L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon

QueenB

superbe expérience culinaire 26th June 2009

0 found this helpful

Superb but quite pricey!

Based next door to The Ivy, already had high expectations and was not disappointed.Stepped inside the stylish looking L'atelier and was greeted by 3 girls, who took the reservation and showed us to our table, we chose a side table but not directly on the chefs bar but not so far away we couldnt see into the kitchen and chefs at work.

The whole place feels more like a japanese venue, mixed witha stylish new york bar. Dimmly lit, dark woods, very sultry with music more suited to a chill out club in Ibiza...Loved the wall pieces - looked like paintings but on closer inspection were actual spices and herbs behind glass, as well as the leaf wall, gave a tranquil element to the atmosphere.

Initially booked through top table for the £19 for 2 courses menu but found it far too limited in choice, only 2 basic options per course, also only had 15 minutes to choose fro the time we were seated, so felt a lil rushed

Opt'd for the a la carte menu:

Starters = Crispy langoustine fritters with basil pistou for myself - small, light, melt in the mouth, basil works so well flavour wise and looked stunning
Sautéed squid, baby artichokes, chorizo and tomato water for the boyfriend - served in a bowl packed with flavour with tender squid

Mains =
Fried whiting coated with crispy breadcrumbs, lemon and herb butter - served whole and a warm pot of creamed, rich buttery potato on the side. So so tasty,
Pan fried Scottish scallops, macaroni, mushrooms and light emulsion - looked great, very rich but great combination, scallops were sublime.

desserts =
Mon Couer was a mix of a pink chocolate ball filled with lychee, ice cream and biscuit pices that was drizzled in front of me with warm strawberry sauce to melt the choclate and expose the centre - soooo deliciously wickedly sweet!
Boyf had white peaches ina sticky liquer glaze which disappeared before I got to try but he assured me they were yummy!

All washed down with a bottle of Argentinian Malbec, that was a steal at £29

Staff were attentive, friendly and very happy to advise or explain any dishes

Total was £134 inc service and I would def recommend and happily go back, am quite tempted by the £105 set meal on offer mmmmmm

Brodule

Return match needed 17th August 2008

1 found this helpful

Dined here as a guest of someone so can't really comment on the cost, but it gave me the feeling of unlimited expense. Personally I was not comfortable with the interior design and the slightly exposed feeling I got with my particular place. Staff were quite professional but somehow distant. It's a tricky thing at this price level and perhaps they are too busy to pull off the 'welcome back' that you get even on infrequent dining at some better places. The food was well above average and certainly qualified for more than one Michelin star, though in the couple of months since I was there memory of particular dishes has faded. As I did not choose the wines either, I can only comment that they were good without being truly outstanding but of course they may well have just been not my style. The whole experience did not create that 'must return' feeling, but it was sufficiently good that a return match must be arranged.

Cedric

Fantastic symphony 19th February 2008

5 found this helpful

The best restaurant I have ever gone to. As clearly explicited above, the Atelier is a semi-formal restaurant where you sit around the open kitchen. You can thus appreciate the ballet of the cooks around the plancha, slicing, cutting, seaming...

For your dinner, it is suggested to select two starters and a main. I personaly opted for (sorry if I don't phrase it properly):
- Smoked salmon
- Hot foie gras on seasonal fruits puree
- scallops with truffle and leeks

Everything was extremly delicate and beautifully presented. The savours and scents of the food are enchanting your sense. It is amazing to be able to catch hints of ingredients without them overwhelming the dish.

Since the chef has a direct view on the customers, and vice-versa, he decided to come over and have a word with the two of us who simply extatic... The concept of the exchange and demystification of the cuisine works very well. It becomes accessible, whilst keeping its entire premium.

Since this was our first encounter with Joel Robuchon's cuisine, we were offered a small portion of his iconic truffled potatoe puree which is fucking good (excuse my French).

As a desert, I managed to resist to the temptation to go for a chocolate cake and opted rather for a Chartreuse souffle with Pistacchio ice cream. The liqueur is produced a few kilometres away from my home town... And this is the first time I enjoy it in a souffle. What a surprise, and fireworks of flavours again.

