I was delighted to secure a table for dinner with Mr A, at Helene Darroze’s 2 Michelin star restaurant in Mayfair’s Connaught hotel, in July 2020.  I had to be in London for some scans at The Royal Marsden Hospital in the late afternoon, but I wasn’t allowed to eat before the scans, which ruled out a nice lunch, so I was looking forward to a good meal afterwards.  (My favourite restaurant near the Marsden, Bibendum, had not yet reopened after the covid restrictions).  Helene Darroze had only reopened a couple of days earlier itself; sporting a lavish refurbishment, which was an added incentive to visit.  Mr A and I last dined at Helene Darroze two and a half years previously, when we had a superb Sunday lunch which I scored 9/10.

Before I’d even sat down we were presented with a cutely misshapen ceramic cup of chilled cucumber, lemongrass and verbena consommé.  It was very nice, not quite as good as a tomato essence, and I felt it’s appearance was a little rushed. But I do appreciate that they were trying to quench guests’ thirsts as soon after they arrived, on a warm summer evening. 8.5/10

We ordered a brace of Negronis, which came with a selection of 3 canapés each.  There was a tasty “smoked trout donut”, a delicate beetroot and burrata tartlet with royal bottarga, and a very interesting seaweed meringue with liver parfait and lemon jelly. All lovely, but the chef skills were most noticeable with the tartlet. 9/10

Here’s a photo of the menu at the restaurant’s entrance. A menu isn’t presented to you at the table, for infection control purposes; instead, the waiter shows you a copy of the menu and you use the QR code to get a menu on your phone.  On the evening we dined only this multi-course “Taste of Summer” menu (not a la carte) was offered, in either 5 or 7 courses.  We went for 7 courses for £109.38 each. There were alternative options for 3 of the courses, at a supplement, but we just stuck with the prix fixe list. We also chose the wine flight at £120 each. (That’s per person, NOT per glass!!)

Brown sourdough was brought to our table, along with two very unusual-looking pats of butter; one English unsalted, the other salted French with chilli. I favoured the former. 7.5/10

Our first course was a real stunner in looks and taste: the menu called it “Mackerel. The Ajax – Cornwall”. Ajax was the name of the boat that landed the fish; that’s excellent traceability! There was a thin strip of raw mackerel topped with crispy skin, white almonds, herbs and flowers. An outstanding broadbean, girolle and almond “Ajo Blanco” was poured at the table. This was such a fresh and refreshing dish, with beautifully balanced flavours and textures, screaming out “summertime”. 10/10

The second course was also very summery, and the menu was equally precise in its source description. Tom Calver’s Westcombe ricotta, from Somerset, had been wrapped in spinach leaves, resembling ravioli. The ‘sauce’ was described as “Bellota consommé”, which was made from beef tomato juice and celery water, some scallions and basil oil. Our waiter called the ‘sauce’ “Gazpacho” when he poured it table-side, but it wasn’t really.  I loved this dish, for it’s cold refreshing temperature and creativity, and for the skill and technique behind it.  Just half a point deducted for confusion over the consommé, and because it could maybe have tasted more of tomato. 9.5/10

The next dish was described on the menu as “XXL Scallop” and boy did this plump bivalve from the Kyle of Lochalsh live up to that boast! It had been topped with a mild tandoori spice before pan-frying to translucent-centre perfection. It was served with a carrot puree, spring onion and coriander and a blissful citrusy brown butter sauce. 10/10

We were then presented with an ‘extra course’ of sesame crusted foie gras, with a ‘wave’ of very thinly sliced apples and a sake sauce.  I’m not sake’s biggest fan, but this sauce was absolutely delicious, the foie was on point and it worked very well with the sesame seeds.  As a foie gras-phile, this was IMHO the most wonderful of surprise dishes 10/10

I don’t often mention the wines served in a wine flight (there isn’t tie for me to make notes), but I must commend this Canadian “Ice Cider” which was served with the foie gras (and which I ordered online for home delivery the day after I got home). It was just like an ice wine –  luscious and potently fruity, made when the over-ripe fruits are left on the tree right into freezing winter nights, with a fresh and layered apple flavour; it made a great partner to the liver. And it was so nice to have an extra ‘wine’ included with this extra course. Wonderful. 10/10

Our fish course was rolled and herb-stuffed brill (landed by “The Duchess” fishing boat in Cornwall). It was served with violet artichoke, bronze fennel, kafir lime, and an umami-rich “bagna cauda”, a sauce of garlic and anchovy. This was another summery plate, full of flavour, but IMHO my brill was fractionally under, but it was till very good. 9/10

Before the fish a chef came to show us the lamb he had roasted for the main course. When it came to the table we only had one boned cutlet of the Rhug Estate organic animal. It had been rolled and stuffed with summer herbs and came with a potato and haggis millefeuille, pea and mint puree, insanely flavoursome baby plum tomatoes and a caper and lamb jus. The millefeuille seemed like a gimmick, and for me the herbs overpowered the lamb, but all together it was still a good plate of food. 8/10

To cleans the palate we were served a dish simply named “Raspberry”.  A sorrel sorbet sat on mascarpone cream and a raspberry sauce, garnished with English raspberries, fresh almonds and a “country bread” tuile. The sorbet was vividly green, so refreshing, anti worked well with the raspberries. The tuile was novel and brought texture. Once again, I though this was an inspired dish. 10/10

Somewhat greedily, we shared a selection of British cheeses. It was a lovely selection of 5 uncommon cheese varieties, and it came with a very good date bread and crostini. I’m scoring this highly for the fact Chef chose to use British cheeses, and that they were all so interesting and enjoyable. 10/10

Our final course was minimally named “Chocolate” and consisted of fine chocolate tuiles, a “vibrato” from Chocolaterie de l’Opera in Paris (a chocolate ice cream), an olive oil ice cream and a kalamata olive crumb.  It was good, but as you know I’m not big on desserts, plus I was by now quite full, so Mr A finished mine off. 8.5/10

At the start of the evening I’d asked if Madame Darroze was working, and was told it was her day off, but she would nonetheless be on the pass later. So after my meal I was invited to meet this world-renowned chef in her basement kitchen.  Upon entering her bright and spacious new kitchen we were both wearing masks and we greeted each other with an elbow bump, but after a very short while we removed our masks and chatted for a few moments. This was a personal thrill for me, but I was tongue-tied and I didn’t ask her any interesting questions!

As mentioned above, I think the recent refurbishment has mostly benefitted the kitchen. The dining room is very similar to before, with its limed oak panelling, there seem to be a few more tables after the removal of a central cradenza, but the tables are all very well spaced – essential in covid times, and very welcome at all other times.  Our table was one with beautiful new velour curved banquettes, which could have seated 6! On the walls were a couple Damian Hirst originals.

We thoroughly enjoyed our (almost 4 hours long) dinner at Helene Darroze at The Connaught!  The food was amazing and the mask-wearing staff were all just how I like my servers to be – highly professional yet friendly and engaging.  My total bill came to £587.97, but I was happy that I’d had a great meal and delicious well-paired wines. When I was heaping praise on Chef Helene I told her that I’d enjoyed her food more than that at The Waterside Inn a few days previously. It seems to happen regularly these days, that I find the food in a 2 star restaurant more interesting and creative than in a 3 star establishment. And 2 stars are usually less costly.

Overall 10/10 – highly recommended