Mid Feb 2008: Alain Ducasse, Dorchester Hotel, London
Having eaten Ducasses' food before in 2002 in Paris at Plaza Athenée, and that is still to this day the best dining experience I've ever had.
Having never been to the Dorchester before, mainly because I felt that it was old money & stuffy. My opinion was about to be changed in a big way.
On entering the bar I couldn't have been more wrong, yes we were probably still the youngest people there but not by the margin I expected. As far as cocktails go in London, The Dorch ain't cheap a Tanqueray Negroni & a Mulito rocks in at £27, saying that you do get parmesan crispbreads, spicy roasted cashew nuts & mixed olives while building the anticipation.
At 8.30 we moved through to the main event, the entrance to the restaurant is a discreet desk & doorway just off the main lobby opposite the Grill room. The restaurant itself seats 80 (including 'The Cloud' or table Luminere, more in this later) and is currently doing about 40 for lunch & 70-80 for dinner.
After being seated, struck up conversation with Hugues Lepin (Head Sommelier) who was only to willing to show us his cellar. It contains in excess £1million worth of wine (@ selling price) & is principly 2 temperature controlled rooms.
We'd already had made the decision that we were going to have the tasting menu, so the menu got a cursory glance, but minds were made up.
Now I know this always a touchy subject, but to my mind this is what a Sommelier is for.
The wine list is comprehensive to say the least with as you'd expect a bias to France (2 pages just of Fizz, doing 6 different ones by the glass.) So our new friend was given an idea of what we were looking for & a price area.
He came back with an absolute gem and £10 under the figure we'd mentioned.
Breads, you are offered a selection of breads, not just the usual suspects (eg flavoured white & brown) but excellent examples of styles eg: french mini bagette, sourdough, rye, buttermilk are the ones that I can remember, but there was about 8 different types.
The butter was also presented to us at the same point, a cylinder of very good salted butter on a silver platter.
Pre starter was billed as 'oeuf suprise', the suprise is there is no egg.
What actually arrives is a white porcelain Faberge type egg, the lid is lifted to be presented with a very light broccoli jelly with light vegetables a la greque on the top.
Now ordinarily Broccoli jelly is not what you'd expect from a restaurant at this level, but it was a revelation (although I can imagine it being better during the summer, not a bitterly cold evening in Feb). Unfortunatly didn't take a picture of this & I wish had, because describing it doesn't do it justice.
The Starter arrived next in what I can only really describe as an abalone shell which was half filled with a soft chopped jelly which tasted of the seaside, topped with julienne of ginger, raw baby spinach, langoustine claws, sea urchin & radish. Served with a mother of pearl spoon
It was so fresh & light but you wouldn't any more than what I was given.
After this fantastic start the kitchen were clearly into its stride,
next were large scallops topped with a generous dollop of sevruga caviar, baby spinach, lettuce puree & a ponzo buerre noisette. Scallops were fat & juicy but the entire dish was a good demonstration of restraint.
Next up the
fish course of John Dory with kumquats & white asparagus.
Now this might just be me, but I've never seen the point of kumquats but this worked.
A nice size of thick steamed John Dory sat on top of 6 pieces of steamed white asparagus with the ocassional piece of lightly caramelised kumquat scatterd on onto the plate. The balance of flavours was top drawer with the contrast of the slightly bitter kumquats.
So now we're on to the main course.
Milk fed Pyrennes Lamb with young vegetables, grated black truffle & Coke sauce, yes you read it right COKE sauce.
Again simplicity was the key, 1/2 a Loin, 2 bones of a best end & 1/2 a kidney sat on baby vegetables and then having grated black truffle over the top.
Again our Chef de rang finished saucing at the table with what at first I thought she said was 'cock' sauce (I'll eat most things but I'd probably draw the line at this). But once I'd got past her delicate french accent I realised what she'd said.
The lamb just melted, really delicate and complemented by the young vegetables.
Everything tasted fresh, delicate & yet seasoning just didn't seemed to be present but didn't need more. As for the coke sauce, I could take or leave it, it wasn't what I expected but wasn't kick you in the nuts fizzy black stuff either.
So After the main course, we again enjoyed light & polite conversation with the staff ( & possibly hoping for our Chef de rangs phone number). Throughout the meal the pace was never rushed yet never so slow as to make you wonder if you'd been forgotten.
After the usual perlaver of crumbing down came the cheese course.
As you look at the picture below:
Top row left to right;
Roast red pepper puree, Quince jelly with dates, Aubergine caviar with parmesan, Apricot chutney
Bottom row left to right;
Valence, Montgomerys Cheddar, Comte, Stilton (quenelle)
All this served with warm walnut & date bread fingers.
After the cheese course came what was possibly the only disappointment in the meal.
When I've had
pre desserts before it was usually something to excite a jaded palate or to cleanse but at Ducasse we got what I would describe as petit fours.
A milk & dark chocolate each both filled with ganache, both very good but not what you're expecting & failed to serve a purpose for me.
Next up it says on the menu
'The Velvet Gianduja'. Not know what this was other than an Italian version of praline and being a bit of a chocoholic I was really looking forward to it.
I wasn't disappointed. Similar in concept to the Louis XV chocolate dessert from the Monaco restaurant, but the mousse is encapsulated in dark chocolate as opposed to a nappage, the crushed feuillettines are replaced with a very fine hazelnut (I think) layer. this is then sandwiched between extremely thin sheets of tempered milk chocolate then served with a confit orange syrup.
Milk chocolate is often shyed away from in quality restaurants but yet again Ducasse has shown it has a place. The balance of sweet & bitter was spot on but could have gone oh so terribly wrong in less experience hands. Unfortuntly it was to much for my dining partner who at this stage was full.
After this it was coffee & petit four time, When I'm asked about my meal at Ducasse in Paris the main thing I tell people is the sense of space & the grandness of the ocassion. This becomes apparent towards the end of your meal when petit fours aren't just presented with your coffee, oh no.
They have their own trolley, from mini tartlets, chocolate truffles (3 Flavours), madelienes, Chanelles, boiled sweets the list goes on (about 20 different types all in all).
My friend passed up the opportunity and we made a joke about a doggy bag. 'No problem' said our waitress 'I have doggy bag' pulling out an Alain Ducasse motifed paper bag.
Unfortunatly compared to Paris the end of the meal kinda limped to standstill, the trolleys for the Teas & infusions, and the Petit fours just didn't command the same presence as they did in Paris. Don't get me wrong still very very good.
I mentioned at the start about the
'Table luminere', this is for 6 people only, nobody can see in & they have different menus, glassware & crockery.
So whats the bottom line:Following my experience at Tom Aikens in December & them then going to 2 rising stars, Ducasse at the Dorchester is head & shoulders above that, easily two stars.
The whole theatre & experience is what has been missing in the London eating scene.
The cost for this experience £362.25 inc service for two people
Would I go again ?, - too right I would.
The staff are attentive, approachable, knowledgable. The food is some of the very best around.
Some of the tables are a little too close to each other for my liking, but this really is nit picking.
The Grand old lady that is the Dorchester now has something to shout about & to beat the newer upstarts on the block, we will be going back.
Many thanks to the staff At Ducasse @ The Dorchester for the help & the experience throughout the night.