Once, in a dream, the renowned chef Dominique Crenn found herself walking along Rodeo Drive with the legendary Christian Dior. As she recounted to the Courier, “I was holding his hand and asked, ‘Monsieur Dior, what do you think I should do?’ And he told me, ‘You have to do something about who you are, but in a time and place that is where you are. And remember, it’s about beauty. It’s about conversation. It’s about elegance. It’s about nature. It’s about everything that I am and everything that you are. And it should come together.’”
It did, of course, come together last fall in the form of Monsieur Dior by Dominique Crenn.
Located on the top floor of the white limestone and concrete House of Dior flagship at 323 N. Rodeo Drive, the fine dining establishment melds the Dior aesthetic with Crenn’s culinary genius. In less than a year, it has become the city’s focal point for haute cuisine.
Photo courtesy of monsieur dior
It is only fitting that Crenn, 61, should helm the first Dior restaurant outside of France.
Born in France and raised outside of Paris, she is the first woman in the U.S. to earn three Michelin stars for the acclaimed Atelier Crenn in San Francisco. Only 16 restaurants in the U.S. hold that distinction.
Crenn moved to San Francisco from France in the late 1980s, determined to pursue a culinary career. She arrived with an economics degree and a master’s in international business, but sans any cooking school experience. Nonetheless, she managed to secure a stint at Stars, owned by the celebrity chef Jeremiah Tower, and later took a sojourn to Jakarta, Indonesia, to serve as the first woman ever hired there as a head chef. Upon her return to the U.S., she spent time working in the beach communities of Southern California before landing again in San Francisco. In 2009, she earned her first Michelin star as executive chef at Luce in the InterContinental Hotel.
photo by Eliza St. John, zooz group
Two years later, she opened Atelier Crenn, followed by Bar Crenn next door, which earned its own Michelin star. Along the way, Crenn’s fame grew as a visual storyteller through food, a technique she named “Poetic Culinaria.” Dishes at Atelier Crenn are famously introduced with lines of poetry, often invoking the childhood memories that inspired them.
In 2018, Crenn’s mastery was recognized with a James Beard Award for Best Chef: West. In 2021, she consulted on the dark comedy, “The Menu,” creating the dishes prepared by the unhinged chef played by Ralph Fiennes. In 2024, she was named to the Time100 list of the world’s most influential people. Crenn has also authored two books and is well known to global audiences from appearances on Netflix’s “Chef’s Table” and Food Network’s “Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend.”
It is hardly surprising that Crenn caught the eye of Dior executives more than a decade ago. Three years ago, she began discussions with them in earnest about a joint concept in Beverly Hills.
She recounted the journey to create Monsieur Dior during an interview at the restaurant earlier this year.
We arrive as staff are meticulously making last-minute preparations for the lunch service. Crenn appears promptly and comes bounding gazelle-like into our booth. In the conversation that follows, she is eloquent, warm and whimsical at times, eager to talk about this venture, her life leading up to it and chapters yet unwritten.
Crenn’s face lights up as she surveys the design and ambiance of the space.
“I love Peter Marino,” she proclaims, referring to the longtime Dior architect who has transformed the House’s flagships globally to great acclaim.
The Beverly Hills outpost, opened in fall 2025, is no exception.
Monsieur Dior is best approached from the grand central staircase leading up from the retail floors. An elegant ebony and onyx bar, serving a small bites menu, anchors one end of the room. Behind it, textured, mirrored panels catch the sunlight coming in through an expansive, palm-shaded patio area. The indoor-outdoor Southern California aesthetic is enhanced by a massive botanical mural on the main dining room wall. Surrounding it, tables are set with Dior-branded porcelain and silverware atop crisp white linens.
“Everything has a purpose here, and I’m just adding to it. I mean, it’s gorgeous, and it feels different than other places.”
Crenn explains that she manifested Monsieur Dior not only by dream but also by self-fulfilling prophecy.
“Even before Atelier Crenn, I wrote in one of my journals that one day I would work with a fashion house,” she recounts.
It was a natural step for her.
“I always thought of the combination of fashion and food. I didn’t go to cooking school, but I come from a background that is international business. And living with my dad and his art, that is what French culture is about,” she said.
Crenn speaks of her late parents and of time spent at family farms in Brittany as the seminal influences in her life. Her father, Allain, was a prominent politician and friend of Charles de Gaulle who would take her to Michelin-starred restaurants with a food critic friend. Her mother, Louise, worked in finance and was an avid home cook who also encouraged her daughter’s culinary curiosity.
