Joël Robuchon’s L’Atelier is one of those rare places where style meets substance with food that just blew us away. The first thing that strikes you is that this is not a traditional two star French restaurant of pressed linen table cloths, rather, you’re offered black mats on dark wood tables and high red leather chairs, or, if you want a real show, a seat at the kitchen bar which runs the length of the open kitchen and lets you watch your food being prepared in front of you and allowing you to lust after the dishes you didn’t order as you watch those too being made up for the other guests.
Everything here is stylish. Dividing your kitchen bar table from the kitchen itself is a glass display cabinet of sea shells on sand while in the kitchen you gaze onto a leg of ham on the bone, lemon baskets and onions hanging from the rail. Red’s the colour of L’Atellier and apples are the theme. Combining these just inside the door is a giant three foot in diameter apple (not real of course) and the apples are seen throughout the restaurant. The back wall is entirely taken by the green leaves of an artificial plant that stretches floor to ceiling. This therefore is a carefully crafted design restaurant.
Our initial buzz of excitement started to wear a little thin when we offered a drink (gin and tonic) but then it took close on fifteen minutes to arrive. What’s more, the staff seemed surely and generally unwelcoming; by the end of our meal though, they had thoroughly redeemed themselves.
As usual, we chose the tasting menu with paired wines though elected to go for the standard rather than the prestige wines. Rather than a traditional amuse bouche, we were offered a plate of Iberico ham that we had just watched being cut from the bone which offered a gorgeous melt in the mouth start. The first real starter (actually termed an aperitif) was a Parmesan cappuccino with a port reduction which sat on top of a smooth pate of foie gras (Mrs CC says it reminded her of peanut butter and jelly). This little starter began the long list of ‘wows’ and ‘oh my gods’ that followed almost every course. While the parmesan cheese – foie gras combination is not an obvious one, the dish came together perfectly balanced, light, and almost refreshing. The first masterstroke.
Everything here is stylish. Dividing your kitchen bar table from the kitchen itself is a glass display cabinet of sea shells on sand while in the kitchen you gaze onto a leg of ham on the bone, lemon baskets and onions hanging from the rail. Red’s the colour of L’Atellier and apples are the theme. Combining these just inside the door is a giant three foot in diameter apple (not real of course) and the apples are seen throughout the restaurant. The back wall is entirely taken by the green leaves of an artificial plant that stretches floor to ceiling. This therefore is a carefully crafted design restaurant.
Our initial buzz of excitement started to wear a little thin when we offered a drink (gin and tonic) but then it took close on fifteen minutes to arrive. What’s more, the staff seemed surely and generally unwelcoming; by the end of our meal though, they had thoroughly redeemed themselves.
As usual, we chose the tasting menu with paired wines though elected to go for the standard rather than the prestige wines. Rather than a traditional amuse bouche, we were offered a plate of Iberico ham that we had just watched being cut from the bone which offered a gorgeous melt in the mouth start. The first real starter (actually termed an aperitif) was a Parmesan cappuccino with a port reduction which sat on top of a smooth pate of foie gras (Mrs CC says it reminded her of peanut butter and jelly). This little starter began the long list of ‘wows’ and ‘oh my gods’ that followed almost every course. While the parmesan cheese – foie gras combination is not an obvious one, the dish came together perfectly balanced, light, and almost refreshing. The first masterstroke.
Next up was a dish simply named ‘Le Caviar’. Fabulously presented as a caviar tin sitting alone but for a mother of pearl spoon on its own rectangular plate that reads ‘Le Caviar par Joël Robuchon’, the waiter lifts the lid from the tin and stylishly rests it on the lip presenting what appears to be a full tin of caviar in front of you. Taking the spoon though and digging down, the caviar sits on a thin layer of lobster jelly which in turn sits on top of crab dressed in fennel cream. Caviar, lobster, crab, caviar, lobster, crab; how could this be anything other than food heaven? The flavours too were balanced and fresh and you could just eat this dish for ever and ever and ever and ever. Served with a sparkling South African blanc-de-blanc, this is the food of millionaires and the rich and famous. We didn’t see this dish separately listed on the a la carte but this is certainly a must have dish on any visit.
Next up was ‘La Tomate’ which was a gaspacho with fresh basil. Perfectly lovely, possibly a little bit too much but at the end we both were thinking the same thing, at the end of the day, its still a gaspacho. We wont dwell.
Looking through the kitchen to the hot plate, we could see two prawns sizzling and guessed correctly that these were for us. The menu lists the dish as ‘Tiger prawns “a la plancha” with exotic flavours’ though we thought that here the concept of ‘show don’t tell’ applied – does the guest really need to be told that the dish contains exotic flavours; we’re knit picking here though. The exotic flavours so mentioned were a combination of cilantro, pineapple, orange, jasmine and lime on the side to squeeze over if so desired. We enjoyed the dish though the prawn put up some resistance to leaving its shell and with prawns so ubiquitously served these days, it’s hard for any chef to do something so different with it to make it a truly memorable dish. The prawn was washed down with an American pinot gris.