Overall, this was a fantastic culinary experience to celebrate a big event. But no doubt that we will come back again, even if the bill is on par with the heights of culinary arts, it was totally worth it.

And it even inspired me a blog post to be read here: www.mountaindwellerviews.blogspot.com/2008/02/cuisine-like-no-other.html.

claypole

Faultless 13th September 2007

5 found this helpful

This is one of the best restaurants I have ever been to, and I've been to most in this class, both in London and abroad.

The decor and ambience was perfect, the service excellent, all the food was outstanding, my favourite being the quail stuffed with fois gras. Our initial wine recommendation was lighter than I had hoped based on my preferences, but did compliment our starters, which were predominantly seafood based. The next choice from a decent, mainly (if not all) French wine list was excellent. After our meal and on contemplating the mayhem of a Saturday night in the heart of the West End, we were directed to a fantastic private bar and were the last to leave at some point early Sunday morning. The cocktails were spot on, the Jamaican Mule being a staple, but there were no bar snacks of any kind, which was unfortunate. The bill was outrageously expensive but along with the company this was a great night out and worth every penny.

Browners

C'etait magnifique! 6th June 2007

9 found this helpful

My God L'Atelier is good. Cowie and I had a spellbinding meal sat at the bar overlooking the immaculate chefs making perfect cooking look like a piece of piss. We'd been planning to go here for a while.

Imagine a tepanyaki combined with a tapas restaurant which serves excuisite French food and you're there. It was such a chic restaurant that we felt like we were both multi billionaires. Our next door neighbour spent 2 hours telling her desperately unfortunate companion about her 5 million dollar divorce settlement and her alcoholic estranged husband who she still lives with... If you're reading this, you are a digusting, but enthralling individual!

We shared 4 mini starters which were all sublime. My favourite was the ravioli of langoustine and the 4 minute frogs legs. The ravioli was perfect. Silky, fine pasta and a rich, unctious sauce that encased soft, juicy scampy. Incredible. Frogs legs were battered and sat on little dabs of garlic and parsley sauce. I ate them bones and all which is how good I thought they were!

Our squid was delicious too. A tomato water sauce flecked with rich chorizo made for an excellent combination and looked very pretty on the plate whilst the vegetable confit was deep and flavoursome too.

Then things got fun. Our waiter wondered over to us with an entire side of sirloin and asked Cowie how much she wanted. Cowie gestured that she wanted a slice of beef the thickness of a forearm and that's what she got! Massive... but utterly gorgeous piece of rare steak. I challenge anyone to cook a better steak.

My quail was something else though. Stuffed with foie gois and seared on the hot plate it was tiny but filled me with the most fantastic feeling. It made life feel good. The whole world became a better place. Even the horrific woman next to us sounded like an angelic nun. And it got even better when I tucked into Joel Roubechon's famous mashed potato. Rumour has it it's 70% butter. Wow.

A plate of profiteroles saw me off for dessert. My teeth still haven't forgiven the fiendishly cold ice cream. Now, I don't want to offend my Dad who makes very good profiteroles, but, these were the best I'd ever had. Watching them pour an un civilised amount of chocolate on top of the mini mound made me feel like doing a lap of honour. Cowie's Chantreuse soufle was so spectacularly good I only allowed myself one mouthful. That was all I needed. Perfect.

What a brilliant restaurant. I utterly loved every moment we were there. Despite the most annoying woman in the world sitting next to us!

robcarter

Declaration of intent... 6th February 2007

11 found this helpful

This catchily named-restaurant will be reviewed in two parts; the prologue being the restaurant and the epilogue, the bar.

Prologue: Joel Robuchon was voted the "Chef of the [last] Century" by the other great chefs of the world. "This is going to have to be amazing", I thought.

London is M. Robuchon's newest Atelier (workshop; he IS French). To add to his collection of New York, Vegas, Paris and Tokyo. By all accounts - they are all the same thing. Like a monumentally expensive McDonald's you know what you are going to get when you walk in: from your Rolls Royce parked in the street.