They still form the throughline of her work today.
“My dad, when we used to go to the holiday, would take me to where the fishermen came back from the sea at three, four, five o’clock in the morning. We would get the langoustine, oysters, fish and bring that to my mom. And I used to sit on the dunes with my dad and talk about the world and life and the ocean and the forest also. And my dad was a painter, too. He used to paint a lot,” she recalls.
In fact, her beloved father’s studio, Atelier Papa Crenn, became the namesake of her San Francisco restaurant.
Crenn’s encounter with another atelier, that of Christian Dior, set the framework for what would become Monsieur Dior.
She spent time at the Dior archives in Paris while working on the concept for the restaurant. Her enthusiasm is palpable as she describes the experience.
“It was incredible,” said Crenn. “I connected with his character and his life because it reminded me so much about my dad. You feel Dior’s energy and creativity. It was an honor to be able in a few days to see and feel his work. And it was very organic for me to be able to create something that I think he could have appreciated.”
Photos courtesy of Monsieur Dior
Based on reviews, Crenn has fulfilled her part of the bargain.
While she is content to simply say, “Every dish at Monsieur Dior tells a story,” critics have been more effusive. The menu, in the words of the Los Angeles Times, is a “technical marvel and a love letter to couture.” It is an apt description for a dining experience in which every course, from starters to desserts, invokes the big screen, the red carpet or the runway.
Menu items at Monsieur Dior have not only wowed critics, they have also become social media stars. Among the most notable: a tuna tartare appetizer laden with tiny, floral-shaped purple yam chips, a tribute to a Dior tulle gown worn by Emilia Clarke; a black truffle agnolotti in broth, evoking Charlize Theron’s J’Adore Dior campaign; and a ribeye with cauliflower purée, inspired by a 1962 photograph of Marilyn Monroe in Dior. Dessert selections are particularly Instagrammable, with standouts that include “Chocolate Mousse in a Quilted Handbag,” replicating the tufting of a signature Dior bag.
As the restaurant begins to fill up for lunchtime, arriving patrons try to catch Crenn’s eye. Some discreetly snap her photo from a distance, recognizing they are in the presence of celebrity. The background music grows louder, and the room takes on the energy imparted by frenetic young influencers, dealmakers at business lunches, celebratory social events and (mostly) ladies on shopping excursions. Many are already repeat customers, even though the restaurant is but a few months old at the time of our interview. As is her custom, Crenn makes a point of dropping briefly by each table.
Restaurant openings are notoriously rocky, but the shakeout period for Monsieur Dior was thankfully smooth. Crenn attributes this to several factors.
“First of all, we have been working with an incredible team,” said Crenn. Everybody here is happy to be here, and you can see in a way that they love the vision. It’s not just a restaurant; it’s not a restaurant. It’s really a place where we want people to look at the design. Look at the details in things like the chairs. To me, in their silhouette, they say Christian Dior.”
She is right. With a bit of imagination, the chairs become an elegant garment in a very French palette of pink and green. Coordinating small stools add a fanciful touch as a resting place for posh handbags.
“You see,” said Crenn, “Everything has a purpose here, and I’m just adding to it. I mean, it’s gorgeous, and it feels different than other places.”
Indeed, Monsieur Dior feels different from even Crenn’s other places. She is best known for her San Francisco outposts, which bear their own distinct sensibilities. She refuses to play favorites, though, in comparing Beverly Hills to San Francisco or the differences between Northern and Southern California.
She maintains homes in both.
“It is two different feelings. For me, it’s almost like having two siblings living in two different places. I live in Sausalito, which has a lot of writers. It has the water; it has forest nearby. Here, my house is off Sunset, and I can see the big billboards from my balcony. It’s like a cinema. It’s Hollywood. There are also a lot of creative people here, of course. I love the contrast and duality. And the beauty is that both are part of California,” said Crenn.
Is there something about California, the ocean surely, that evokes Brittany to her?
“Absolutely,” Crenn responds. “That’s what I fell in love with actually, the Pacific Coast.
I was driving through San Francisco, down to Carmel and then to L.A. on Highway 1. I love the ocean. It’s where I get my inspiration. The roughness of the California coast is very similar to Brittany.”
