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| Dining Incognito |
Table One
Jessica Taylor
12/01/2003
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Chef Douglas Dodd gets the meal under-way by presenting his guests with a tray of gourmet amusees, including his signature dish, foie gras. Dodd’s traditional-French-fare-with-a-fresh-flair is perhaps best characterized by | Set in a canyon above Sunset Boulevard and occupying 12 verdant acres, the 1920s Mission-style hotel is de rigueur for
executive power dining. |
his obsession with this seductive delicacy. Whether it is tucked into mini-buns for foie gras bacon burgers or dressed in a silky cherry-rhubarb sauce, duck liver gives endless exercise to Dodd’s creativity. How many varieties has he prepared in the last year? "I have no idea," he laughs. "I’m always doing something different."
His ingenuity does not end with foie gras. The first of the dinner’s seven courses is a formidable presentation of fresh lobster, crab, shrimp, and oysters. Then, to introduce a dash of fun and mystery to soften the intensity of the negotiations, the remaining courses are a progression of surprise dishes in the California-French style that Dodd favors. He may prepare a delicate Dover sole, New Zealand baby lamb, or a seasonally inspired dish using herbs and spices from the hotel’s famous gardens. If predictability better suits your agenda, Chef Dodd is prepared to customize the evening’s meal to your liking.
Between the setting and the cuisine, your inconspicuous dinner at Table One will be one you and your guests will remember fondly long after the ink has dried on the contract. Dinner is $115 per person and lunch is $70 per person, excluding wine, beverages, tax, and service charge.
Hotel Bel-Air,
www.hotelbelair.com, 310.472.1211
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