Duck breast, cherry, charred leek

The one dish that rolls through the room

The duck is dry-aged for eight days and roasted on the crown, so the breast cooks in its own fat and keeps its shape. It comes out of the kitchen whole, on the gueridon, and is carved beside your table. The jus is made from the roasted bones and the first cherries of June; the leeks are charred over wood until the outside is black and the inside is sweet.

It has been on the carte, in one form or another, since the second year. The cherries give way to plums in August and to quince in October, and the leek becomes a roasted onion when the leeks are done. The duck does not change.

What is on the plate

• Duck breast from a farm in the hills, dry-aged eight days
• Cherry jus from the roasted bones, no flour, no cream
• Leeks charred over wood, dressed with the duck fat
• A spoon of smoked salt, nothing else

With it

The sommelier pours a light red from a hillside two hours south, served cool. In the alcohol-free pairing it is a cherry and black tea infusion, poured from the same gueridon.

Carving at the table is not theatre. It is the only way to serve the duck at the moment it rested enough.Elena Marsh, chef and owner