L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon is one of my favorite restaurant groups in the world. Pretty much any city I go to that has one, I try to make it as you can see from my several visits to the one in Shanghai.
In Las Vegas at the MGM there is a L'Atelier as well as one of the few of Robuchon's more formal restaurants in his empire, simply named Joel Robuchon. It's a 3-star restaurant and a much more opulent and classic French fine dining restaurant where L'Atelier is a 1-star, more modernist French haut-cuisine.
I happened to stop by and amazingly they were able to fit me in if I could wait a bit - score! And another off chance 3-star solo dining experience about to begin.
I used the opportunity of the wait to enjoy a Manhattan at the bar off the entrance. The bar is really classy, it reminded me of the bar in the La Premiere lounge.
A great looking spirits cart.
With some truly impressive spirits.
The ambiance was great, perfect to enjoy a cocktail before dinner.
A nicely made Bourbon based Manhattan.
Soon enough my table was ready and I was escorted into the opulent dining room. Here a few pictures of the dining room I took at the end of the meal when most diners had already left.
There's a "patio" which is still indoors, but could be a great place for a larger party and it has a living wall.
With so many modernist styled fine dining restaurants, this is a great throwback to fine French dining.
Quite the chandelier, MsFlamingo would have loved it.
The table setting was elegant and they transferred the remaining Manhattan over.
Playing with portrait mode with the centerpiece.
First item of business was deciding which menu and wine option to go with. Since I was dining alone, I figured since I was here, go big with the Degustation menu and get the maximum Robuchon experience. I did skip the formal wine pairing and created my own the Sommelier.
To kick this party off, a fantastic cart was wheeled over with a tower of French butter and Spanish olive oil. It's actually the same olive oil we had at Lasarte in Barcelona - perfect!
Expert butter carving skills.
Of course you need bread to pair with the butter and olive oil and I must say, I've been to a lot of Michelin restaurants, but Joel Robuchon wins the bread game so far. There are in fact over 40 different types of breads (more on the backside of this cart)!
I managed to show a modicum of restraint and only got three types of bread to try.
To start the meal off, I went with the Domaine Delaporte Sancerre since it'd be lighter and more mineral and acid driven.
The first course was a crustacean gelee on the bottom with king crab in the middle and topped with caviar. The little dots are cream. When mixed together, this dish was flavorful and light, all at the same time. A luxurious way to kick the meal off.
Next up was the first trio of courses consisting of up front the artichoke and foie gras salad, top left of the freshest tasting tomatoes and right was incredibly fresh salmon confit topped with caviar. All three were flavorful and provided simultaneous contrasting and complimentary texture and flavor profiles.
The next set of courses were on the left an amazing cheese souffle-flan (imagine the texture of both being combined) with a duo of a cheese and herb sauces - fantastic! The right was an egg yolk and herb ravioli with a spinach foam - also amazing.
As we started to move into a little heartier dishes, it was time to move up to a red and went with a lovely Gevrey-Chambertin that although very young, opened nicely and had a slight Rhone quality.
The next set of courses arrived and by this point, I realized I should take pictures of each component of the set.
Up front was the langoustine with a fried shiso leaf on top of squid ink risotto. The texture and flavor of the sweet langoustine combined with the risotto and crunch of the shiso leaf worked perfectly together.
In the upper left, the striped bass with artichoke, fantastic texture and flavor.
In the upper right, a soft egg on top of roasted eggplant with a Middle Eastern flavor profile, this was excellent!
Next set of courses, presented beautifully. Up front were very fresh vegetables cooked perfectly so they still had a crisp.
On the upper left was lobster with green peas and a hint of mint. Perfectly cooked and the flavors combined fantastically, I definitely want to try to make this at home.
In the upper right was a caramelized black cod, with a pepper sauce and bok choy. Very flavorful, but similar to many other replications of this presentation from Nobu and others. Perfect execution, but not original.
For the main, I went with the Margaux (I asked them to decant it at the start of the meal which they did). It was Alter Ego from Chateau Palmer and although young, was a perfect example. As more of a Pauillac or St Emilion fan, this still hit the mark and would love to try it in another 10-15 years.
The next and main course was presented beautifully.
A rib-eye cap with a deconstructed bearnaise, famous Robuchon pomme puree and potato puffs were flavorful and perfectly classic. Also well done on the portioning.
After the amazing main, I asked to take a break before we continued. After a bit of time, the intermezzo course was a visual and tasty treat.
In the upper left was a blood orange foam/mousse and very light.
The upper right was a lime mousse filled with marmalade and incredibly refreshing.
Then what looked like a mandarin, but...
It was mandarin flavored white chocolate with a mandarin filling - amazing!
Next up was figuring out which dessert wine I'd go with and luckily they had a couple Madeira's to choose from.
In the end, they said why not just have a bit of the 1929 and 1939 Maury's. Although a blend, both were excellent.
Then the final main dessert of a hazelnut mousse with a praline ice cream, it was gorgeous and literally looked like a fairy tale forest. The perfect end to a meal like this and not too heavy.
Then the final dessert trolly came by. OMG how does one choose...
I ended up restraining myself and only trying a few and asked them to put together a sampler for me to take home.
Final parting gifts of an amazing pistachio and cherry loaf (ended up having it several days later back home) and the take away mignardises.
What an amazing meal! Joel Robuchon is 110% the epitome of a classic (yet modern) French 3-star restaurant. With several menu options, there's something for everyone to try the experience. I would definitely recommend if you've been to L'Atelier, to give the Joel Robuchon restaurant in Vegas a try - you won't be disappointed.
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