Sunday January 15th was without doubt the coldest day of 2012 at that point. Thinking about it, it probably still is. However, it was a glorious day: the sun beat down with strength but no warmth, the sky was a stunning azure and the air was thick with mist off our breath. It was a great day for photos, walking and sightseeing with the in-laws. And given all the excesses of the weekend prior to this, one last blow-out on the Sunday seemed apt.
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon is a small link in a very exclusive global chain. Joel Robuchon, chef extraordinaire and holder of too many Michelin Stars to count, has outposts in various notable cities on almost every continent. London's establishment has two stars and has long-cemented itself as an important part of the West End's top end. I've been to the ground floor 'counter concept' room a few times and it's a sight for sore eyes. The kitchen is open in the middle of the restaurant, with many of the customers eating at the bar as the chefs prepare their food. On my past visits here I've always gazed longingly at the a la carte menu and thought 'one day'... January 15th was that day.
We were on the ground floor again (the first floor has more of a classic restaurant feel) and brimming with extravagant greed as we surveyed the card, I was struck by one thing instantly: this place is not cheap. It is actually one of those kinds of place that people turn their noses up at, sighing how trivial and biased the Michelin Guide is and how no food could be worth that much. They have a point, but if the food is as good as its price tag, that's another matter...
An amuse bouche of a royale of foie gras with port reduction and parmesan was as fancy and French as you're likely to get anywhere in London. The slightly sickly onset of the foie gras liquid was unpleasant at first, before quickly becoming a smooth and well-combined mouthful of richness. I found it quite amusing (pardon the pun) in that it was one of those things that you tasted at first with the tentative stubbornness that you had to like it because of what it was, before realising that it wasn't actually bad at all.
So far I was a little underwhelmed. The dishes all looked amazing and were as nouvelle as you'd expect, but they were all rather expensive and unfortunately a case of style over substance for the most part. And the langoustines cost £47.
The dish was, in the event, a bit of a treat. The sweetbread was very creamy and supple which gave a great variation to the dish when combined with the pine nuts and almonds. The whole thing was brought together by the thick savoy cabbage leaf at the base, with the rich jus luxuriously coating each mouthful. This was a sudden upswing.
The truffle on my main course was combined with pommes purée on the side of some foie gras-stuffed quail. The dish was, in essence, perfect for me, all its main ingredients among my favourites. The result was similar to that of the starters, sadly. All wordiness and pretence leaving a rather small plate of half-finished morsels. This is not the kind of old-fashioned Michelin-starred nonsense I want on my plate when I ask for quail and mashed potato.
We were fairly stuffed at this point and dessert wasn't necessary but our curiosity and greed got the better of us. Our waiter offered us the chance to have our puddings in the top floor salon, which we thought might be nice. Predictably, the restaurant had whacked the heating right up to compensate for the freezing temperature outside, which was making us all a little sleepy. When we were shown upstairs to a small bar room with some comfortable seating, the four of us promptly drifted off until our desserts arrived.
My choice was warm yuzu soufflé with banana toffee sorbet (right). I was curious how this might work since yuzu is a hybrid citrus fruit from Asia, commonly used in Japanese food. It was a heavenly creation, combining the soft citrus shard of the soufflé to the refreshing comfort of bananas and toffee on the side. It was quite exceptional.
That was that. We wrapped up and braved the cold again before bidding adieu to the in-laws and reflected on a wonderful few days. The meal at L'Atelier was not one of them, sadly. There had been some impressive high points, the desserts most so, but the rest left a slightly disappointing reflection on just how much it costs to eat at this place. The atmosphere is modern, dark and special but the overall experience was lacking in a few key areas: sadly the quality of the food was one. Not that it was bad, just not that good. Not so good you'd want to spend nearly £50 on four langoustines.
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon
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