Restaurants Around the UK Join Worldwide Celebration of French Gastronomy

Twenty-five UK restaurants are taking part in second global Goût de France/Good France event on 21 March. French gourmet dinners to be served in 17 restaurants in London and eight in Scotland, Oxfordshire, Yorkshire, Surrey and Suffolk. On Monday 21 March 2016, 25 restaurants around the UK will join over 1,500 chefs from all five continents for a worldwide celebration of French food and drink.

The names of the participating restaurants were announced by the French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, and three-Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse in Paris on 28 January 2016.

Goût de France/Good France is a global initiative supported by the French Foreign Ministry. Taking place in restaurants and French embassies around the world, the event will showcase the vibrancy, creativity and innovation of French cuisine, while remaining true to the values of sharing, enjoyment and respect for good food and the planet.

In the UK, 25 chefs have devised special French gourmet menus, which will be served to diners on 21 March. Menus include an appetizer, starter, main course, selection of French cheeses, dessert and French wines and champagnes.

A range of restaurants – from local bistros to fine dining establishments – are taking part, and the menus are priced at the discretion of the restaurant. Menus will be based on fresh, seasonal and local produce with reduced levels of fat, sugar, salt and protein. Dishes already announced include twice-baked Roquefort soufflé, turbot with clams and wild garlic, mussel gratin with Provençale herb crust, millefeuille with chestnut cream and mandarin coulis, and baked chocolate tart with roasted plum compote.

The French Ambassador to the UK, Sylvie Bermann, will host her ownGoût de France/Good France dinner at the French Residence in Kensington, London, on 21 March.

Ambassador Bermann said: “I am delighted that so many restaurants around the UK will be joining us on 21 March in this global celebration of French food and drink.

“Goût de France/Good France will be a chance like no other to savour some of the world's finest gastronomy – from well-loved classics, to innovative new dishes and fusions, all of which showcase the best of French cooking today.”

The participating UK restaurants are:

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester (Mayfair, London)
Chef: Jean-Philippe Blondet

Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons (Great Milton, Oxfordshire)
Chef: Raymond Blanc

Boundary Restaurant (Shoreditch, London)
Chef: Michael Carter

Brasserie Joel (Westminster, London)
Chef: Walter Ishizuka

Escoffier (Westminster, London)
Chef: Simon Stocker

Fleur De Sel (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Chef: Anne-Laure Roger

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (Covent Garden, London)
Chef: Xavier Boyer

L'Escargot (Soho, London)
Chef: James Tyrrell

L'Etranger (South Kensington, London)
Chef: Chris Siomadis

La Garrigue (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Chef: Jean-Michel Gauffre

Lazenby's on York Place (Scarborough, North Yorkshire)
Chef: Simon Lazenby

Le Garrick (Covent Garden, London)
Chef: Charles Lepelletier

Le Petit Nantais (East Molesey, Surrey)
Chef: Jean-Philippe Gravier

Le Pont de la Tour (Tower Bridge, London)
Chef: Frederick Forster

Les Deux Salons Restaurant (Trafalgar Square, London)
Chef: Mathias Oberg

Maison Bleue (Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk)
Chef: Pascal Canevet

Marianne (Notting Hill, London)
Chef: Marianne Lumb

Mon Plaisir Restaurant (Covent Garden, London)
Chef: François Jobard

Mosimann's (Belgravia, London)
Chef: Anton Mosimann

Pillars University of West London (Ealing, London)
Chefs: Michael Coaker and Nathan Vasanthan

Rivea London (Knightsbridge, London)
Chef: Alexandre Nicolas

Taste (Cumbernauld, Scotland)
Chef: Paul Clark

The Clarendon Hotel (Hebden, North Yorkshire)
Chef: Lionel Strub

The French Table (Surbiton, London)
Chef: Eric Guignard

The Grill at the Dorchester (Mayfair, London)
Chef: Christophe Marleix

Members of the public can view participating restaurants' menus on the Good France website: www.goodfrance.com. Table bookings should be made directly with the restaurant.

Laurent Fabius, French Foreign Minister, said: “The Goût de France/Good France event unites chefs from all horizons and from around the world on the same evening, with one shared goal: celebrating the excellence and creativity of French gastronomy.

“Gastronomy is part of France's heritage and our identity, as was demonstrated by UNESCO in 2010 when it incorporated the “gastonomic meal of the French” into the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

“With this second Goût de France event, we invite the world to savour the taste of France.”

Chef Alain Ducasse said: “We called upon all connoisseurs of great food – and they answered our call. Better still, even more countries and restaurants will be participating in this second edition of the event.

“That is the great success of this initiative, proving that French cuisine is borne by a powerful dynamic, because it speaks a language of generosity and humanism. The world needs this appetite for happiness.”

Twenty UK restaurants took part in the first ever Goût de France/Good France event on 19 March 2015, joining over 1,300 around the world. Restaurants taking part in the UK included local bistros to fine dining establishments, in locations including London, Yorkshire and Oxfordshire.

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