Sacre Boulud! Famed chef to bring back beloved cafe on Upper East Side

Upper East Side food lovers are ecstatic that Daniel Boulud just signed a lease to launch a new restaurant at 100 E. 63rd St. — which the chef told Realty Check will be a revival of much-loved Cafe Boulud.

Boulud’s Dinex Group and an unidentified French partner signed the deal for about 5,000 square feet at the corner of East 63rd Street and Park Avenue, which was home to many distinguished restaurants over the past century. It was most recently Altamarea Group’s Vaucluse, which closed after the start of the pandemic.

“It’s very exciting for me,” said Boulud, who has wanted to revive Cafe Boulud ever since the original closed. “It will remain a destination for locals, for foodies and for our loyal customers,” he said. The restaurant will open some time this fall.

Cafe Boulud was previously in the Surrey Hotel on East 76th Street. It was forced to close for good in May 2021 when the hotel went into bankruptcy and was taken over by Britain’s Reuben Brothers, who plan to reopen it under the Corinthia Hotel flag. The Reubens are installing private club Casa Tua where the restaurant was.

Cafe Boulud’s a la carte menu was less expensive than Boulud’s prix-fixe offering at flagship Restaurant Daniel on East 65th Street, but it was much more than a “cafe.” A succession of fine chefs he chose to run the kitchen made it a prime spot for lovers of modern French and global cuisine as well as the city’s movers and shakers.