You know the crack at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, one of Blighty’s quartet to be gifted the Bib’s highest accolade. This has been the Dorchester’s flagship restaurant for the good part of a decade, though I have somehow managed to avoid it for all these years. As of 2016, there was a change in helmsman, with Jocelyn Herland moving to head up the great Chef(-owner)’s Le Meurice in Paris. The current Chef is young Jean-Phillppe Blondet promoted from his head chef role and now fills the Exec chef spot. JP is a company man so to speak, has been with Ducasse since 2004, starting with Spoon at Sanderson (in London), then to Ducasse’s jewel in Monaco and finally to ADAD in 2013 as one of Herland’s sous chefs before eventually rising to become his right-hand man.
The room is stunning, manned by a well-drilled FOH whom are true professionals at welcoming their guests to the restaurant. It is what you expect from a restaurant of its pedigree. Even with the Ducasse’s stature in mind, I was still thoroughly impressed by the spectacle – truly world class. Ironic considering grand rooms and grand service is fast becoming a heritage feature in The Big Smoke. With the way money flows these days, the major cities on the other side of the globe do grand better (but no longer cheaper) than European cities, but that’s commentary for another time.