Boulud expands to Palm Beach

New York-based French master chef Daniel Boulud is making his first foray out of the Big Apple with a restaurant in south Florida.

Boulud, chef-owner of Daniel, Café Boulud and DB Bistro Moderne in New York, is opening a second Café Boulud on the island of Palm Beach.

Due to open at the end of this month, the new restaurant is part of the privately-owned Brazilian Court hotel, which is undergoing a $12m (£7.14m) renovation into an 80-suite condominium hotel. Guests can buy their own suite which, when not in use, can be rented out as a normal hotel room.

The menu at Café Boulud Palm Beach will mirror its sister restaurant in New York, with traditional French dishes, seasonal vegetarian dishes, and Boulud's interpretation of various world cuisines. The restaurant will also provide room service and cater for private parties. There will be a bar and lounge area seating 25, a 120-seat dining room, and two private dining rooms seating a further 160.

Boulud will oversee the cooking and make regular visits, and executive chef will be Zacariah Bell, sous chef at Café Boulud New York. Pastry chef Rémy Fünfrock is also moving from the New York establishment. Restaurant manager Philippe Langlois is a former manager at Daniel in New York.

Georgette Farkas, Boulud's spokeswoman, said Boulud expected a "substantial" part of his clientele to be his Manhattan customers, many of whom spent weekends and winters in Florida. Boulud was always considering offers to expand his empire, said Farkas.

"It wasn't that he chose this over a traditional hotel, it was just clear they were going to do a superb job in renovating it."

Boulud's next move will be to Las Vegas, where he plans to open a restaurant in 2005 attached to a new hotel to be called Le Reze.

By Gillian Drummond