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Ducasse to open at the Dorchester


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It would be interesting to know how Canuti was ever planning to be executive chef in London and yet never leave Monaco?

He wasn't in Monaco. You're mixing up Canuti and Cerruti. Canuti was the chef at Spoon in Dubai, I must admit I was sceptical as to his ability to transfer from that to head up a kitchen with aspirations of 3*. It seems Alain shared my doubts...

Edited by IanT (log)
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  • 2 weeks later...

Apparently half of Londons best chefs were there last night or as somebody told me "Everybody except Ramsay". Apparently an excellent meal.

I can't give you a review until next week but I can give you this:

A la carte

3 courses £ 75

4 courses £ 95

Starters - Entrées

Fine CHESTNUT VELOUTÉ, royale of foie gras, light whipped cream

Châtaignes en fin velouté, royale de foie gras, crème légère

Soft “Silver EGG”, warm truffled leeks

OEuf mollet en feuille d’argent, poireaux truffés servis tièdes

Simmered duck FOIE GRAS, mango, “dolce forte” sauce

Foie gras de canard cuit au bouillon, mangue, sauce dolce forte

AUTUMN VEGETABLES, raw and cooked, mushroom marmelade

Légumes d’automne cuits et crus, marmelade de champignons

LANGOUSTINES “Parisian style”, avocado condiment

Langoustines à la Parisienne, condiment à l’avocat

PUMPKIN RAVIOLI, Parmesan émulsion

Ravioli de potiron, émulsion de Parmesan

SEA SCALLOPS and baby vegetables in a delicate “gelée”

Saint-Jacques et jeunes légumes en délicate gelée parfumée

SQUID bonbons, crunchy green vegetables, coco chutney

Calamars farcis à la vapeur, légumes verts croquants, chutney coco

Fish - Poissons

DOVER SOLE fillets, shrimps and Paris mushrooms, “vin jaune” sauce

Sole en épais filets, crevettes et champignons de Paris, sauce au vin jaune

HALIBUT, lemon caper sauce “niçoise”, spinach and Jerusalem artichokes

Halibut, épinards et topinambours, sauce niçoise câpres-citron

BAKED SEA BASS, mixed shellfish, light herb butter sauce

Blanc de bar cuit à plat, condiment-garniture de coquillages au vert

SEARED SCALLOPS, white and green swiss chard, ponzu dressing

Saint-Jacques à la plancha, feuilles et côtes de blettes, vinaigrette ponzu

Meat - Viandes

Poached breast of LANDES CHICKEN, Albufera sauce, seasonal vegetables “au pot”

Poitrine de volaille jaune des Landes, légumes au pot, sauce Albufera

Roasted PIGEON, Tuscan crostini, salmis jus

Pigeon rôti, crostini Toscan, jus salmis

Peppered ANGUS BEEF fillet, “pont-neuf” potatoes

Filet de boeuf Angus aux poivres, pommes pont-neuf

VENISON cooked in a cocotte, fruit & vegetables, “Grand-Veneur” sauce

Dos de chevreuil cuisiné en cocotte, fruits et légumes, sauce Grand-Veneur

Dessert

COCO-CARAMEL delight

Barre coco-caramel, sorbet vanille-citron

AN APPLE COMPOSITION…

« Comme trois pommes »

THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA

Coupe ananas/vanille

BABA like in Monte Carlo

Baba au rhum de votre choix, comme à Monte-Carlo

The velvet GIANDUJA

Croustillant chocolat-praliné orange

CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY “star”

Sablé choco-framboise

Cheese - Fromages

Selection of French and British cheese £ 12

Fromages choisis

Tasting Menu

£ 115

Crunchy raw VEGETABLES, “Riviera” condiment

Crudités

Marinated LANGOUSTINES as a tartare, Oscietra caviar

Langoustines et caviar Osciètre en consommé rafraîchi

FOIE GRAS, chicken and truffle terrine

Pressé de volaille, truffe et foie gras

Seared SCALLOPS, ponzu dressing

Saint-Jacques grillées, vinaigrette ponzu

VENISON cooked in a cocotte, fruit & vegetables, “Grand-Veneur” sauce

Dos de chevreuil cuisiné en cocotte, fruits et légumes, sauce Grand-Veneur

Selection of French and British CHEESE

Fromages choisis

COCO CARAMEL delight

Barre coco-caramel, sorbet vanille-citron

"Why would we want Children? What do they know about food?"

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I actually heard the food wasn't great - sole and chicken overcooked. But hey - almost all of London and beyond's starred chefs is a tough audience.

Apparently the coco caramel was excellent though.

I'm there on Friday. Starters look infinitely more interesting than fish and meat.

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Well. Firstly, £115 seems a looooot of money for 7 courses.

Matthew: Was it the French on the menu, with an English translation with it, or did you translate it.

I think Apple Composition would be a suitable candidate for another certain thread in this forum...

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Had lunch today, silver egg with truffled leeks was very good, pigeon was ok, perfectly cooked, nothing memorable though. The Gianduja dessert was great, different textures and flavours although the orange syrup was awful, it was literally burning my mouth it was so harsh! Not a patch on the lunch I had at hibiscus on monday.

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God, that looks awful. Have you seen the photos on Andy Hayler's website?

Check it out

It looks as though the food has just been slopped on to a plate. And to be served fillet steak and chips and a restaurant like this is an insult.

I am now very apprehensive about tomorrow night.

I have to say, this Angus steak and chips looks much better than the well-done "shoesole" beef I got served in Monte Carlo when I asked for a medium cooking (see above in this post). The first impressions of Ducasse's new place were kind of foreseeable to me. Unfortunately, his top restaurants do no longer produce consistent top quality. I believe they used to do this at some point but I am glad I am not the only one seeing standards slip. I wouldn't be against eating at a money-making machine like this if what you get was really outstanding. But like that, I am glad to be dining at one of my all time favourites in a couple of days time. It also specialises in classic French cuisine, is just round the corner from the Dorchester and is called "Le Gavroche" ... :raz:

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Had lunch here today - total disapointment, the menu faineld on pretty much every level. I will write more later once I have my thoughts together. The one upshot was that the Maitre d' was so embarassed that he insisted on comp'ing everything and commented that he agreed with pretty much all the negative comments we had.

If a man makes a statement and a woman is not around to witness it, is he still wrong?

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Just cancelled my table too. Will give it a couple of months to settle down before blowing serious bucks. On the plus side, it means I can shop at Selfridges rather than Zara for my winter coat this weekend :biggrin:

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God, that looks awful. Have you seen the photos on Andy Hayler's website?

Check it out

It looks as though the food has just been slopped on to a plate. And to be served fillet steak and chips and a restaurant like this is an insult.

I am now very apprehensive about tomorrow night.

Reality check: I've looked at the nine photos and nothing looks "slopped on to a plate" to me at all. If we're looking at the same photos, those are very correct haute-cuisine platings. The reviews seem to indicate that the food isn't good, but the platings seem just fine.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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i have to agree that the plating is certainly lacking finesse especially the sole, the chicken and the scallops.

what on earth is he doing using raw baby vegetables and raspberries at this time of year, its not monte carlo! when i ate at louis XV in June the crudites weren't that flavouful there, they are hardly going to be bursting with flavour out of season or appropriate on a cold london evening.

i heard mixed reports from the opening dinner on monday. some have said that it should be given a break because it was opening night. i disagree, ducasse was there, he is hardly inexperienced in these matters and he had nearly all the top people in the food industry as his guests, i would have thought that anything less than almost perfect is unacceptable.

Matt Christmas.

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