DANIEL

There is no one way into the restaurant world.  You may grow up in the industry as the General Manager of Daniel, Pierre Siue, did. Perhaps you started at fourteen-years-old as a dishwasher like Executive Chef Jean-François Bruel. Or maybe you started as a stock trader like Executive Pastry Chef Ghaya Oliveria did, but chose the kitchen over IPOs. Like a multiple-choice test, you may choose A, B, C or none of the above, but with enough determination and work, you can build a career in restaurants. Whether front or back of house, those serving in restaurants are not only aspiring actors or struggling musicians, but devoted to the craft of hospitality. At our tour of Daniel, the two Michelin star flagship restaurant of famed chef Daniel Boulud, we got a taste of the varied backgrounds that restaurant staff bring to the table:

General Manager, Pierre siue

As the older sibling, Pierre had to clear tables in his grandmother’s Vietnamese restaurant in Paris, while his younger brother got to set them. “I swore I would never clear plates for a living,” he said. That wasn’t quite true. After working his way up from dishwasher to manager at his uncle’s French bistro and becoming a Maître’ d for the French prime minister, he realized that, “restaurants are in my DNA.” He enrolled in a professional school to continue his restaurant career training. Two weeks before his final exam he dropped out, moving far from the nineteenth arrondissement in Paris where he grew up, to New York City. He spent his first few days dropping-off resumes at restaurants across the city. At Daniel, he remembered being welcomed like a guest at the door and was given a tour. Shortly after, he started as a food runner, carrying hot plates of food from the kitchen to tables. He then became a server assistant, helping clear tables and refill water glasses. His next step was as a captain, who takes orders and facilitates the guests’ experience. After becoming a lead captain, he became the general manager in charge of a staff of 130 and organizing the smooth service of one New York’s most acclaimed restaurants.

Executive Chef, Jean-François Bruel

In the same office that Pierre Siue pours over the financial reports in, sits executive chef Jean-François Bruel, an arm’s length separating their seats. He reviews the ingredient orders for the new menu. “I spend more time with him than his family” jokes Siue. “He never leaves the restaurant before eleven.”  Chef arrives in the early afternoon, one of the last to leave the kitchen at night after service is finished. He was also raised in France. He grew up on a farm outside the village of Leon. There, he fell in love with pastry, inspired by his mother. By fourteen he was already working in a professional kitchen, albeit as a dishwasher, but this motivated him to go to cooking school where he traded sweet for savory. With training, he came to the U.S. in 1996, spending his first two years as a Chef de Partie, or a “line cook”—one of many cooks in the kitchen, each assigned to their own station such as the sauté, pasta, or grill. Chef Bruel would float around the Boulud restaurants, becoming a sous chef—the second in command to the head chef—at Café Boulud where he learned to blend French technique and American ingredients, earning a James Beard award. Finally, he became the executive chef of Daniel in 2003, managing 30 chefs, and achieving two Michelin stars. He works with the added pressure of the renowned chef and owner Daniel Boulud, living just above the restaurant, “He will drop in, sometimes, I will talk to him ten times in one day, others days not at all.”

Executive Pastry Chef, Ghaya Oliveira

Unfortunately, it’s not often that a woman’s name proceeds the title of executive chef. The kitchen tends to be male-driven. But since 2007, chef Oliveira has held the title. First at Bar Boulud, then at Boulud Sud, and as of 2013 at Daniel. Before she wore a chef’s jacket, Oliveira wore business attire, as a stock trader in Tunisia where she grew up. She moved to the U.S. in 1998, graduating from the Culinary Academy and completing a program in Restaurant Management from the French Culinary Institute. While in school she started from the “bottom” of the restaurant, dishwashing (you’ll notice a common theme of starting in this position). After she graduated, she joined Café Boulud as a Pastry Commis—a pastry line chef—refining her technique and continuing to learn before becoming a sous and then executive chef. She has been nominated for “Outstanding Pastry Chef” three times (2012, 2015, 2016) by the James Beard Foundation, a testament to her years of hard work and honing her craft.

All photos from the event are available on our Facebook page here.