Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester

Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester is one of the city’s gourmet treasures. The food, service and surroundings are sublime, and 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.) 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. Table to request: the one hidden behind a shimmering curtain of crystals in the center of the room.