Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester has held three Michelin stars since 2010, the London home of the French chef's cuisine on the ground floor of the Park Lane hotel. Jean-Philippe Blondet, who has cooked alongside Ducasse for more than a decade, leads the kitchen; the menu is French at its foundation and built on British seasonal produce. The dining room was reimagined in January 2020, its curved walls set with thousands of green silk buttons beneath a gold-leaf oval ceiling.

For private events the restaurant offers three rooms rather than a full buyout. Table Lumière is the signature: a table for up to seven enclosed by a shimmering oval curtain of 4,500 fibre-optic strands, laid with Hermès china and Saint-Louis crystal. Salon Privé seats twelve in a lacquered alcove with a fireplace, and Salon Park Lane, the largest at thirty, is a brighter room with high ceilings and tall windows onto the park.

Service is discreet and the sommelier team runs one of London's deeper cellars, which suits these rooms to a considered dinner, a corporate gathering or a family celebration rather than a loud party. Private hire is arranged through the restaurant's events team.