This menu is certainly not for those who are shy of foie gras and the next dish saw the second of three occasions that foie gras would feature. Here, it enjoyed star billing coming seared and accompanied by black cherries. This was good foie gras and Mrs CC suggested it made her tingle in places that you don’t normally expect to react in a restaurant; quite rude really but it does suggest just how good this was. Coupled with a black muscat, you should be in no doubt by now that we were happy.
Looking through the kitchen to the hot plate, we could see two prawns sizzling and guessed correctly that these were for us. The menu lists the dish as ‘Tiger prawns “a la plancha” with exotic flavours’ though we thought that here the concept of ‘show don’t tell’ applied – does the guest really need to be told that the dish contains exotic flavours; we’re knit picking here though. The exotic flavours so mentioned were a combination of cilantro, pineapple, orange, jasmine and lime on the side to squeeze over if so desired. We enjoyed the dish though the prawn put up some resistance to leaving its shell and with prawns so ubiquitously served these days, it’s hard for any chef to do something so different with it to make it a truly memorable dish. The prawn was washed down with an American pinot gris.
This menu is certainly not for those who are shy of foie gras and the next dish saw the second of three occasions that foie gras would feature. Here, it enjoyed star billing coming seared and accompanied by black cherries. This was good foie gras and Mrs CC suggested it made her tingle in places that you don’t normally expect to react in a restaurant; quite rude really but it does suggest just how good this was. Coupled with a black muscat, you should be in no doubt by now that we were happy.
The red mullet on the menu had been replaced by black cod for the next dish though despite being huge fans of black cod, overall, the dish was a little disappointing. The cod came on a bed of spinach and Japanese mustard (wasabi) with a carrot puree and was adorned with cucumber quenelle. Here, too many strong flavours were competing and the cod got lost in the cross fire; one certainly couldn’t taste the spinach for the wasabi. In turn, this led us to abandon the other ingredients and focus on the joy of the fish alone which has to mean the dish failed for us. It was certainly one of the busier plates that we were served that day.
The final main course was free range quail stuffed with – you guessed it – foie gras served with truffled pomme purée. This was a much simpler plate than the cod and was so much better for it. The leg was served confit and breast came stuffed with the foie gras as noted and was served with Joël Robuchon’s world famous pomme purée (being a fifty-fifty mix of potatoes and butter). A generous shave of white truffle sat over the purée while the restaurant was kind enough to give us a further bowl of these famed potatoes. Simple, delicious with the quail cooked in our books just perfectly.
With a break before desert, the staff were now kind enough to show us the rest of L’Atelier. The first floor restaurant ‘La Cuisine’ offers a more traditional seating arrangement which we were told is preferred by business people who want to talk business over food rather than food over food. On the third floor meanwhile is ‘Le Bar’ which seems little known and little used. The big advantage here is the breath of fresh air the outside terrace brings and the opportunity for a smoke for those who do. We were offered the opportunity to take our dessert on the terrace which we readily agreed to. The staff were great and brought up all our things from the restaurant to our new table upstairs and outside.
With a break before desert, the staff were now kind enough to show us the rest of L’Atelier. The first floor restaurant ‘La Cuisine’ offers a more traditional seating arrangement which we were told is preferred by business people who want to talk business over food rather than food over food. On the third floor meanwhile is ‘Le Bar’ which seems little known and little used. The big advantage here is the breath of fresh air the outside terrace brings and the opportunity for a smoke for those who do. We were offered the opportunity to take our dessert on the terrace which we readily agreed to. The staff were great and brought up all our things from the restaurant to our new table upstairs and outside.
For the deserts, the first was a beautifully presented green apple ice lolly (that apple thing again) on the outside and an interior of green apple ice and blackcurrant. This was more a fun snack dessert rather than something excessively clever; fun and refreshing. The second desert was a chocolate paradise. A red glass spherical bowl with a small opening on top was itself topped with a thin milk chocolate ring and to one side on the plate was a white chocolate square with L’Atelier branded across it. In the bowl was a chocolate crumble, a milk chocolate mousse, cream and a dark chocolate sauce. This was just one rude dessert. Heaven for chocolate lovers, not sophisticated at all but a bullseye on the sweet spot.
The staff who seemed cold on entry came alive during the meal and interaction grew rapidly. They totally engaged us even taking my camera at one point into the kitchen to take a picture for us that we didn’t have a good angle on from our seats. They were keen to show us everything L’Atelier had to offer and while we had no special requests, I believe they would have done their very best to accommodate them if we had. By the end, they’d completely won us over.
The staff who seemed cold on entry came alive during the meal and interaction grew rapidly. They totally engaged us even taking my camera at one point into the kitchen to take a picture for us that we didn’t have a good angle on from our seats. They were keen to show us everything L’Atelier had to offer and while we had no special requests, I believe they would have done their very best to accommodate them if we had. By the end, they’d completely won us over.
This is a very different style of two Michelin star French dining. Much more informal, mostly clean plates of clean food in a highly stylised dining area. They also have a small plates menu that they describe as tapas so if you want to design your own tasting menu or have a big group share across a whole range of plates you can. The menu was accordingly extensive but not compromised and provided for a hugely enjoyable and memorable experience. We left with an unquestioned desire to eat there again, to try more of the dishes and take in more of the Joël Robuchon experience for in our view, this is a truly original restaurant that fully deserves its stars and which executes its vision perfectly.
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