Daniel Boulud is deceiving. At first glance, watching him on television, he comes off as shy or even aloof. A guy like him would never be caught listening to rock or rap music. Bourdain? Sure. Boulud? No, right?

Except that he does. While talking about his upcoming special on the Asian Food Channel (AFC), Daniel Boulud: One Night in Singapore, he shares with SPOT.ph his thoughts on his new restaurant, DBGB, what he listens to both in and out of the kitchen, the intricacies of organizing those fascinating dinners on his show After Hours, and the chef he'd want to challenge on Iron Chef.

A unique part of your menu for the upcoming special, One Night in Singapore, is the creation of separate menus for the men and women. What was your reason for this?

Well, it was a chance to show off some versatility and to do something that really has not been done before. If you come to New York, [to] Daniel, the ladies and gentlemen do have different dishes but the dishes are always compatible, so if you want to taste each other's dish, you can. Also, in Asia, the culture of sharing is very vivid. So, I think it wasn't awkward at all to do it.

Your new restaurant, DBGB, offers more affordable dishes compared to your other restaurants. Is this part of an overall strategy on your part?

Yes it was, even before the economic crisis hit. The restaurant was programmed two and a half   years before, when things were going strong. I wanted to create something that would be a step down from Bar Boulud (his Midtown Manhattan restaurant).   I was also going downtown (with DBGB) and I needed a restaurant that would be right for downtown but, at the same time, also right for me going downtown. The menu offerings and the price point was very important for me to be able to offer both value and quality.

In an interview with Amy Barrett of the New York Times, you said that you listen to hard rock and rap in your car. What do you listen to now?

Bands? Ah, well Talking Heads is always nice, you know, especially at DBGB because David Byrne (of the Talking Heads) has played before at DBGB. We play a lot of Talking Heads and in my car, too. I like classic, old rock and roll, and rap music.