Phil Howard cooked refined French food for two decades at The Square in Mayfair, two Michelin stars and all, before he opened Elystan Street in Chelsea in 2016. The accent changed; the technique did not.
The best French cooking outside France is not always labelled French. It often arrives as a chef's classical training pressed into local produce, and London is full of it. This guide starts with Elystan Street, the one-star Chelsea room where Howard cooks French technique with the formality stripped out, then maps the wider field, from a three-star palace on Park Lane to a Tribeca brasserie. Each pick names the chef, a dish or a price, the address and a dated proof point, and says who it is, and is not, for.
The Picks
Phil Howard opened Elystan Street with restaurateur Rebecca Mascarenhas in 2016, on the former site of Tom Aikens's restaurant, and won a Michelin star in 2017 that it has held since. The cooking is ingredient-led and changes with the market, built on the classical French foundation Howard laid down across his two-star years at The Square. The mood is deliberately relaxed for a starred room: he wanted somewhere you would return to monthly, not once a year.
Phil Howard's one-star Chelsea room, French technique without the formality — book a weekday table for an easy, ingredient-led dinner.
Not for anyone after a hushed, jacket-required gastronomic temple; the charm here is the lack of ceremony. More in our London dining guide and the best French restaurants worldwide.
For the apex of French cooking in London, this is the room. Chef patron Jean-Philippe Blondet has run Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester to three Michelin stars since 2010, with the sauté of lobster and truffled pasta and the tableside rum baba on the menu since it opened in 2007. The Table Lumière, a curtained six-seat table behind 4,500 fibre-optic strands, is the set piece. It is the formal counterweight to Elystan Street's ease.
London's definitive three-star French room, on Park Lane since 2010 — reserve the Table Lumière for an anniversary you will retell.
Not for a casual night or a tight budget; it is formal and expensive by design. Read the full case in our Alain Ducasse feature.
French technique travels across the Atlantic, too. Eric Ripert has held three Michelin stars at Le Bernardin for years, cooking the most disciplined seafood in America under a menu sorted into "Almost Raw, Barely Touched, Lightly Cooked." The barely-cooked langoustine and the tuna carpaccio are the dishes that built the reputation. It shows what a French-trained kitchen can become when it picks one thing, seafood, and refuses to compromise on it.
America's three-star French-seafood temple under Eric Ripert — go once and let the kitchen choose the tasting.
Not for a meat-first diner or a loud night; the focus is fish and the room is quiet. See the Le Bernardin feature.
Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, the chefs behind Balthazar and Minetta Tavern, opened Frenchette in Tribeca and won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2019. This is the brasserie expression of French training abroad: duck frites, a rotating list of natural and biodynamic wine, and a room that gets loud in the best way. It proves that French technique outside France can mean a great Tuesday as easily as a tasting menu.
A Beard-winning Tribeca brasserie of duck frites and natural wine — drop in for the unfussy end of French cooking abroad.
Not for anyone expecting hushed fine dining; the energy is the appeal. See the Frenchette feature.
Daniel Boulud's flagship is the grande dame of French fine dining in New York, a Michelin-starred room of Lyonnaise technique and seasonal French-American cooking that has run at the top of the city for three decades. The roasted duck and the DB classics anchor the menu, and the neo-Renaissance dining room is as formal as Manhattan gets. Boulud trained in the great kitchens of France, and it shows in every plate.
Daniel Boulud's thirty-year French institution on the Upper East Side — reserve the dining room for a black-tie celebration.
Not for the underdressed; this is jacket territory and a special-occasion price. More on the Daniel feature.
The far end of the same lineage sits in Tokyo. The Joël Robuchon château in Ebisu has held three Michelin stars for sixteen straight years, now under head chef Kenichiro Sekiya, the first Japanese chef to be named Meilleur Ouvrier de France, in 2023. The Caviar Imperial Robuchon and the steamed golden snapper are the signatures, served in a castle-like building lit by Baccarat chandeliers. French technique, exported intact and then refined.
Robuchon's French canon in Japanese hands, three stars for sixteen years — fly to Tokyo for the most exacting French room in Asia.
Not for the rushed; this is a long, formal, costly evening. See the Joël Robuchon Tokyo feature.
How We Ranked These
We led with Elystan Street as the article's subject and the clearest case that French technique can travel without French branding, then ranked honestly on pedigree. The three-star rooms, Alain Ducasse, Le Bernardin and Joël Robuchon, are the apex; Daniel and Frenchette fill the formal and brasserie ends. Each pick names a chef, a price or a dish, an address and a dated proof point, which is how a real recommendation earns trust. For the cuisine, see our guide to the best French restaurants worldwide; for the occasion, the hubs for a first date and an anniversary; and for the wider series, our feature on the best French restaurants outside France.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Elystan Street worth it?
Yes, for ingredient-led cooking with serious technique and none of the fuss. Phil Howard's Chelsea restaurant has held a Michelin star since 2017, and the menu changes constantly around whatever is best that week. It is relaxed for a starred room, which is the point; Howard wanted a place to eat regularly rather than once a year. Expect roughly £70 to £90 a head before wine, well priced for the quality.
Is Elystan Street a French restaurant?
Not on the menu, but in its bones. Elystan Street is described as modern European and ingredient-led, yet Phil Howard built his career on classical French technique over two decades at The Square in Mayfair. The cooking carries that French foundation, applied to British produce, which is why it sits comfortably in a guide to French-trained kitchens outside France. If you want overtly French cooking in London, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester is the literal answer.
How do I book Elystan Street and what is the dress code?
Book directly through the restaurant's website or by phone; weekday tables are easier than weekend evenings, and a week or two ahead is usually enough. The dress code is smart-casual, in keeping with the relaxed Chelsea mood. There is no jacket requirement, which separates it from the grander rooms; the focus is on the food and an easy, conversation-friendly dinner rather than formality.
What are the best French restaurants in London?
At the top sits Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, three Michelin stars on Park Lane under chef patron Jean-Philippe Blondet. Below it, London's French-trained spectrum runs through rooms like Phil Howard's one-star Elystan Street in Chelsea. For the brasserie and bistro end of French cooking, look across the Atlantic to Frenchette in New York. The right pick depends on whether you want three-star formality or a relaxed, ingredient-led dinner.
Who is Phil Howard?
Phil Howard is one of London's most respected chefs, best known for two decades at The Square in Mayfair, where he cooked refined modern French food and held two Michelin stars. In 2016 he opened Elystan Street in Chelsea with restaurateur Rebecca Mascarenhas, earning a Michelin star there in 2017. His style pairs rigorous French technique with a relaxed, produce-first approach, and he is regarded as a chef's chef in the city.