Aramark joins forces with celebrity chef Daniel Boulud on high-end catering company

Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud is partnering with Aramark to launch a new catering company focused on corporations, special events, galas and more in the greater New York City area.

Cuisine Boulud New York builds on the chef’s decades of high-end catering experience, now with enhanced operational infrastructure thanks to a partnership with Lifeworks Restaurant Group, a division of Aramark.

The catering company will operate out of a new, state-of-the-art 12,000-square-foot kitchen located at One Madison Avenue in Manhattan, serving as the exclusive caterer of the rooftop space there, Le Jardin sur Madison. La Tête d’Or, a new steakhouse slated to open in the building this fall, is a partnership between Boulud’s Dinex Group, LifeWorks and SL Green, the real estate investment trust that owns the property.

“I have always taken great pride in catering events and helping to create some of the most joyful moments of our guests’ lives,” Boulud said in a statement. “I have wonderful memories of working on some of the grandest events, not only in New York City, but also nationally and abroad over these past three decades. As a team, we particularly enjoy bringing our sense of creative expertise to an industry that can often be seen as standardized.”

The new catering operation will differentiate itself in the marketplace as a higher-end, elevated option, one with the ability to cater large-scale events, thanks to Aramark’s backing.

“We are thrilled to partner with Chef Daniel Boulud to expand his grand vision in catering,” LifeWorks CEO Gary Crompton said in a statement. “The culinary talent that Chef Boulud and his team bring to this catering company will upend expectations in this industry. Providing exceptional catering on a large scale is the synergy that drives this exciting joint venture.”

Philadelphia-based Aramark launched LifeWorks in 2012 as a premium division of the global foodservice and facilities services provider.

Boulud founded The Dinex Group in 1993 with the opening of his restaurant Daniel in New York City. That empire has since expanded to more than 20 other restaurants around the world.

“Dinex is known as a world-class restaurant group, and we believe that expanding our catering operations is the next logical step for us,” Dinex CEO Sebastien Silvestri said in a statement. “We see tremendous demand for a more elevated catering offering, and Daniel is the perfect person to bring this to New York. With our partners at LifeWorks, we will immediately have the scale to take on the most prestigious projects in the region.”