There is a particular pleasure in finding serious food somewhere you might not expect it. This summer, that place is Washington, Connecticut, where Daniel Boulud has brought Café Boulud to Mayflower Inn & Spa, Auberge Collection for a residency running through the end of 2026.
The collaboration feels particularly well suited to Mayflower. Set across 58 acres of gardens and woodland in Litchfield County, roughly two hours from New York City, the 35-room inn has long traded on a distinctly New England version of escape: polished but pastoral, with hiking trails, tennis, expansive gardens and a 20,000-square-foot spa set against the Connecticut countryside. Boulud’s cooking, deeply French in technique but driven by season and place, gives the property a new culinary reason to make the trip.
“Having always been a fan of the Mayflower Inn, I’ve admired it as a destination just outside New York that authentically reflects American values, the beauty of New England, and a spirit of European hospitality,” Boulud says. “Bringing Café Boulud here this summer is a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with the team and create a seasonal dining experience that celebrates the region’s ingredients.”
Café Boulud has taken up residence in the Mayflower’s Garden Room, the inn’s more formal dining space, with an entirely new menu created by Boulud. Rather than simply transplanting a New York restaurant to Connecticut, the residency draws on the chef’s familiar vocabulary of French cooking while leaning into the produce and rhythms of a New England summer.
The opening menu makes the case nicely. Chilled corn velouté arrives with Maine lobster, while an open-faced ravioli pairs with eggplant. Wild mushroom risotto is finished with summer truffle, and Tournedos Rossini brings a dose of unapologetic French richness. Dessert includes an île flottante with peach and verbena, a lighter, seasonal turn on the classic.
It is the kind of food that makes sense here: elegant enough for the Garden Room without feeling disconnected from the landscape just beyond its windows. And for Mayflower, the partnership expands the idea of the country retreat beyond spa appointments and long afternoons outdoors. Dinner becomes part of the destination.
Café Boulud is open in the Garden Room Thursday through Saturday from 5:30 to 9 p.m., with two-course, three-course and six-course menus priced at $95, $125 and $170 per person, respectively. Lunch is served daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Boulud’s presence extends into the rest of the inn as well. The more casual Tap Room now offers a selection of Café Boulud and chef favorites each evening, allowing guests to experience elements of the residency without committing to the full Garden Room menu. The partnership also includes special programming with Boulud, including a ticketed launch event, effectively refreshing the culinary program across the property rather than limiting the collaboration to a single dining room.
“Building on Mayflower Inn & Spa’s longstanding reputation for exceptional cuisine, we are honored to welcome Chef Daniel Boulud and Café Boulud to the property,” says Marco Bustamante, Vice President of Food and Beverage at Auberge Collection. “This partnership reflects our commitment to creating extraordinary dining experiences that celebrate both world-class talent and the unique character of each Auberge Collection destination.”
For Boulud, whose restaurant portfolio now stretches from New York to Toronto, Montreal, Singapore, Dubai, The Bahamas, Riyadh and Hong Kong, the Connecticut residency represents something more intimate. His restaurants have always balanced classical French foundations with a sensitivity to where they happen to be. At Mayflower, that approach has an unusually evocative backdrop.
The timing also plays to Mayflower’s strengths. The inn, which celebrated its centennial in 2020 with a redesign by Celerie Kemble, has evolved into a particularly stylish interpretation of the New England country house. Kemble’s interiors brought pattern, color and a certain residential looseness to the guest rooms, suites, restaurant and historic main house, countering the formality that can sometimes accompany grand old inns.
Then there is The Retreat, Mayflower’s 20,000-square-foot wellness sanctuary, with its greenhouse-like all-season pool, traditional hammam and Biophilic Thermal Pool. Together with the property’s gardens, trails and tennis court, it creates the sort of place where a two-night escape can be pleasantly unstructured.
The arrival of Café Boulud adds another dimension. It is easy enough to imagine the itinerary: leave Manhattan in the morning, arrive in time for lunch, disappear into the spa or the woods for the afternoon, then dress for dinner in the Garden Room. The appeal is not novelty for novelty’s sake, but the pairing of two institutions that understand the enduring pleasure of doing familiar things exceptionally well.
And because the residency continues only through the end of 2026, Café Boulud at Mayflower retains the quality of a seasonal diversion rather than a permanent reinvention. For the rest of year, at least, one of New England’s classic country escapes comes with a little more French savoir-faire.
