If the skill of entertaining is to put one’s guests at ease, watching Jesus Adorno in action is a masterclass. A glass of champagne 
is barely empty before he is at your shoulder offering a refill, canapés arrive just as you feel the need for a little something to eat, and any lulls in conversation are swiftly plugged with an introduction here, a new line of conversation there.

Of course, one would expect nothing less from the country’s most celebrated maître d’. Adorno has welcomed guests to 
Le Caprice, the legendary restaurant in the West End of London, since the day it opened its doors 28 years ago, and many of its loyal customers return as much for his front-of-house skills as for the food.

He has the gift of making everyone feel special. “Being front 
of house is pure common sense,” he says, modestly. “You just have 
to watch someone’s body language to see what they want. They 
don’t have to talk, they just have to move a little in their chair for 
you to see that they need something.”

Away from the restaurant, he looks after his own guests with the same attentive eye. He believes it is more important to be hospitable than to be a good cook. “Dinner at home is all about welcoming 
people in. I enjoy having guests around the table, I enjoy that 
handshake or embrace at the end of the evening and the big smile 
to say, ‘Thank you, I had a great time.’ That is what it is all about.”

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He does have a distinct advantage over many hosts, though, in that he can rely on others for the food. “I’m blessed in that I can call on the kitchens at Daphne’s or Le Caprice,” he admits. “I can pick something 
up from the kitchen at 6.30pm and be sitting down at home with friends by 7.30pm.” Tonight’s gathering – a send-off before he decamps to New York for four weeks to oversee Le Caprice at the Pierre hotel, which opened this week – has been provided by the caterer Urban Caprice. Although Adorno dons an apron to help finish off some of 
the dishes, he is able to give most of his attention to his guests.

They include a mix of family and friends: Yaneth, his wife, and 
Diana, his eldest daughter, who is training to be a lawyer; his 
osteopath, Barbara Howell; and Robert and Robyn Wilson, owners 
of another London restaurant institution, the Bleeding Heart in Farringdon. It is they who have provided the wines, from their own vineyard, Trinity Hill, in New Zealand.

The table is decorated with Bolivian candlesticks – Adorno came 
to Britain as a 19-year-old. To start there is burrata cheese with San Marzano tomatoes. “It’s a magical dish,” says Adorno, “very simply served on a board with vine tomatoes and grilled focaccia. I see Italians eating it at Daphne’s all the time and they always love it.”

To follow is chicken alla Milanese, a Caprice staple. Like the fishcakes or crispy duck salad, there would be an uproar if they tried to take it 
off the menu. “It’s our second biggest seller after the fishcakes,” says Adorno. And to finish, another classic – Scandinavian iced berries with white chocolate sauce, the kind of simple, feel-good pudding that appeals to the inner child in us all. (All these recipes are overleaf.) 
It is a testament to its enduring popularity that although the dish is not currently on the menu at Le Caprice, the restaurant is still selling as many servings as when it was, because so many regulars order it off-menu.

As Adorno says, good hospitality is all about giving guests what they want, and who is he to possibly refuse?

Le Caprice at the Pierre, 795 Fifth Avenue, New York 
(00 1 212 940 8195; capriceny.com)

Daphne’s burrata with 
San Marzano tomatoes

Serves 6

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