L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (1* Michelin)
We never got round to dining at l'Atelier de Joël Robuchon when we were living in Paris. Probably due to the fact that you can only make reservations for dinner for 6:30pm which is a little too early in a country where you usually dine at 8. But a few weeks ago we managed to squeeze in lunch at said restaurant and absolutely love it.
Entrance to the open kitchen (we were given a tour)At l'Atelier you eat at the counter surrounding the open kitchen. Not very comfortable and certainly not to be done in a group, but when you're just 2 or 3, it's quite fine. Since it was our first visit to the restaurant and since we liked everything in their Menu Découverte, we went for it.
The Kitchen
The menu consists of 9 tasting portions. They were small but added together made up a full meal. We actually had to refuse a complimentary portion of very good potato purée when it was offered to us. We had a few glasses of different wines to go with our meal and they were served a little too cold. Low temperatures help to mask the bad qualities of a wine which shouldn't be the case of our grape juice.
The Wines
I am not endowed with the gift of describing food like my guru Umami. I'm a basic person who either like something or not at all. And I certainly liked/loved everything that I was served in this restaurant. Everything was cooked just right, the lamb was so tender it melted in the mouth (yet it was served pink), the desserts were refreshing, everything was perfect as far as I was concerned.
L’AMUSE-BOUCHE
LA TOMATE en gaspacho aux petits croûtons dorés
LE CRABE ROYAL aux fines lamelles de raves épicées
L’ŒUF cocotte à la crème légère de morilles
LE FOIE GRAS de canard chaud aux sucs d’hibiscus, cerises et amandes fraîches 
LA MORUE fraîche poêlée aux fins aromates
L’AGNEAU DE LAIT en côtelettes à la fleur de thym
LA CAILLE farcie de foie gras et caramélisée avec une pomme purée truffée
L’ORANGE à la mandarine givrée avec un voile friand à la cassonade 
LES FRUITS ROUGES rafraîchis d’un sorbet au citron vert et basilic We were seated next to a Mexican family of 4 (the father is a friend of Ferrari's L. Montezemolo) who were returning customers. They loved the food there too.
But behold the bill. Nearly 300 euros for 2. Thank goodness I had the whole afternoon to digest it.
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
5 rue de Montalembert
75007 Paris
Tel : 01 42 22 56 56
Love the food there altho embarrassingly enough it was because I'd stumbled upon it after my visit to Musee d'Orsay. No reservations, walked in & voila they had a place. Totally enjoyed the spontaneity of it all & of course the food.
RépondreSupprimerWow, what a lovely lunch.
RépondreSupprimerHey most people eat kebab when they're alone but you of course you stumble onto a 1* Michelin for an impromptu lunch! :-)
RépondreSupprimerWonder what the Hub would say if I should stray into Place Vendome...
I normally wouldn't eat alone in a fancy restaurant & only went there because they had a bar counter plus they have really good looking staff.
RépondreSupprimerTrue true about the cuties behind the bar :-). Ours actually came from Milan and the guy supervising the kitchen looked so young and cute too. Very pleasant on the eye and good for digestion.
RépondreSupprimer150€/person ? For that price I can buy 1 small pig that is enough for 15 people !!! Or I can lunch in a reasonable restaurant for 10 consecutive days...
RépondreSupprimerGood life !!! For who can afford...
Sergio, your small pig you'll have to cook and carve it yourself though I'll give it to you that you're cute enough to do the serving :-).
RépondreSupprimerI cook pretty well myself so why would I want to eat in a small restaurant for 10 consecutive days? Once in a blue moon, I want to put down hard-earned and saved money on a meal in a restaurant like l'Atelier that I wouldn't be able to churn out sans slaving over the stove.