Fine dining’s obituary has been drafted several times but never published. Its shifting innovation keeps it alive; its forensic attention to detail and ritualised choreography keeps its allure, even with fewer white table cloths and grand gestures. Without haute cuisine we wouldn’t have the tableside theatre of The Grill at The Dorchester, now under chef Martyn Nail, where steak tartare is ceremonially mashed on a silver trolley, or the newly opened Lilibet’s, named after the Queen but with one foot in the court of Louis XIV, with its candles, 18th-century French paintings and anchovy eclairs. Some may be more comfortable with a communal table and stripped-down, Scandi-style dishes, but given the choice, I’d rather be seated by myself, my face reflected in the silver cloche set in front of me, waiting for a pair of white gloves to lift it up and conjure the big reveal.
Chef Anne-Sophie Pic
Anne Emmanuelle-ThionThe chef’s chefsBomee Ki, Sollip
“Le Meurice by Alain Ducasse left a strong impression on me. I did a stage there, which gave me a chance to see his philosophy more closely and to appreciate the beauty of classic, simple elegance. His baba au rhum is still one of my favourite desserts. French techniques are at the foundation of my cooking – they’ve shaped the way I think about texture, layering and precision. Over time I have found a way of expressing those foundations with a Korean sensibility, but the structure remains French.”
Emily Roux and Diego Ferrari, Caractère
“We both love Le Grand Restaurant by Jean-François Piège in Paris. It’s firmly rooted in haute cuisine and Piège redefines certain French classics incredibly. He’s a disciple of Alain Ducasse so he has that same deep understanding of sauces that lay the foundations for grande cuisine. When you’ve worked for Ducasse for so long, you learn that sauces are incredibly important – they make or break a dish. That is something that stays with me to this very day. Precision needs to be felt in every detail – vegetables and protein cooked to exacting temperatures. It’s fastidiousness at the finest level.”
Tom Aikens, Muse
“Joël Robuchon was a stickler for detail. Every single thing on a plate had a specific place, and he even measured the distances between dots. The man was all about precision, detail and execution. He was one of the first chefs to come up with the water bath – we used to sous vide the lamb until it was cooked to exactly 43 degrees Celsius, then roast it. I was lucky to have that schooling: it gives you the basic skills to go on to define your own individual style, but you always need to have the foundations.”
Dining and Cooking