She speaks wistfully about the region that shaped her.
“I love the ocean. It’s where I get my inspiration. The roughness of the California coast is very similar to Brittany.”
“Obviously, if you want to talk about food, every chef in France orders their produce from Brittany, which has so many artisanal things,” said Crenn. She is writing a book about Brittany and the fairy-tale village of Locronan, where her family has roots.
“Brittany didn’t belong to France until the 14th or 15th century. It was Celtic, made up of nomadic tribes. The people are of the land, of the earth, of the water. And it has never changed. It is that feeling about nature and the land that allows us humans to see what the beauty of the world is about,” she adds.
That ingrained appreciation for nature helped to inspire another of Crenn’s ventures, Bleu Bell Farm in Sonoma. It is named for the 12-year-old twin daughters, Charlotte and Olivia, whom she shares with ex-partner Katherine Keon.
The regenerative farm and orchard sit on four acres and provide organic, sustainable produce, herbs and flowers for her restaurants in the Bay Area. The restaurants, in turn, compost all food waste to return to the soil.
“We’ve been working the land for the last 15 years, and it is so beautiful and very rustic,” said Crenn. “We have created an ecosystem that is all biodynamic, bringing back butterflies and other wildlife. The farmers there have shown the kids (who live in Northern California) all the work that is done there. I think it’s important for the next generation to see that it’s important to get dirty sometimes and give back to nature,” she added.
The farm took on added significance in 2019, when Crenn was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer. She became even more convinced of the connection between pure food, the healing process and the importance of caring for the land. She also completed the transition of her Northern California restaurants to land-based, meat-free menus.
Crenn shared her diagnosis, surgery and months of chemotherapy on social media, as well as in her memoir, “Rebel Chef: In Search of What Matters,” published by Penguin Random House in 2020.
Her openness in battling the disease made her a symbol of resistance and resilience. She is now in remission, but the reputation for fierceness remains, evidenced by Instagram posts such as one in which she is surrounded by colleagues as her head is getting shaved. It was the same day Atelier Crenn earned its third Michelin star.
The post reads: “To all the cancer survivors and to everyone that is going through this challenge, remember this quote: ‘The devil whispered in my ear, ‘You’re not strong enough to withstand the storm.’ I whispered back: ‘I am the storm.’”
Reflecting on the fact that life could have taken a much darker turn, Crenn is both grateful and humbled.
“You know, life is not about power and money. It’s about planting the seed to keep this humanity running in a way that we would be happy for the next generation,” said Crenn.
And what of the next generation of her own family? Will they follow in the footsteps of their famous mom?
Crenn replies, “Charlotte knows food, but they can both be very picky. That’s OK, because I am actually a very simple person. I love my hot dog. A night with the girls is usually pasta, tacos or burgers. For Valentine’s Day, we took them to a sushi place because they love sushi. They eat at Bar Crenn, but they usually say, ‘Yeah, it’s nice, but can we go next door and get a burrito?’”
Fortunately, the residents of Beverly Hills have shown Monsieur Dior anything but indifference.
“I’m so grateful for the welcome to this beautiful place. Early on, I met [three-time former mayor] Lili Bosse, and she gave me such a welcome. I want to say to everyone, ‘Just come. I am at your service. This is your home.’”
Bosse told the Courier the two have become fast friends.
“From the moment I met her, I was mesmerized,” said Bosse. “She is a force, and she has this light and radiance, and what I think about her is that she is a true visionary. It’s not just about the cuisine. When you are at the restaurant, you feel like you are eating a piece of art. You feel that this is exactly what Beverly Hills is about.”
Another key to Crenn’s success: “She is a people person who makes everybody feel at home,” said Bosse.
For her part, Crenn remains generous in sharing her success.
“It’s interesting for me that I could use food as a medium and be part of this incredible journey that is Monsieur Dior,” she said. “And I think it is important to know that this is not just a restaurant; it’s really a partnership with an incredible house of fashion. It has allowed me to bring my creativity and my vision of them. And when you’re an artist, collaboration is the best.”
Photo by Eliza St. John, ZOOz group
What artistic collaborations does the future hold for her?
Crenn mentions another movie in the vein of “The Menu.” There is also the book about Normandy and a project in Australia in connection with the Australian Open in 2027.
And it should come as no surprise that she adds, “I want to also create fashionwear. I always wanted to do that.”
We will save that endeavor for another cover.
