Chef Hélène Darroze, Roland Mouret Tickle the Senses at London Dinner
FRENCH CONNECTION: Roland Mouret may have made London his home, but his heart, and palate, still fly the French flag.
On Thursday, when Americans were tucking into their Thanksgiving turkeys, Mouret hosted a dinner prepared by the two-star Michelin chef Hélène Darroze, his old friend and neighbor on Carlos Place in Mayfair to mark the launch of his first fragrance earlier this year, called Une Amourette. Darroze operates an eponymous restaurant across the street at the Connaught hotel.
There was Champagne and foie gras to start, and guests later took to the first floor of Mouret’s townhouse flagship for a three-course meal built around the notes of Une Amourette: The blue lobster starter was marinated with cardamom, pink peppercorn and bergamot, while the roast saddle of venison came with a black pepper crust flavoured with smoked juniper.
Dessert was Mouret’s childhood favorite, caramelized apple tarte tatin, which Darroze — who had set up a temporary kitchen in Mouret’s townhouse — served with a side of hay-flavored ice cream on a table laid with bowls of irises and thick white candles.
“My grandmother used to make me tarte tatin — but hers was more burnt than Hélène’s,” said Mouret, whose guests included Arizona Muse and Cat Deeley. Although Mouret’s grand-mère never actually put hay in her ice cream, the flavor was another nod to his childhood. “My cousins and I used to help my uncle cut and store hay, and I remember spending the night in the barn sleeping on beds of hay. One taste of the ice cream, and I was instantly back there,” said Mouret.
The designer unveiled Une Amourette in September. The name, which means a fling or a moment of passion in French, is a bold scent that blends sweet notes such as cardamom with spicy, earthy ones such as oil-infused patchouli, vanilla and pink peppercorn.
Mouret worked with Givaudan perfumer Daniela Andrier and partnered with the French perfumer Etat Libre d’Orange on the scent, which is sold at his stores in London and New York and at Etat Libre d’Orange in Paris.
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