The Bocuse Restaurant Opens in Hyde Park

There was lots of excitement — both locally and in the worldwide dining community — when the Bocuse Restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America opened with a celebrity chef-studded dinner in February. Named after pioneering French chef Paul Bocuse, 87 — the CIA named him the “chef of the century” in 2011 — the eatery replaced the stuffy but beloved Escoffier Restaurant, the culinary college’s flagship teaching restaurant for almost 40 years.

The Bocuse represents a whole new era in fine dining as many of the formal French flourishes of yesterday have been updated. We love that your entrée is still served under silver-domed cover, but the new dessert and ice-cream cart that turns sweet cream into an unbelievably smooth treat right before your eyes? Browsing the wine list via your own table-side iPad? And yes, fabulous French food? We’ll take it all, along with a reservation, s’il vois plaît.

» Read the Bocuse Restaurant review
» Visit the Bocuse Restaurant in Hyde Park, NY

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