From left: Daniel Boulud,  Alain Ducasse,
Marcus Samuelsson and Gray Kunz.

Illustration by Kim Goode

Take a look at the city’s most talked-about restaurants and it’s clear: The paradigm has shifted. Food groupies stalk prime-time tables at the itsy-bitsy Little Owl the way they once chomped at the bit for a two-top at Daniel. Despite Gray Kunz’s unimpeachable reputation as a genius of Asian flavors, it’s Momofuku kingpin David Chang who’s inspired a religious following for his casual Asian- and Greenmarket-inspired fare. Then there’s Alain Ducasse, a chef with nine Michelin stars. While lines were spilling out the door at downtown destinations like Fatty Crab and Falai last year, he closed Essex House, his showpiece New York restaurant that just didn’t take.

But this fall, four veterans of the celebrity-chef old guard—Daniel Boulud, Kunz, Ducasse and Marcus Samuelsson—attempt to seize back the spotlight. Not since the Time Warner Center emerged on the midtown skyline has the city seen such a high concentration of star-driven openings. In late September, Samuelsson will bring his take on contemporary African food to the Meatpacking District with Merkato 55, betting big bucks that shrimp piri piri will become the new Berkshire pork bun. Kunz will unveil Grayz, an upscale lounge serving cocktails and high-minded finger food in the old Aquavit space. November will see the launch of Bar Boulud, Boulud’s low-key wine- and charcuterie-focused spot in the West 60s. And Ducasse hopes to stage a Gotham comeback with the restaurant Adour, an amalgam of high-tech wizardry (an interactive wine bar where tasting notes are projected onto the bar) and classic dining (sole meunière, albeit thoroughly Ducasse-ified), to be opened in the St. Regis space that once housed Lespinasse.

Ducasse is returning to a New York City that’s far different from the one that gave the over-the-top Essex House a prickly reception when it opened seven years back. Today’s restaurantgoing public seems to favor a memorable yet laid-back experience over destination dining, but isn’t averse to spending the big bucks that New Yorkers scoffed at when Ducasse introduced his $145 mandatory prix fixe. So rather than reassert the fine-dining model that made them famous, the masters are adopting a down-market style for these latest ventures. Instead of embracing opulence and prohibitive pricing, Kunz, for one, is looking to foster a less formal scene with a lower barrier to entry, and Boulud decided on a spot even more casual than DB Bistro Moderne.

Yet will simply scaling down make them as buzzworthy as their junior counterparts? Steven Shaw, author of Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out and founder of the eGullet Society, the no-holds-barred gastro-chat site, considers this a move in the wrong direction. “Who out there could say, ‘Ooh, I can’t wait until Grayz opens’? ” he says. “I don’t think Gray gets his name back unless he does a fine-dining restaurant.” On the whole, Shaw sees this fall’s crop of high-profile-chef-driven vehicles as hedged bets destined for dullness. There’s no gamble in Boulud-approved terrines—who wouldn’t want a taste?—and Adour’s more casual concept will probably insulate Ducasse from another round of rotten tomatoes.

It should come as no surprise that it was tough getting younger chefs, who parlayed their experience working for the culinary big boys into successful informal spots that don’t skimp on technique or ingredients, to weigh in on whether their mentors could do the same. Pichet Ong of P*ong, however,who made his name working for Jean-Georges Vongerichten, speaks with some candor. “The young chefs are like independent filmmakers,” he says. “There are always going to be Spielberg films, but we’ve come up with the original plotlines.” Boqueria’s Seamus Mullen, artfully dodging the question of whether Samuelsson’s venture would succeed, offers, “Marcus has enough clout with the media and the New York dining public to draw people in.” Yet in discussing why restaurants like Boqueria attract crowds, he points not only to its informality and relative affordability, but also to the lack of towering expectations. “Places like Boqueria and [Momofuku] Ssäm Bar underpromise and overdeliver,” he says.

Operating without the luxury of low expectations is the fee for the built-in cachet the Boulud and Samuelsson names bring. But because these chefs are jumping into a crowded pool, maintaining excitement will be harder than ever.

Samuelsson himself admits his new project is no sure thing, but he downplays the extent of the gamble. “Not as many people have a reference point for African food like they do for French food,” he says. “But if you don’t believe in risks, you shouldn’t open a restaurant.”