This week we have had the opportunity of dining at one of London’s most iconic hotels, The Dorchester.
A bit of background
The Grill at The Dorchester is hosting a series of evenings that provide a unique opportunity to meet the talented men and women behind the produce used in the restaurant.
During each of these evenings, produce will be displayed on the counter with the producer present, moving around the tables to answer any questions. Complementing the conversation will be exclusive dishes dedicated to each ‘Meet the Producer’ evening, creating an exceptional dining experience.
Paxton & Whitfield
Our dinner was enriched by the presence of Britain’s leading cheesemonger for over 200 years.
Since 1797, Paxton & Whitfield has sourced and sold the finest British and Continental cheeses to the customers of St James’s and to London’s best chefs. We had the chance of learning all about the company’s history, from its humble beginnings as a cheese stall in Aldwych market to gaining multiple Royal Warrants of Appointment and patronage from icons such as Winston Churchill, who once advised that “a gentleman only buys his cheese at Paxton & Whitfield”.
We tried a range of delicious produce and gained tips on how best to display, cut and serve cheese.
The Grill at the Dorchester
The Grill at The Dorchester reopened on November 14, 2014 after a full redesign with Alain Ducasse protégé chef Christophe Marleix leading the kitchen. First established in 1931, the re-imagined restaurant fuses the famous hotel’s iconic elegance with a contemporary tone and creative details such as pivoting wall panels creating a separate ambience from day to night. Delicious modern British dishes range from grill favourites alongside the restaurant’s signature lobster chowder and an extensive sweet soufflé menu – the first of its kind in London!
Our experience
We arrived at the Dorchester in the early evening, and we were warmly welcomed by their lovely staff. The first thing that jumps to the eye when you walk into this hotel is how beautifully decorated the interiors are. The lobby is very spacious and you can find a number of guests either sipping tea and eating deliciously looking cakes, or drinking champagne while listening to entertaining live music.
After wandering around this beautiful hotel, we were feeling hungry and decided it was time for dinner. We were welcomed by the lovely Rosanna Fishbourne, who introduced us to the inspiring Renate Ruge, editor for Food and Travel Magazine and for E1life, an exciting new magazine about East London. Rosanna told us all about the history of The Dorchester and about how The Grill had recently been reopened and redesigned, while Renate entertained us with some amusing stories about her wonderful travels, making us feel really jealous!
But enough talking, it was time to order some food. The à la carte menu gives you a large variety of choice, therefore we asked our lovely waiter to give us some suggestions on what was really worth trying. He told us that the restaurant’s signature was the blue lobster chowder, mushroom and chive, so we went for that. In the meantime Vincent, the Head Sommelier of The Grill, helped us choose which wine we should combine with our food. The lobster was absolutely amazing, and the combination with the Grüner Veltliner Smaragd was sublime. We just could not get enough!
Very satisfied of our choice, we decided to trust our waiter for the main course as well, so we ordered the Scottish salmon steak and the Whole Dover sole. While waiting for our dishes to be served, we were treated by Paxton & Whitfield with a very tasty cheese soufflé made of cheddar from East Somerset called Westcombe, which was defined as the ‘Champagne of cheeses’ by our food expert Renate (that is how good it was!).
The main courses were absolutely divine (really hard to find the right word to describe how good they were), and the 2014 Vermentino was the perfect match!
It was time for dessert, which is always the most difficult choice when in a restaurant. Everything was so tempting, so Renate suggested we have ‘a spoon of each one’. And that is exactly what we did, we ordered everything on the menu so that nothing was left out! In the meantime, Paxton & Whitfield decided to serve us another surprise, that is a platter full of their best cheeses. We were already really full, but can you really say no to cheese?
After this lovely treat, dessert was served with a tasty glass of their best Port.
At this point we were really full, and unfortunately, it was time to leave. We thanked Rosanna for her wonderful hospitality and headed off home. See you again soon, Dorchester!
