The France-born Alain Ducasse belongs to the elite club of globe-trotting superstar chefs whose restaurants have scored Michelin stars and enjoy a rotating cast of A-list diners. The 56-year-old now oversees restaurants in France, Monaco, Russia, Italy, Britain, Hong Kong, Japan, and of course, New York — Adour Alain Ducasse at the St. Regis and Benoit. But his latest project is “J’aime New York,” a lavishly illustrated book about his favorite local joints in the city he first visited in 1975, when he came to work at Régine’s on Park Avenue. The book releases November 1. This is his French-foodie New York.
1. Saxelby Cheesemongers, Essex Market, 120 Essex St., at Delancey Street
“[Anne Saxelby is] someone who doesn’t sleep on the job. The evolution of cheese in America over the past 30 years has been simply extraordinary — actually it’s more of a revolution than an evolution. Americans now make remarkable raw-milk cheeses. The same thing happened with bread and vegetables. In 1975, all you could find was potatoes, onions and those huge tomatoes; now you go to Whole Foods and the selection is incredible.”
2. La Grenouille, 3 E. 52nd St., at Fifth Avenue
“It’s a picture-perfect representation of French-style elegance. It’s serious, but cozy, and the food follows suit. You feel welcome, but in a formal manner. I didn’t include lower-priced, neighborhood French bistros in the book — French cuisine has followed another path in New York. But then it’s getting harder to find a good neighborhood bistro in France, too.”
3. Le Bernardin, 155 W. 51st St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues
“For the ultimate dining experience in New York, I would have to pick [Eric Ripert’s] Le Bernardin. It’s the template for high-end restaurants. From the moment you walk in to the moment you leave, [owner] Maguy Le Coze makes sure everything is perfect: the space, the lighting, the furniture and of course the cooking. It just doesn’t get better than this. I always say that food is half what you eat and half where you eat it, and with whom.”
4. Annisa, 13 Barrow St., between Seventh Avenue South and W. Fourth St.
“[Anita Lo] is an excellent cook who does her own thing, and it’s a very New York thing. It’s well-prepared, well-seasoned, personal food that bridges Asia and America. It’s food that you remember enjoying eating. I have a passion for a Japanese product called yuba, which is the skin that forms on top of barely boiling soy milk. [Lo] made a salad with tomatoes and yuba that was extremely delicate and perfectly seasoned. Then I had chicken with pig’s feet that was remarkable.”
5. Pommes Frites, 123 Second Ave., between Seventh Street and St. Marks Place
“That’s a perfect example of a place that knows exactly what it’s doing, and does it really well. All it is is potatoes and perfect frying. Well, and those great sauces. Whenever I feel like eating something on the street, I go there.”
6. Burger Joint, 119 W. 56th St. between Sixth and Seventh avenues; Shake Shack, Madison Square Park
“The secret of a good burger is balance. You must have bread toasted just so, quality cheese and juicy meat with the right percentage of fat. It’s about the meat first and foremost, it has to be. They get it just right at the Burger Joint. And with the original Shake Shack, Danny Meyer added the perfect location. The food, the setting: It just doesn’t get any better.”
7. Diner, 85 Broadway, between Berry St. and Wythe Ave., Williamsburg
“You wouldn’t think a fried-chicken sandwich would be so appealing, but I had one there that was spot-on, the meat perfectly fried and seasoned. It takes real talent to cook that well at an affordable price.”
8. Mast Brothers, 111 N. Third St., at W. Main Street, Williamsburg
“Oh, you must visit their factory in Brooklyn! They do everything there. These two men found a product’s innermost essence — in this case chocolate — and put their spin on it. They successfully oversee everything from the roasting of the cocoa beans to the font on the wrapper. Like Pommes Frites or [Brooklyn’s] Four & Twenty Blackbirds, which makes only pies, this is an example of a successful single-product place. It’s all about the control these people have over that one thing they do.”
9. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, 630 Bedford Road
“It’s an hour and 45 minutes from Manhattan and well worth the trip. What they’ve done is create a perfect balance between form and function, design and food. It’s a completely coherent whole, like the locavore, organic, equitable answer to Le Bernardin. It’s a place that breathes differently from others.”