London: Where to Eat: Big Night Out: Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester

It’s been almost a year since Alain Ducasse opened at the Dorchester, and yet it remains one of the city’s underrated gourmet treasures. Michelin has failed to award it any stars yet and some nights in recent weeks less than half the tables have been filled. However, the food, service and surroundings are sublime—frankly, there is a welcome serenity and understated quality to the experience that seems in tune with the times. (Yes, it is still an expensive adventure, but the food is exquisite and it’s not about fanfare but formal French choreography.) Foie gras with mango and tender halibut with artichokes arrive cooked so evocatively that the ingredients taste like new discoveries. Before this site opened, Ducasse declared that he expected this restaurant to offer the contemporary aesthetic of his Tokyo outpost Beige with the freshness of the Louis XV in Monaco, his very first three-star Michelin. Translation: the master continues to improve and grow, learning from each endeavor and taking the best aspects of his new and marrying them to genius of his original one. No wonder he’s considered the best in the world. Table to request: the one hidden behind a shimmering curtain of crystals in the center of the room. Open for lunch Tuesday to Friday and dinner Tuesday through Saturday.