Fashion designer Christian Dior was a genius of couture but also an ambassador of French luxury and Savoir faire. An epicure, he enjoyed haute cuisine, prepared his own liquors and was an excellent cook, who loved having friends over to share his recipes.

Miss Dior.

Dior devoted a lot of energies to all the projects of his fashion house, especially its perfumes. To honor the couturier’s lesser known fact, Parfums Christian Dior asked two Michelin star Chef Ramon Freixa to create a tasting menu that will bring to the kitchen the ingredients and the essence of eight of the most iconic fragrances created by the famed designer.

“Every men’s fragrance by Dior uses a flower. We have searched that connection with the essences to put together the menu,” explained Freixa to the Efe agency, noting that in addition to his admiration for Christian Dior, he shares his desire of “bringing happiness to people” with his work. “Ultimately, in both trades you have to be a little bit of an alchemist to develop your products,” said the chef.

Chef Ramon Freixa.

Among the outstanding dishes, we found starters like oysters tartare and foie Royal, a reinterpretation of the duck Burger; also a sole meunière and a rice Socarrat with lobster. For dessert, a chocolate pannacotta and mini red apple, all paired with a selection of five wines.

Christian Dior used to say that “the ingredients for cooking are as noble as the ingredients for sewing” and Freixa´s menu tries to rescue the “timelessness elegance, freshness and seduction” of French perfume, while paying homage to a great lover of good food, to whom friends dedicated a posthumous cookbook with his favorite recipes. The book is La Cuisine Cousu-Main (The Hand Stitched Cuisine), illustrated by René Gruau. The edition was limited to only 4,000 copies making it a coveted collector’s item.

Poison Dior.

The full menu price is around $250, includes a pairing with five wines, and will be available until 15 November at the Ramón Freixa restaurant, located in the Hotel Único Madrid in the Spanish capital.

In addition to his restaurant in Madrid, Chef Freixa still maintains his first Freixa Tradición restaurant in Barcelona, and in 2012, he opened Erre in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. This year, he launched his second Latin American restaurant: Sal, in Panama, a project with which Freixa wants to “inspire a unique and very personal experience.” ■

Eight perfumes, eight dishes

1. «Timelessness»
Slices of Vic sausage; mimetic stone; mushroom and lichen ficoide.
(Inspired by the Eau Sauvage perfume).

2. «Elegance»
Cotton candy and flowers, edible paper with houndstooth fabric and Miss Dior essence.
(Inspired by the Miss Dior perfume).

3. «Avant-garde Audacity»
Royal foie, cigala, rooster combs, fine mojama and forest mushrooms in wood.
(Inspired by the Dior Homme perfume).

4. «Golden Bouquet»
Oyster tartare with vanilla veil, slice of golden apple, tangerine alveoli and rose choff.
(Inspired by the J’Adore perfume).

5. «Incandescent Transgression»
Duck burger, mustard ice cream with fine herbs, grilled smoked ketchup, vanilla, cocoa and leather brick.
(Inspired by the Fahrenheit perfume).

6. «A Journey Through the Mediterranean»
Sole meunière, Dado cider, mimetic almond, citric gel, orange butter, spaghetti Portofino.
(Inspired by the Escale à Portofino perfume).

7. «A Confessable Addiction»
A socarrat rice plate, lobster, pork feet, meat juice and mandarin, jasmine and sandalwood essence.
(Inspired by the Dior Addict Eau de toilette).

8. «The Spell»
Chocolate pannacotta, mini red apple, opaline of cilantro sprouts, citrus marmalade, litchi honey, scented bubbles of tonka bean.
(Inspired by the Poison perfume).