Yann Nury

Yann Nury. Photo: Courtesy of Yann Nury

For New York chef Yann Nury, catering is not one size fits all. Of the 400 menus his team created last year, every single one was unique, which is why he’s regularly hired by style-setting brands like Dior and Tiffany & Co. as well as a lengthy list of very private VIPs. “People call a caterer because they need one for a party, not because they’re craving the food,” says Nury, who went to business school in Paris and has “never taken a single cooking class.” “I make the food the main experience, though, with curated, creative feasts.” This fall, in opening a kitchen and social spot designed by stylish French architect Charles Zana, he intends to redefine the concept of a dinner party.

A truffle pie with petals of onions, kinome, and onion jus. Photo: Travis W Keyes

On the menu: “There’s caviar in at least one dish at every event—it’s festive and special. Everybody loves it, and the less expensive farmed versions are quite delicious.”

Modern inspiration: “For a dinner at Philip Johnson’s Glass House, we researched the classic recipes he would prepare and refined them, and then served everything in glasses and silver from the era. It was something else to cook on the original stove in his kitchen.”

Pannacotta of citrus in sumo kumquats from California, smoked wild trout roe. Photo: Travis W Keyes

Going the distance: “We found an antique meat slicer from the 1820s and drove it 3,000 miles from the South of Italy to create an Italian peasant banquet in the riding ring, where the Chantilly horses practice, for a Dior couture event in France. There’s nothing like seeing women in couture digging into wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano.”

Canapés suspended gold in king crab jelly, golden ossetia Nantucket bay scallops, “ceviche” iberico ham and shies blossoms, quiche with white truffles and aged fontina, twice bakes potatoes with sorrento lemon and caviar, foie gras with 5 baies, buckwheat brioche, toasted oats. Photo: Travis W Keyes

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2019 Spring Issue under the headline Creative Minds. Subscribe to the magazine.