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The first UK restaurant from French megachef Anne-Sophie Pic is located at the Four Seasons hotel in the City. That alone should tell you all you need to know. It’s ostentatious. It’s really frickin’ expensive. There’s foie gras and lobster on the menu and a fat book of a wine list. The room is palatial and the mirrored walls give the place a sprawling MC Escher vibe. Finding your way to the loo when smashed would be a nightmare.
A starter of skinned little tomatoes in an intensely flavoured consommé was marvellous: sweet-savoury and almost cakey in taste. It came with a sublimely light burrata ice cream. A mouthful of both tomato and cheese concotions taken together screamed ‘ethereal pizza’. Deep green pasta parcels stuffed with air-light goat’s cheese were equally fab – not, thankfully, overpowered by the matcha-infused broth poured over them. It was all very clever stuff, as you’d expect for a mind-boggling £23 (the toms were only a quid less).
If only the mains had been as good. The breast meat and a smoky side dish of grilled legs in a Brittany pigeon dish (£41, please) were excellent. But a tiny slab of foie gras needed proper searing and the promised coffee notes in the sauce were entirely absent. A cut of John Dory (£38, ta) was also cooked well, but it remains a boring fish.
You can’t fault the skill displayed here. This was meticulous cooking, close to being great but just falling short on punchy, memorable flavours. And almost maniacally pricey, too: two starters, two mains and one bottle of water clocked in at £150. But that won’t bother everyone. La Dame De Pic is an irrefutably classy joint for the well-heeled foodie.