Eddy Leroux

Eddy Leroux’s passion for food began as a schoolboy. Raised in the town of Douai, in northern France close to the Belgian border, he grew up in a diverse neighborhood and attended school with Moroccans, Poles, and other Eastern Europeans. At lunch time, curious about the dishes his classmates brought from home, Eddy began to trade his own meals for theirs, growing to love their more exotically seasoned and spiced cuisines.

At the age of 14, Eddy began formal culinary training and at 18 was a finalist in the national competition for best French apprentice. By 23, Eddy was rapidly working his way up in the kitchens of Paris’s Michelin 3-star restaurant, Lucas Carton. There under chef Alain Senderens, one of the founding fathers of la nouvelle cuisine, Eddy honed his technique and opened his palate to the array of luxurious ingredients at his fingertips. During his five year tenure with Senderens, Eddy took a four-month assignment in Thailand, working as Chef de Cuisine of the renowned Le Normandie in the Oriental Hotel, Bangkok. At Le Normandie Eddy cooked alongside a visiting cadre of international Michelin-starred chefs, all the while exploring the flavors, spices and produce of Thai cuisine on his days off. Curious to discover more of Asia, Eddy traveled around South Korea and Myanmar before returning once again to Paris and Lucas Carton.

Soon, Eddy’s appetite for adventure enticed him to New York City, where he took the post of Chef de Cuisine under Laurent Gras at the Waldorf Astoria legendary Peacock Alley He spent four years there until one evening in 2002 he cooked for Daniel Boulud’s annual Citymeals-on-Wheels charity gala, assisting an incredible roster of chefs: Guy Savoy, Gordon Ramsey, Eric Ripert and of course Daniel Boulud. Before long, Boulud invited Eddy to join him at DANIEL as Executive Sous Chef. In June 2005, Eddy was promoted to Chef de Cuisine of DANIEL.

Eddy is also co-author with DANIEL foraging vendor, Tama Matsuoka Wong, of the cookbook Foraged Flavor: Finding Fabulous Ingredients in Your Backyard or Farmer’s Market, with 88 Recipes (Clarkson Potter, June 2012). The cookbook received recognition as a 2013 James Beard nominee for vegetable focus and the vegetarian categories.