Ducasse to open at the Dorchester

[Andy Fenn]

I had two poor meals there. Won't go back until there is consensus amongst people whose tastes match mine.

I should add that I have no anti-Ducasse prejudice. I have not eaten at his other 3 star restaurants, and was very much up for the meals I had there. Save for the rum baba, they fell very flat indeed.

[Food Snob]

This is what I think about ADAD...

It might be a 3* setting, but the food is nowhere near that level.

Furthermore, it is not the sort of food I want to eat. Again, this has nothing to do with it being 'Ducasse's cooking', but because I find it very dull, unoriginal and uninspiring.

I shan't be returning here.

[Loving Annie]

Andy: Good to know!

Food Snob: Thamk you, thank you, thank you. This was the final decision for me, hearing yuor feedback. Exactly the consciseness I wanted.

Will e-mail you.

[cachan]

Well, I'm no expert foodie blogger like the ones we all follow, but I went to ADAD and Marcus Wareing close together.

Was impressed by the former and disappointed by the latter. Food price almost the same, 85 vs 75.

I have to say that one reason for my conclusions was down to the dishes I chose. So study the current menu and choose wisely beforehand. For MW, go to his own website and not the Berkeley Hotel one.

But in the end, you'll indeed have to make up your own mind by going to ADAD yourself !

[sethd]

Food Snob, one of the most often read complaints of Ducasse's cooking is that is dull and uninspired. Although I haven't eaten at ADAD, I have eaten at all his other three star restaurants numerous times. I have completely enjoyed all those meals. . I don't find his cooking dull at all. He consistently achieves his mandate which is too cook wonderful ingredients brilliantly, but simply. What makes food "boring" compared to "exciting"?

[Food Snob]

Hi Sethd,

What makes food exciting or boring is a very personal thing, in my opinion - and that is why I wrote that 'I find it' not 'it is' boring above...

That doesn't make articulating what I find exciting any easier though...

One of the most important factors I suppose is predictability. At Ducasse's restaurants I can be fairly confident about what I am going to get with respect to dishes, flavours, ingredients, etc...

At the restaurants I eat at most often however, I never fully know what to expect. All that I can be sure of relates to the quality of the chef and his produce...

Additionally, I am sure that ADPA and Louis XV especially would be superior experiences to ADAD. If the objective at a Ducasse establishment is to cook wonderful ingredients brilliantly than these two have a natural advantage over London as they should have far better access to these wonderful ingredients in the first place.

...none of the products from my meals at the Dorchester actually stood out.

Edited March 31, 2010 by Food Snob (log)

[sethd]

Food Snob, for me, one of the great things about a Ducasse meal is its predictability. I know that each and every meal will be wonderful, regardless of whether I am in Paris, Monaco, or New York. When spending the kind of money one spends at a three star restaurant, that predictable quality does have a certain appeal. I doubt that someone with the advanced knowledge of fine dining that you possess is ever that suprised by the meals you eat.

I find that diners often label food "boring" as a synonym for "classical" I agree that Ducasse's food isn't as "exciting" as what you might find at the Fat Duck or Pierre Gagnaire. It is the final product on the plate that matters, not the methods used to compose a dish or a meal that makes for a successful dining experience. Ducasse has never failed me in that regard.

Edited March 31, 2010 by sethd (log)

[Food Snob]

Maybe we're straying away from a discussion about ADAD and into one about Ducasse's restaurants generally or into an exercise in word play / argument on semantics.

I completely agree that one ought to have a 'wonderful' meal at a three-star restaurant. However, I feel that that ought to be really the only predictable aspect of the experience.

Additionally, I don't prescribe to the notion that all classical cuisine is boring...and I generally don't go in for molecular gastronomy (I haven't even been to the Fat Duck yet)... My issue with ADAD is that neither of the meals I have had there were delicious.

There are simply many other restaurants where I would rather spend my money - restaurants at which I can better guarantee my enjoyment.

p.s. That's nonsense. Of course I am still capable of being surprised. Just as I am still curious... if I were neither, I'd imagine it somewhat depressing eating out at all…