Bouley worked in restaurants in Cape Cod,
Santa Fe, New Mexico, France and Switzerland. While in Europe, after studies at
the Sorbonne, he worked with chefs
Roger Vergé,
Paul Bocuse,
Joël Robuchon,
Gaston Lenôtre,
Frédy Girardet, and
Paul Haeberlin. Bouley returned to work in New York City in leading restaurants of the time, such as
Le Cirque,
Le Périgord, and
La Côte Basque, as well as spent time as
sous chef in a restaurant opened by Roger Vergé in San Francisco. In 1985, he became chef of
Montrachet restaurant, awarded three stars in its first three weeks by the New York Times. In 1987, he became chef/owner of his namesake restaurant,
Bouley, in
Tribeca overlooking
Duane Park, which earned a four-star review in the
New York Times and won several
James Beard Foundation awards, including Best Restaurant and Best Chef. In 1997, Bouley moved and reopened as the Bouley Bakery. David Bouley was the first ‘Chef’ to ever be featured on the cover of the New York Times Magazine. In September 1999, Bouley opened
Danube, a
Viennese-inspired restaurant, located on
Hudson Street, and authored his first book,
East of Paris: The New Cuisines of Austria and the Danube. In 1999, the bakery earned four stars by
The New York Times and two
Michelin Stars before it changed locations in 2008 and was renamed Bouley Restaurant. His other restaurant, Danube, also received two Michelin stars. The Danube location was transformed into a new entity called Brushstroke Restaurant in Tribeca in 2011. Brushstroke was a combined effort between Bouley and the
Tsuji Culinary Institute in
Osaka, to share Japanese food culture and products while integrating American ingredients. It received two Michelin stars. He was one of the first chefs in America to create tasting menus. He was sought out by those with auto-immune challenges. This approach won him Lifetime Achievement Awards from the
Celiac Disease Center at
Columbia University and the Rogosin Institute, an affiliate of New York-Presbyterian hospital. In 2015, Bouley was the first non-Japanese citizen to garner the Japanese Cuisine (Washoku) Goodwill Ambassador honor by the Japanese Government. In 2020, the French Government bestowed upon Bouley the honor of the title of Knight in the Order of the agricultural Merit (). ==Personal life==