2012 Commencement Speakers
Chef Daniel Boulud
Daniel Boulud, a native of Lyon, France, is today considered one of America’s leading culinary authorities and one of New York’s most revered chefs. He has made this city his home since 1982, and is the man to turn to when it comes to French cuisine in New York. Daniel is chef-owner of db Bistro Moderne, DBGB Kitchen and Bar, Bar Boulud, Café Boulud, Boulud Sud and Épicerie Boulud. In all his restaurants you’ll find a warm welcome combined with traces of the soulfully satisfying traditional cooking he grew up with on his family’s Rhone Valley farm. Yet he is best known for New York’s exquisitely refined DANIEL, the renowned three Michelin star Relais & Châteaux restaurant. You’ll also discover the chef’s ingredient driven seasonal French-American cooking in Miami and Palm Beach, FL and internationally in London, Singapore and Beijing. Boulud is the recipient of three James Beard Foundation awards, including Outstanding Chef and Outstanding Restaurateur and was named a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by the French government as well as Chef of the Year 2011 by The Culinary Institute of America. He is the author of six cookbooks and the creator and host of the television series, After Hours with Daniel. Boulud is a generous and energetic supporter of Citymeals-on-Wheels, serving on their board of directors since 2000 and is also co-founder and Chairman of the Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation. www.danielnyc.com
Chef Gavin Kaysen
NECI Alumni AOS Culinary Arts 2001, BA Food & Beverage Management 2003
“Gavin has energy, talent and incredible motivation,” says Daniel Boulud of Gavin Kaysen, Café Boulud’s Executive Chef since late 2007 “He is a very well trained American Chef who embraces classic French cooking,” making him a superb choice for Café Boulud, and its French-American cuisine. He also has drive and courage, demonstrated by his taking on the famously rigorous Bocuse d’Or International Cuisine Competition, a veritable culinary Olympics held biennially in Lyon, France. Leading up to the 2007 competition Kaysen turned to Boulud as a mentor figure who would help him to navigate the French culinary world. The experience lead Gavin Kaysen to New York, where he arrived with several accolades under his belt. He has been awarded “Critic’s Choice Best Chef” by San Diego Magazine, named one of Food & Wine Magazine’s “10 Best New Chefs” (2007) and appeared in the Next Iron Chef TV series. Most recently, Gavin won the James Beard Foundation’s prestigious 2008 “Rising Star Chef” award. Originally from Bloomington, MN, Gavin worked as Executive Chef at San Diego’s Rancho Bernardo Inn for three years. He gained international experience at l’Auberge de Lavaux in Lausanne Switzerland and under Marco Pierre White at London’s l’Escargot.
