Watch our exclusive video for a first-time peek inside the Skybox, the private dining room overlooking the kitchen at Restaurant DANIEL. 

Step into the revolving front door of Daniel, Chef Daniel Boulud’s flagship fine-dining restaurant, walk through the magnificent dining room and behind a wall of wine bottles, and you’ll end up in the kitchen — the “central nerve” of the restaurant, as Chef Boulud describes it. It is bustling with prep cooks and pastry chefs, who stay busy trimming asparagus and piping ganache. And inside the kitchen, at the top of a short, very steep staircase, is the Skybox.

The Skybox is the private dining room at Daniel, directly adjacent to his personal office. Think of it as the ultimate chef’s table. It’s a tiny space, just big enough for a plush four-person booth and a shelf of tchotchkes pressed against the wall. The walls themselves are covered with framed photos of familiar faces: Nicole Kidman, Barack Obama, and Woody Allen, many of them posing with Chef Boulud. It’s impossible not to notice a giant red sneaker, a souvenir once worn by Shaquille O’Neal. Most importantly, the Skybox overlooks the kitchen, offering a rare insight into the inner workings of one of the world’s best restaurants.

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