FRENCH-L.A. FINE DINING INSIDE THE DIOR STORE

PLUS, MARVITO IN WEST HOLLYWOOD, AND A SOUP DUMPLING SPECIALIST IN GLENDALE

- BY STEPHANIE BREIJO

Photographs by STEPHANIE BREIJO Los Angeles Times

When Dominique Crenn — the chef behind Michelin three-star Atelier Crenn in San Francisco — set out to design a restaurant for luxury fashion brand Dior, she went to bed one night and had a dream.

She says she was walking on Rodeo Drive, holding hands with the late designer Christian Dior and discussing what to serve. When she awoke, she knew: Crenn would serve haute cuisine at the Dior flagship in Beverly Hills and celebrate Dior’s designs and Los Angeles through French-Californian cuisine and intricate, meticulous plating. Monsieur Dior by Dominique Crenn marks Crenn’s first L.A. venture in nearly 20 years. Before she opened Atelier Crenn and Bar Crenn in San Francisco, and before she became the first female chef to earn three Michelin stars in the U.S., Crenn cooked at Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach before opening Santa Monica’s Abode. She departed L.A. in 2007, appearing on shows such as “Chef's Table” and consulting for films such as “The Menu.” But this winter, she returned with one of her most conceptualized menus to date.

“For me it was a way to bring my DNA — the French DNA— and also celebrate something that struck me: a texture or color or story, whether on a dress worn by Sophia Loren or Brigitte Bardot or Marilyn Monroe,” said the Saint-Germain-en-Laye-born Crenn.

But you might not notice unless you knew where to look: Dabs of cauliflower puree surrounding short ribs and truffle replicate a pearl necklace worn by Monroe when she donned Dior; intricate dark tuile atop delicate truffle agnolotti references the black lace of a gown on Charlize Theron; the houndstooth-patterned caviar, made with a custom Dior-made mold, is a nod to a jacket once worn by Ingrid Bergman.