francophiles on the other. Expect a dose of pageantry fit for a splurge-worthy special occasion, with a space designed by David Rockwell, the same firm behind the look and feel of restaurants like Coqodaq, The Corner Store, and Union Square Cafe. -
How to Get In:
Reservations are available up to 60 days in advance. -
Pro Tip:
While the restaurant is part of the One Madison Avenue development, the entrance is actually on Park Avenue at 24th Street.
1. Expect American and French cuts of beef — plus, a wagyu prime rib trolley.
“I always love steakhouses,” Boulud proclaims. The first time he visited one was in Dallas decades ago with chef Pierre Franey, who was the chef at Le Pavillon. “It was amazing,” he adds, and that visit spurred a love of the very American restaurant category.
At La Tête d’Or he wants to focus on the simplicity of a steakhouse with a lot of attention paid to the sourcing and preparation of the cuts themselves. He’s working with both Japanese and domestic suppliers including Snake River Farms, which pioneered wagyu in the U.S., and Scharbauer Ranch in Texas, which supplies the team with wagyu prime rib that will be rolled through the dining room on a trolley and served with creamed spinach, pommes purée, and a peppered popover. The cart is a “flashback,” Boulud says, to his days as a young chef working at a restaurant in Copenhagen where they served beef from a cart.
He’s also preparing American cuts like a New York strip alongside French ones like a queue de filet, a tail of a tenderloin, which Boulud describes as the cut a butcher or chef keeps for himself. For the moment, the suppliers are aging the beef for the restaurant, but the team is currently constructing an aging room downstairs.
Diners will be able to watch the steaks being cooked over a custom grill that’s open to the dining room. Designed by Boulud with Clay Oven, the grill offers several types of heat including charcoal, wood, and gas. “The idea is that there are a lot of options for heat and flavor,” Boulud explains.
The steaks are accompanied by sauces like au poivre or horseradish cream and flavored butters, and are finished “surf-on” like a lobster tail, or “turf-on,” like foie gras or shaved truffles. For sides, there are no fewer than six types of potato preparations, including fries and a riff on a baked potato inspired by tartiflette, a rich dish from the French Alps.
2. Yes, there are non-beef options.
While the steaks and their accompaniments are the heart of the menu, the main offerings also include a brick chicken, Dover sole meunière, a Colorado lamb triple chop, and a plate of grilled farmers’ market vegetables. (Though vegans may wish to cross the street to neighboring Eleven Madison Park, and seafood lovers can opt for Time and Tide two blocks north.)
Seafood also plays a part here with plateaus of chilled lobster, razor clams, and oysters, as well as kaluga and royal osetra caviars. And to start, there are Boulud’s takes on other steakhouse classics, including a Caesar salad prepared tableside; “the French wedge” with iceberg, Roquefort dressing, tomatoes, crispy shallots and smoked beef tongue; and a crabcake prepared with tarragon remoulade.
3. There are cakes, cookies, and soft-serve for dessert.
“When I go to a steakhouse, what I care about is a good cake. I don’t want a plated dessert with 10 different things,” Boulud explains. For the opening, the team is baking three cakes including a pecan joconde with praline and maple bourbon caramel, a cheesecake with speculoos crust and cranberry compote, and a devil’s food cake with whipped chocolate ganache.
“I’m fascinated by ice-cream stores in America,” Boulud adds. So, his team is preparing soft-serve in flavors like chocolate, vanilla bean, and berry-cassis with toppings like housemade sprinkles and passionfruit marshmallows. You can also choose to end the meal with a plate of cookies or cheeses.
Prolific chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud now has more than a dozen restaurants in New York City alone.
Photo by Bill Milne, courtesy of La Tête d’Or
The main dining room
Photo by Jason Varney for Rockwell Group, courtesy of La Tête d’Or
Rockwell Group, which also designed Coqodaq and many other high-profile restaurants, oversaw the design of La Tête d’Or.
Photo by Jason Varney for Rockwell Group, courtesy of La Tête d’Or
Steaks are grilled over an open flame on a custom-made grill.
Photo by Evan Sung, courtesy of La Tête d’Or
In keeping with Boulud’s French roots, you’ll find French onion soup on the menu.
Photo by Evan Sung, courtesy of La Tête d’Or
There’s also caviar, of course.
Photo by Evan Sung, courtesy of La Tête d’Or
… And a colorful Louie seafood salad.
Photo by Evan Sung, courtesy of La Tête d’Or
The bar.
Photo by Jason Varney for Rockwell Group, courtesy of La Tête d’Or
The entrance to the restaurant is on Park Avenue at 24th Street.
Photo by Jason Varney for Rockwell Group, courtesy of La Tête d’Or
4. Plan on a bottle of red — or a martini.
“Wine has always been a hallmark of our offering,” Boulud explains. Here, Evan White who previously worked with the Boulud team at Le Pavillon, oversees the offerings as head sommelier. “It’s going to be a really fun wine list for people who love steak and Bordeaux or wine from Napa,” Silvestri adds. There will also be offerings from Italy, particularly Tuscany, and Champagne, naturally.
For those looking for a cocktail, there are four house martinis including the “LTD dirty” with olive oil-washed Belvedere and brine, and the “New Money” with Select Aperitivo from Venice, Appleton Estate Rum, amaro, and citrus.
La Tête d’Or is open Tuesday through Saturday, with the lounge open from 4 p.m. to midnight and the dining room open from 5 to 11 p.m. They plan to open for six days and offer lunch service sometime next year.
Devra Ferst is a Brooklyn-based food and travel writer who has contributed to The New York Times, Bon Appétit, Eater, NPR, and numerous other publications. She is the co-author of “The Jewish Holiday Table: A World of Recipes, Traditions & Stories to Celebrate All Year Long.” Follow her on Instagram. Follow Resy, too.
