An online search for Hélène Darroze at The Connaught brings up links to first the hotel’s website and then to one anxious intended diner’s question on Tripadvisor: ‘Is the restaurant strict about the dress code?’ I am not sure what this says about my Google algorithms, but I suspect it reflects the general perception of Michelin-starred dining. While this will never be the sort of restaurant you are likely to pop into for a quick supper, I would hope that anxiety about suitable attire would not deter anyone from experiencing triple-figure dining in a setting as lovely as this one.
A recent makeover by French designer Pierre Yovanovitch has resulted in a room that is smart without a hint of trend-setting discomfort. Dispelling any previous echoes of a gentleman’s club, he has softened the effect of the original robust panelling by lightening it and has introduced softly curved lines in the pale-wood tables, hourglass-shaped plaster side tables and upholstery in creamy leather and silken velvet. Most striking of all is his choice of a defiantly Eighties shade of salmon pink for the window frames, upper walls and ceiling.
The one-page menu offers a choice of five or seven courses from a menu that runs through from starters to main courses and puddings without subdivisions. Our waiter politely enquired about allergies, but this may not be the ideal restaurant for those with complicated dietary requirements, as the menu lists less than 20 items (five of which come with a supplement). The epic wine list has more than 100 pages, so we were happy to surrender ourselves to the will of the sommelier and go for one of the two wine-pairing options.
Since French chef Hélène Darroze made her Connaught debut 10 years ago, a lot has changed in the restaurant world (both in Paris and London). So it is interesting to see how many of the ingredients are now billed as British – Cornish sea bass, Welsh venison – but also how elements of Asian cuisine bring freshness to French stalwarts. So the richness of foie gras (from Landes) is balanced by a koji-rice sauce and a palate-cleansing mille feuille of paper-thin slices of apple and pear.
One of the pleasures of this level of dining is the element of surprise that comes with the exquisite morsels served between courses – mushroom and pine oil consommé, seaweed macarons, balsamic shortbread sandwiches – all beautifully presented on a series of distinctively different bowls and plates. But the biggest surprise is the unexpectedly hearty portion of Hélène’s Signature Baba, doused in one of her family’s vintage Armagnac and liberally smeared with chestnut cream.
My advice to anyone anxious about the dress code is to pay due respect to the elegance of the restaurant setting in their choice of clothing, while avoiding wearing anything with too tight a waist.
