We've caught the French in fine dining, say US chefs

After drawing for many years on the classical techniques of France, American chefs now feel that their own fine-dining scene has now developed its own character and caught up with its French counterpart.

Speaking during Raymond Blanc's week-long celebration of American cuisine staged at his Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, American chef Patrick O'Connell said: "For the first time we're on a par with French haute cuisine. I think that if you went to the United States there would be six, eight, maybe 10 restaurants worthy of three stars."

O'Connell, owner of the Inn at Little Washington, Virginia, is one of eight celebrated American and American-based chefs taking part in the festival.

He continued: "The terminology I would use to describe our cooking is refined American cuisine. It's trying to bring forward all the tastes and flavours that are uniquely in our memory bank from childhood - the things our mothers made, but bringing them to new dimensions. Making them light, elegant on the palate. But I don't think either side of the pond has figured out that that's quite what's happened yet."

Earlier in the day, during a panel discussion on the future of gastronomy, American restaurateur Drew Nieporent said most American cooking was based on French technique but that American chefs were interpreting American products using those classical methods. Nieporent's restaurants include some of America's most famous eating establishments - Tribeca Grill, Rubicon, Nobu.

Wylie Dufresne, chef-proprietor of New York's WD-50 and one of the most talked-about cooks among the younger generation of American chefs, agreed. "We've good learners," he said. He added: "I think to some extent the French have stagnated [in fine dining]. That's not to say there aren't great French chefs pushing the boundaries - Gagnaire, Bras, Barbeau at L'Astrance."

Dufresne pinpointed a more relaxed approach to service as an emergent American influence on fine dining around the world.

"We don't have any tablecloths in our restaurant. The idea is that you can have a fine meal in a casual environment. We're trying to make fine dining more approachable," he said.