Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester
Gougeres
Passion Fruit, Apricot, and Hibiscus Punch
Bacon Focaccia and Scottish Soda Bread, Cereal Sesame with Herbs and Epi Baguette, Black Olive and White Baguette with Farmhouse Butter and Whipped Crème Fraiche Spread
Scallop/Caviar
Scottish Langoustines – minestrone broth
Seared Foie Gras – Black Cherries
Native Lobster – Peas, Spring Onions, Country Bacon
Rib and Saddle of Aveyron Lamb – Baby Artichokes, Wild Garlic, Almond Butter
Comte Garde Exceptionnelle – cru 2010, black truffle puree, rocket, white and wheat crisps / Colston Bassett Stilton – oatmeal cake, fruit chutney, fruit bread
“Dessert Napkin”
Petit Fours – Chocolate, Violet, Lime Verbena Macarons / Madagascar Ganache and Creamed Coconut Chocolate
Baba with rum according to your choice, lightly whipped cream
Raspberry Souffle – Raspberry Sorbet
Mignardise Trolley – Strawberry Pistachio Tart, Cocoa Raspberry Opera, Brown Butter Financier / Vanilla Religeuse, Canele, Chocolate Caramel Tart
Having spent nearly three hours of America’s birthday enraptured in lunch at Pollen Street Social it was perhaps a bit of overly aggressive planning that led me through the doors of the Dorchester just after eight o’clock yet with a footman guiding my way through a heavily flowered lobby en route to the 3* Michelin home of Chef Alain Ducasse I could not help but feel enchanted – an emotion that would endure throughout the night. Considered by some to be the greatest chef of his generation and known for signatures such as the cookpot and baba au rhum it was to expectedly formal service that I was greeted at restaurant’s double doors and with reservation confirmed I was led to my table, a spacious two-top draped in white linen with a full view of the room. Surprisingly not fully booked for the evening and appearing all the more spacious given the square footage between tables it would be mere moments before the sommelier approached and with champagne declined in favor of a fanciful fruit cocktail my first bites arrived, a platter of nearly two dozen gougeres serving notice of opulence to come while simultaneously resetting the bar for cheesy puffs of choux. Well tuned to small details throughout the evening and never once failing to acquiesce to any need or request it was only after drink was in hand that the menu was finally delivered and with options ranging from a la carte to degustation it was without hesitation that I ordered the menu d’ete, a £180 tab well justified in the season’s very best ingredients presented in portions quite generous. Truly a tasting menu in the grand tradition with precise plates focusing on only a few superlative ingredients eventually giving way to more complex flavors finished in tableside sauce it was entirely without fail that five savory courses sailed by and with both the foie and lobster particularly impressive things would only ascend from there, my keen interest in the aged Antony Comte giving way to an accompanying gift of Colston Bassett Stilton every bit as impressive as 48-month old Garde Exceptionnelle. Renowned for fantastic finales and offering them in excess it was with “Dessert of your choice” followed by “mignardises & gourmandises” that my meal would end and having debated soufflé versus baba over several hours the decision became clear when the maitre d’ said “both,” yet another unexpected gift and one I accepted without guilt from a team whose concept of customer service seems to know no end.
RECOMMENDED: With stunning ingredient quality and not a single morsel of food executed short of perfection I’m confident saying that the cooking at Ducasse is as precise as it gets and focused on pure flavors the best bet is to order the things you love while reserving room for dessert.
AVOID: If I had to find one small quibble with the restaurant it would be the butter, a good English Farm blend, but leagues inferior to the Bordier at Gordon Ramsay – an odd role-reversal for the Scottish Chef to outsource a French master for a product of France. That said, both the olive bread and the cereal sesame roll were superlative with the ethereal crème fraiche whip.
TIP: Ask and you’ll likely receive.
