All of New York seems to be talking about the new restaurant, Le Coucou, by chef Daniel Rose. Fortunately, Daniel's son and Bénédicte's daughter attended the same nursery school, and after a playdate one day, a podcast recording was arranged. Daniel has led an incredible life––a Chicago native, he studied philosophy in France before opening several successful French restaurants in Paris. Our late-afternoon conversation at Le Coucou was so fascinating that we recorded right through our planned apéro.

We spoke about modernizing traditional French cuisine (7:51), expanding traditional French food internationally (22:48), Daniel's dream of eating ortolan (10:57), and why Americans love the Big Mac (10:04).