Rivea London, located at the exclusive Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge, opened in 2014 to the kind of attention you’d expect any restaurant bearing the name Alain Ducasse to receive. Ducasse is ultimately the God of Michelin-starred chefs and successfully manages a portfolio of 17 restaurants worldwide with a constellation of 19 Michelin stars between them. Yet Rivea is testament to his love of clean fresh flavours and the ingredients to be found inland between Nice and Liguria, whilst offering a more relaxed (and more affordable) dining experience than his other London outpost, the 3 Michelin star Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.
Although the first Rivea launched in Saint-Tropez and the weather in London can often be more Arctic than heatwave, there is a sense of the Italian and French Riviera on first sight. The dining room designed by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and Partners successfully merges modernity and the glamour of Art Deco and one of the main features of the room is an awe-inspiring sweeping staircase that makes you want to dance rather than walk down to dinner. The high-shine wooden tables and cream leather seats are meanwhile clearly inspired by luxury yachts and accents of cool blue and the famous shimmering Ducasse curtain evoke the liberating feeling of being at sea.
With such a backdrop it all inevitably rests on Executive Chef Alexandre Nicolas to convey Ducasse’s obsession with Mediterranean flavours, and from first glance the menu reads well. Tapas-style small plates designed for sharing replace more formal starters and encourage diners to experience a couple of dishes each, which in turn prompts guests to discuss their own experience of each plate, ensuring that the food here is never simply an aside to the conversation. That’s what makes Rivea a playful and non-intimidating introduction to Ducasses’s legendary cuisine.
Surely only Ducasse could manage to bring the humble Italian breadstick back into vogue? Before our order was taken we were presented with a teaser of breadsticks (not your average trattoria kind I hasten to add) and a selection of vividly coloured dips resembling the landing positions on a Twister mat; a fun palate test whereby you have to guess the two ingredients in each dip before revealing the answer on the back of the accompanying card. It’s a dinner party game I may just have to steal.
Although we were told dishes would arrive as and when they were ready, we were happily served with the sautéed gamberoni, squid and cuttlefish medley first, really helping to get us in the Riveria mood, along with the house signature cookpot of courgette and their precious orange flowers. We were advised that the cookpot changes regularly here and is a must-order and we weren’t disappointed. This was shortly followed by my husband’s cep mushroom and ricotti ravioli featuring meltingly fine hand-crafted pasta and my potato, sage and Parmesan gnocchi which offered both a seriously heady hit of cheese and the lightest potato dumplings in the world.
Just as you’re getting into the swing of sharing it’s perhaps surprising that main dishes are a regular size, although Mr L wasn’t complaining about having the seared beef fillet (sourced from Scotland) with crushed olive oil potatoes and an intense jus all to himself, nor I the roasted and perfectly blushing veal rump served with artichokes, spring onions and girolles. We did swap a mouthful, however, and I can confirm that both dishes were equally sublime whilst, unusually for fine dining, the vegetables succeeded in holding their own against the meat. Everything is focused on highlighting seasonal ingredients whilst fully respecting their natural state and flavour, and they have also just launched an autumn menu dedicated to one of my favourite ingredients, chestnuts (running alongside their à la carte until 13th November).
Although you might think both mains sound heavy, Rivea prides itself on balance so you’re sure to feel replete rather than uncomfortable by the end of the meal and ready to enjoy your dessert as much as the first course. Tiramisu is always a good idea, and their take on it is reassuringly unsweetened, rather like having an espresso straight up, while the chocolate tart was dangerously dark, rich and sexy. It would be a crying shame not to dine at a Alain Ducasse restaurant at least once in a lifetime, and Rivea London is a great place to start.
Rivea London at the Bulgari Hotel, 171 Knightsbridge SW7 1DW. For more information and reservations please visit the website.
