In one of the most talked about restaurant openings of all of 2007, French chef Alain Ducasse brings his famed cuisine to one of London’s poshest hotels.

The Venue
Where else is there for Alain Ducasse to go besides The Dorchester, home to The Grill Room and China Tang with its constant stream of celebrity guests? The restaurant is in a large, airy room, with what looks like small green pebbles arranged on one wall and a fibre-optic fabric fountain (which encases a private table) off to the side. Ceramic casts of vegetables (asparagus, artichoke, tomatoes, garlic, cauliflower) recline on the tables. The signature symbol for this restaurant, a small leaf, can be found everywhere – from the dividers along the walls to a tiny one engraved on the steel of a knife. The overall colour scheme is beige with hints of pink.

The Atmosphere
There’s no doubt that Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester is more of an experience than simply a meal. The pretty plates and cutlery that lay on the table when you arrive are whisked away in favour of a different set before your meal, and your glasses are refilled within a minute of taking a sip. The predominantly male staff are handsome, helpful and charming, buzzing around and attending to every need of the guests. The diners seem to be mainly businessmen, no doubt impressing clients, but there’s a smattering of couples and a wealthy American tourist or two.

The Food
The food here (or cuisine, really) is modern French, complex but not fussy. Starters include a soft-boiled organic egg with a salad of crayfish and mushrooms in a rich and creamy sauce – the egg yolk is lovely and runny and explodes over the rest of the dish when you cut into it. Plump and succulent duck foie gras is served with slices of mango, not necessarily a typical combination but the savoury and slightly salty liver goes well with the sweet taste of the mango. Mains, divided into fish and meat, include a tender and moist veal and a juicy venison. The venison is so easy to cut that it practically falls into slices at the touch of the knife, and the fruits and vegetables served with the meat complement each other in taste and texture. For dessert, the sweetly named Girl From Ipanema turns out to be a subtle pineapple sorbet served with a sweet vanilla-flavoured foam in a martini glass with a small and buttery sponge cake. The coco caramel delight is a bar of thick, high quality toffee sprinkled with gold leaf. Also on the plate is a biting lime sorbet and a tangy stripe of marmalade. This one is best for those who like strong, citrus-flavoured desserts.

The cheese platter comes with two English cheeses (a creamy Cheddar and a sharp Stilton) and two French (a light goat’s cheese and a sweet Comte) as well as four spreads (a slightly sharp red pepper, a mild walnut and gruyere paste and two fruity jams). Although there are only four cheeses, after a starter and a main one plate is plenty to share between two. The delicious parade of food seems never ending, and what you think is a three course meal can turn out to be at least six courses once you’ve included the extras – a ceramic egg with a sweet and smooth broccoli puree sprinkled with olives, and the two pre-desserts: a bitter sorbet with citrus fruits as well as fluffy macaroons and meltingly soft chocolates - but there’s also the fresh bread, the light and fluffy choux pastries and the succulent and salty caramels.

Finally, the price. Alain Ducasse, as you might expect, does not come cheap. The menu is split into courses, so you can get a starter, main and dessert for £75 or a starter, fish, meat and dessert for £95, and there’s also a seven course tasting menu for £115. But people will pay for it, whether it takes saving up for weeks or just putting it on the company credit card. And these prices aren’t unusual at his restaurants all over the world: at Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower mains can reach €86 which equals a cool £65 or so (although admittedly the views might have something to do with it). However, there is a bright side to all this: a set lunch menu is available for £35 a head – this and a glass of wine could get you out of there at less than £100 for two, easily. Still expensive, but less frighteningly so.

The Drink
The wine list goes on for pages, with a whole separate menu for wines available by the glass. The cheapest bottle is about £40, whilst the cheapest glass is about £8, and, as you can imagine, it goes upwards from there, well into the thousands. Recommended whites include Mont-Louis, Domaine Delechenaux 2006, which is smooth, crisp and fresh. For reds try a glass of Cote Rhone, Domaine de la Janasse 2006 which has a light flavour that goes well with red meat.

The Last Word
Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester is obscenely expensive, this is true – if you plan on going here you should be prepared to spend a few hundred quid. But Alain Ducasse is also one of the most lauded chefs in the world with the Michelin stars to prove it. If you can afford it, dining at this restaurant is an experience, as well as a meal, not to be missed.

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