Céline Labaune has the knowledge, passion and dedication to finding us only the best truffles from the most reliable source of truffle pickers. It is always a pleasure and a relief to work with the ones who care the most!

Loyal customers, or customers who recommend their friends, give me the most pride. I think that is the biggest compliment I can get. I think in the restaurant business, it takes patience from the customer to spark up a relationship with the restaurateur, but it takes also work from the restaurateur to spark up a relationship with his customer.

I wanted to work in a restaurant. Le Cirque was looking for a chef and they approached me. I was excited to be able to be part of this restaurant with an amazing reputation, but not a good one for food at the time. I made it clear that if I was coming to Le Cirque it was going to change.

I like to go hear jazz late-night up in Harlem.

After six years at Le Cirque, I decided to start my own business. I opened Daniel at 76th Street in May 93.

Boning is a pain, but it makes such a majestic chicken.

Receiving the president of the United States in your restaurant is a big thing. Obama came three times. There's a sense of pride when you're one of few who has had a chance to spend an evening with the president of the United States. Despite if he's Republican or Democrat, we accept them all. Also, I remember days when I had Julia Child coming, with close friends. I had a great relationship with Julia. So those moments are more of affection and admiration than of fancy pride.