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Frommer's Very Highly Recommended
In 2007, the maestro of upper-strata French cuisine reached across the Channel and planted a bulkhead in England with the establishment of this ultra-chic corner of gastronomy. Outfitted in tones of pastels and grays, it's rather startlingly arranged around a circular central table for six which is surrounded with a translucent silk curtain and illuminated with a "waterfall" of illuminated fiber optic cables. What, pray, does someone order in an environment this rarified? Consider prawns wrapped in a hot and spicy cocoon of seaweed; steamed crayfish with hearts of artichoke, served in a potato and truffle shell; steamed halibut with yogurt, spicy condiments, and beans; or a filet of beef Rossini-style, with seared foie gras, root veggies, and Perigueux sauce. Can you expect to see the maestro himself whipping up sauces in the kitchen? It's unlikely, since he's farmed many of the day-to-day operations to his long-term disciple, Jocelayn Herland. Nonetheless, he keeps a tight rein on the place from other parts of his empire.
Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's London 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.
London
, England
Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester
PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended
In 2007, the maestro of upper-strata French cuisine reached across the Channel and planted a bulkhead in England with the establishment of this ultra-chic corner of gastronomy. Outfitted in tones of pastels and grays, it's rather startlingly arranged around a circular central table for six which is surrounded with a translucent silk curtain and illuminated with a "waterfall" of illuminated fiber optic cables. What, pray, does someone order in an environment this rarified? Consider prawns wrapped in a hot and spicy cocoon of seaweed; steamed crayfish with hearts of artichoke, served in a potato and truffle shell; steamed halibut with yogurt, spicy condiments, and beans; or a filet of beef Rossini-style, with seared foie gras, root veggies, and Perigueux sauce. Can you expect to see the maestro himself whipping up sauces in the kitchen? It's unlikely, since he's farmed many of the day-to-day operations to his long-term disciple, Jocelayn Herland. Nonetheless, he keeps a tight rein on the place from other parts of his empire.
Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's London 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.
London
, England
