Grilled: 2009 Citymeals-on-Wheels benefit

Michael Psilakis and Marco Moreira on the tanking economy. Plus, how Daniel Boulud found out about his four stars—on the side of the Jersey Turnpike.

Citymeals-on-Wheels was co-founded in 1981 by former New York critic Gael Greene as a way for the NYC restaurant community to support the homebound elderly. A worthy cause, indeed. At this fundraiser and book launch held at the not-quite-built 15USW (we took one of those construction elevators up a few stories to a couple staged apartments), we quizzed chefs about how they were responding to the poor economy. Plus, Daniel Boulud dished on his four-star review, published that very day. All questions were pulled randomly out of a sauce pan.

We spoke with Kurt Gutenbrunner (Wallse), Michael Psilakis (Anthos), Anita Lo (Annisa), Marco Moreira (Tocqueville), Nancy Olson (Gramercy Tavern), Suvir Saran (Devi) and Daniel Boulud (Daniel).

By Matt Rodbard; photos by Jori Klein