It should be noted that his choice of location, really IS a declaration of intent. The next door restaurant is The Ivy. The luvvies' favourite; the choice of the nouveau riche and ill-informed. Its where Tess Daly and Vernon Kay eat. With Chris Moyles.

L'Atelier will take on the role of The Ivy easily; it may be dark but it is hugely small and cozy; you would not be able to hide here.

To the decor. This place is like a japanese health spa meets an 1980s nightclub. Its dark, chic, shiny, black marble, dark wenge wood, red leather on the seats, red glassware at the table settings and hanging baskets of fresh chilis. This is not really to my taste but feels inviting, strangely.

However once sat at the bar - where you eat cheek by jowl with the next party of people talking self-consciously quietly - the flashiness and the shininess makes a bit more sense. As your eyes adjust to the lighting you see that you are in full view of the kitchen. This is again small but over-full with silently moving shadows all dressed in black, mutely slicing, dicing and, interestingly, repeatedly needling food with toothpicks until the presentation was just so.

Most of the cooking (apart from some preparation and pastry making - which is banished to the basement) is straight on the hotplate (teppanyaki) - again in eerie silence.

It is this cooking method that intrigues me along with the whole concept of the place. The intimacy of a japanese restaurant has been [con?]fused with the popularity of french buttery cooking. Sounds like a great concept. But the seating is too intimate, the atmosphere too quiet (Friday lunch should be one of the busiest times of the week!), to let you speak with confidence that others aren't listening. This is bad for a business lunch anywhere but the Brits hate to hear themselves talk so we end with a competion to speak almost inaudibly; desperate not to let our neighbours hear a thing.

If you come with a party greater than 2 the above gripe is irrelevant as the 3 or more of you will be sat in a line along a bar, unable to communicate in any other method but chinese whispers.

You choose much like Ramsay's Maze (see another one of my reviews - current favourite restaurant!) with either main course sizes or tasting menu size (a third of the food at half the price but you get to sample a load of the menu).

At 'The Workshop' however, this leads to smaller portions than any more than one person can enjoy and surely the point is for everyone to 'try'. No? You think its vulgar to share food? Off the same plate? Ok then, well you're entitled to your opinion...

The food. In short a bit of a let down. The problem being that the is the Chef of the Century here - surely it should 'blow your mind'. The Pied De Cochon was the stand out favourite for me, that's French, it was really great. As was the quail, even the main course size of this was tiny. The mash here is simply barely textured butter, but you convince yourself its mash and that it is the best mash you have ever had; mildly flavoured with truffle. But for instance the Lentil Veloute was just good - not amazing.

Thats the problem here. The place is too hyped and expensive for there to be a moment of disappointment.

Lets hope Tess and Vernon don't stop posing for long enough to taste anything properly.

Above the restaurant there is the second restaurant - La Cuisine - the same but not as well designed by all accounts and above that, high above Soho, is the bar...

Epilogue: We needed somewhere to discuss the lunch. We were both a tiny bit let down and needed to talk through it. We had heard about the bar. We were not disappointed.

This was perfect. The blackout curtains stopped the obtrusive daylight, the leather bucket seats allowed for a perfect chat, the service slightly too slow but inobtrusive the cocktails lovingly prepared, the fire and light music allowed for the chat to venture to a louder volume than the restaurant had afforded us. They also transferred the bill upstairs which just made life easier.

This place would look the same at 1pm as it would at 3am - decadent isn't a strong enough word for the decor; it verges on the pornographic. Plush, sensuous and intimate.

The bar totally makes up for the restuarant - maybe enquire and do your pre- or post- dinner drinks here and go somewhere else. Or perhaps before the show, stop into the bar.

Superb.

sokratis at 06/02/07

Wooaa, RobCarter christens the new version of TrustedPlaces, with one of the best of his reviews for far. Plush, sensuous and intimate - verging on the pornographic? I'm going!

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