Hélène Darroze

Celebrated French chef Hélène Darroze commutes regularly between her eponymous restaurants in Paris and at the Connaught hotel in London. She shares her favourite off-duty haunts with Kate Crockett

Living between London and Paris is a good balance:

they are very different cities. In Paris, I have a very busy life because everybody knows me; when I return to Paris, I’m always reminded how beautiful it is. In London, there is an energy that is so special. I have to say, if I had the choice to make, I would like to live in London.

The London restaurant scene

is much more interesting than Paris. I love the quality and diversity – Italian, Japanese, Vietnamese. I’m a fan of Dinings in Marylebone (http://dinings.co.uk); the lobster tempura is amazing, as is everything. Close to the Connaught, I also like Scott’s (http://scotts-restaurant.com) – I think the fish is excellent quality even if it is a little expensive – and I love Amaya (amaya.biz), also in Mayfair, for Indian food.

My daughters are from Vietnam.

Quiterie, aged three, is from Hanoi and Charlotte, aged five, is from the north of the country. I have spent most of my time in Hanoi: I always stay at the Metropole (http://sofitel.com). It is very special to me because it is the place where I spent the first days with my daughters. This hotel is so peculiar; it has a French ambience but is like a bubble in the centre of this crazy, busy, noisy city.

I love pho. I eat it every day when I am in Hanoi.

My daughter Charlotte is also so happy to eat pho – maybe it’s genetic, but she loves the spices in the soup. When I came back from Vietnam the first time, I created a chicken consommé dish in my restaurant at the Connaught called retour d’Hanoi (return from Hanoi) that was inspired by my visit.

Every January I travel to Mauritius

and I stay at Le Prince Maurice (http://princemaurice.com), the most amazing hotel on the island. It’s a Relais & Châteaux property; we stay there for two weeks in what has become something of a ritual. It’s perfect for the girls and perfect for me – there’s a very nice spa, lovely food and the rooms are on the beach. It’s the ideal place to relax after the crazy period of the festive season.

Biarritz is special to me

because I spent my holidays there as a child. Now I like to take a few days there each summer. I go to the market and everybody knows me; they are all waiting for me, saying, ‘Taste this, taste that’. I stay at the Hotel du Palais (http://hotel-du-palais.com), an amazing hotel just on the beach that was once the palace of Princess Eugenie. It’s a bit old-fashioned but it has a wonderful atmosphere.

My dream is to live in India and do charity work

when I retire. I love India – I love the spirit, the ambience, the atmosphere, the smells, the noise; I like these visions they have of life and death. I have been there twice: first to Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and then Rajasthan. I’d love to go to Benares next.

My most memorable food experience

is the first dinner I had at Le Louis XV (alain-ducasse.com) in Monaco when I began work with Alain Ducasse. My parents were with me and something happened in that moment: the food was perfect.