Eric Ripert Shares His Go-to NYC Restaurant, Where He Travels to Dine — and How He Created the Caribbean's Most Iconic Food Festival

The acclaimed chef tells T+L all about his travel routine, how trying new cuisines is the key to exploring a new place, and more.

Eric Ripert was just 5 years old when he realized he wanted to be a chef.

Now, he's a world-renowned culinary icon with a 4-Michelin star restaurant, the author of six cookbooks, and has earned a host of accolades from being named the "top chef in NYC" by the James Beard Foundation to winning daytime Emmy awards.

But the fame that's come along with doing what he loves is just a bonus, he told Travel + Leisure.

"I've wanted to be a chef in a fine dining restaurant — to have the best equipment, the best ingredients, a big team around me, to create food and experience for the clients — all my life," he said.

Manhattan-based Ripert runs the Michelin-awarded French restaurant Le Bernardin but when he's not dining at his Midtown spot, he's exploring New York City's robust food scene.

"The beauty of New York is that we have so many options and there are so many new restaurants opening," Ripert said. "I always try to go to a new restaurant, then stay home one night, and then go see another restaurant from a friend."

Ripert, who by trade is uniquely positioned to identify the ever-changing culinary scene in New York City, told T+L he's excited about the rising trend of small counter eateries that seat 20 people or less.

"It's a lot of small restaurants like that opening, and the food is quite good and it's really inspiring," he said. "Atomix is an example of that."

Chef Eric Ripert

What’s a favorite restaurant of yours to go to on a night off?
Balthazar. I go every two weeks for lunch.
What is the No. 1 meal a first-time visitor to France should have?
Croissant. (Specifically, he likes to go to a charcuterie to buy a baguette and make his own sandwiches.)
What is a restaurant red flag for you?

I'm very sensitive to cleanliness — and cleanliness is not only visual, but it's also the smell. If I go to a place and it doesn't look too good and [is] a little bit dirty, and there's a smell, I'm not going there. I don't even do the test of the bathroom.
How do you spend time on a plane?

A long flight or a short flight, when I go on a plane, the idea is to sleep as much as I can. I like to vegetate. I do not read, do not touch my phone (not even emails), I do not do anything. I'm just enjoying the moment that I am disconnected from the world.

What's one thing you can't travel without?

There's nothing I can't travel without, but I always travel with a Buddha, which I put in my hotel room.

However, 1,500 miles away, the famed chef takes his explorations to the Cayman Islands and sets up shop at the Cayman Cookout, a culinary event which takes place at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, bringing together some of the world's most acclaimed chefs and passionate guests every January.

Ripert said the idea came one night some 18 years ago over champagne at the hotel, while chatting about how beautiful the island was in January and how quiet the hotel was after the holidays.

The answer? A food and wine festival.

When it first started in 2007, it was a 3-day affair. However, in 2024, the Cayman Cookout had grown into a five-day festivity. "We started very small," Ripert told us this year's festival.

"It was Anthony Bourdain, myself, José Andrés, and two or three chefs — and that was it," he added. "A couple of events and a couple of dinners. Today, as we know, that has grown quite a bit and there's a lot of national talent."

Fast forward to 2024 and the lineup included chefs such as James Kent, Kristen Kish, Angie Mar, Emeril Lagasse, Enrique Olvera, Kwame Onwuachi, Antonio Bachour, and Andrew Zimmern.

Now in its 15th year, Ripert has created an event so special that many guests are regulars who return year after year. (Even the first-time attendees told T+L they'd be back.)

"I'm happy people come back — it's a compliment," said Ripert, who credits this phenomenon to an array of variables: the event is intimate, it's on a stunning luxury property, and the weather is impeccable. "I think what also brings people back is that they have tremendous options in front of them."

Events this year included a humor-filled paella demo by Andrés, a lunch featuring Mexican dishes by Olivera, deep sea fishing with Lagasse, a private jet trip to Jamaica's Golden Eye Resort for a traditional meal with Ripert, and a vibey beach BBQ featuring dishes from all the chefs.

Additionally, Ripert's presence on the island reaches beyond the annual cookout, and is somewhat permanent, as he has a restaurant, Blue by Eric Ripert, at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman.

Marc Langevin, the general manager of The Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman, told T+L that Ripert essentially "created the fine dining scene in the Cayman Islands" when he opened Blue back in 2005.

"When we put the name Eric Ripert here, we self-proclaimed ourselves the culinary capital of the Caribbean, but it's not a question anymore," Langevin said of Blue's impact on the island's restaurant scene.

Beyond the Cayman Islands, Ripert is quick to spotlight the role food plays when visiting a new place.

"The gastronomy of a region tells you a story," he said. "So you don't travel anymore just to see the monuments, but you go to have a lifestyle and an experience and understand the culture through the food experience."

One of the key players in making food a pivotal part of the travel experience, according to Ripert, is the Michelin Guide, explaining that who decades ago "were the pioneers" who got people "traveling all over the world."

Ripert also credited his late friend Bourdain for empowering travelers to get out of their hotel and go on a food adventure.

"When you think about it, Anthony Bourdain did a great job because he was in your living room taking you to a destination," Ripert said. "He always said the best way to understand a culture is by food."

As for his favorite food cities, he shared his top two are are on different continents.

"Of course I love Paris — I'm biased to it since I'm French," he said. "But Tokyo is a very, very special city for food. I love going there once a year and it's one of my favorite destinations."

However he gave a special mention to Los Angeles as an underrated destination due to its "amazing Japanese cuisine."

But whether it be the people traveling to a new city, the Cayman Cookout or the patrons at his restaurants, Ripert wants people to have "a good time at the moment" and to "disconnect from their universe."

"If we can deliver something that makes them forget their life, then we are happy," he said.

You can book your spot at the 2025 Cayman Cookout here.

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