Ducasse Keeps Cool as Temperatures Rise in London Restaurant

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- In the kitchen, 25 cooks are preparing dishes for the chef to taste. The atmosphere is tense. There's a camera on hand to capture creations that make it onto the menu.

In the dining room, waiters crowd around two tailors who have arrived from France to conduct fittings for uniforms. People are rushing in and out with the kind of urgency and purpose that's common in Paris restaurants, yet rarely to be seen in London.

In a penthouse suite sits the man whose presence in the Dorchester is creating such excitement nine floors below. Alain Ducasse, 51, arguably the world's most famous living chef, is fresh off the Eurostar to put together the menu for his first flagship restaurant in London, which will open on Nov. 13.

The man who holds the most Michelin stars -- 12, compared with 11 for Gordon Ramsay -- aims to make Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester a fine-dining destination to rival his own Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee, in Paris, and Louis XV, in Monaco.

``We'll have the same precision in the kitchen, the same aesthetic of the plate that I have in Monaco and Paris,'' Ducasse said. ``Of course, because it's London, because it's in such a very beautifully designed restaurant, the food, the cuisine we will serve, will have to be adapted to the place.

``It will be more modern, more energetic, more sexy, and the last thing I am finishing is really the cuisine, because I just need to feel the place, to have inspiration from the place itself, from the town, the people, everyone, and then we can finalize the cuisine, which is what's happening this week.''

Modest Genius

For a chef who is powerful and respected, Ducasse appears modest and polite. He is softly spoken, stands back to allow others to enter rooms before him and looks more like an academic than a culinary genius. He is dressed in a simple white shirt and gray tweed jacket for the Oct. 22 interview, the first he has given to promote the new restaurant on London's Park Lane.

What differences does he see between London and Paris?

``London is a very lively place and Paris is more sleepy right now,'' he said. ``Today, London is one of the most, or maybe the most, energetic town in the world.''

Ducasse said he has tried some fine restaurants in London, where he previously dipped his toe as a consultant to Monte's dining club from 1995 to 1998, and ran a branch of his Spoon chain at the Sanderson until February this year. Why has he waited so long to open a flagship establishment under his own name?

``We had the opportunity to stop our contract with the Sanderson,'' he said. ``So we waited for the right timing to get that contract off and open a signature restaurant at the best address in London. It was the right moment, the right opportunity.''

Speaking through an interpreter, he wouldn't be drawn on details of the menu, instead explaining what he wants to achieve.

Lightening Up

``Everyone has an image of French cuisine or restaurants that are too formal, the cuisine too heavy,'' he said. ``I want to change that idea and have a fresher place with a refreshed cuisine. That's what we do already at the Plaza. And because of the strong competition, we'll try to be different.''

Ducasse wouldn't say how much time he plans to spend at the restaurant, which is being run by colleagues who have been with him for years. The reason for some of the anxiety in the kitchen emerged only yesterday when Ducasse's spokeswoman said the head chef will be Jocelyn Herland, 36, from Plaza Athenee, taking over from Nicola Canuti, who had been named to the post last month. I'd shaken Canuti's hand in the kitchen just before meeting Ducasse.

Center Table

The dining room, designed by Patrick Jouin, formerly with Philippe Starck, has a design feature that already has restaurateurs talking. It's a table surrounded by a curtain of fiber-optic lights, where six people will pay 1,350 pounds ($2,765) for a special dinner menu. (That compares with 920 pounds for dinner for eight at the chef's table at Ramsay's Petrus.)

``It's a magic table and a unique experience,'' Ducasse said. ``It's the centerpiece of the restaurant, it's the wow factor.''

Is Ducasse going straight out for three Michelin stars?

``I would like the clients to give me three stars in their hearts,'' he said. ``Our goal is to aim for full satisfaction of our clients and a successful restaurant. We'll do our job and Michelin will do theirs.''

Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, 53 Park Lane, London, W1A 2HJ. For information, telephone +44-20-7629-8866 or click on http://www.alainducasse-dorchester.com/.

(Richard Vines is London food critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this review: Richard Vines in London at rvines@bloomberg.net.