Nov
24
L’atelier de Robuchon, Paris
Thanksgiving is tomorrow but I’m thinking how nice it would be to just wing it and end up in a casual but tasty restaurant such as L’atelier de Robuchon…I already have the-smallest-I-could-find-turkey brining in my fridge so it’s too late for that..By no means is this place “mind-blowing” taste wise but the food is delicious in the ‘competent-crowd-pleaser’ sort of way. I had been dying to check out Chateaubriand and Le Comptoir but ended up being too busy. Anyway, here are some gratuitous shots of food.
Cold cream of potato and leak soup.
Le yellowtail en carpaccio mariné à l’huile tomatée et à la fleur de sel….Yellowtail carpaccio infused in a tomato olive oil.. This one is derivative of typical sashimi dishes.
La Saint-Jacques…. Sea scallop carpaccio and fresh Japanese sea urchin.
Preparation for this dish below was the same as the Yellowtail carpaccio, but instead this plate features raw scallop slices and pieces of sea urchin, I preferred this dish- I love anything with sea urchin.
Les Anchois frais marinés à l’aubergine confite..Fresh anchovies marinated with sliced eggplant confit…The anchovies were also laced with vinegary red peppers and littered with slices of chives
L’ŒUFCocotte et sa crème légère de champignons..Lightly poached egg topped a foam and mushroom cream…the egg was almost raw. I wasn’t too ecstatic about this one.
A small addition of spinach was included.
Le caviar sur une pomme de terre a l’anguille fumee, fleurette auraifort…Sliced potato, smoked fish, horseradish creme, and caviar..Loved this one, potato was cooked perfectly, not mushy at all.
La Morue fraîche en imprimé d’herbes aux sucs de légumes et basilic….Fresh cod filet in a vegetable broth.. Cod filet is also topped with a thin layer of pasta and a beautifully printed leaf, don’t know how they did this, it definitely wasn’t real parsley or any kind of fresh herb implanted between two sheets of pasta because fresh herbs cooked down wouldn’t retain such vibrant color.
Le foie gras de canard chaud aux haricots blanches…Seared duck foie gras with white beans.
Favorite way to eat foie gras, at least for me, is pan seared. I prefer it over cold, pasty foie gras though I’ll happily eat any kind.
Roasted Lamb with herbs.
This isn’t your typical mashed potato. Nope. Lots and lots of butter with intense potato whipping turns into a creamy, stick to the top of your mouth type of paste. Delicious but at the same time nauseating.
La sole cuite au beurre salé, petites capucines et tomates….Sole, cooked in salted butter, capers and tomatoes..
Forgot the name of this one, but it was like apple pie.
…with caramel ice cream and a candy stick.
Last dish (dessert) was the best part of the meal, seriously. Le soufflé au citron avec de la glace de pamplemousse…Lemon souffle with grapefruit sorbet. On foodtv they have that addictive show called “best thing I ever ate”…well this could qualify as one of the most delicious desserts I’ve ever had. The souffle was so light, and the grapefruit sorbet complimented the warm richness of the souffle. Despite the fact that the souffle was flavored with lemon, it wasn’t so tart, but the sorbet was.
It all looks so beautiful and I’m sure it was incredibly flavorful, but I can’t help but imagine the coda:
“…and then I stopped for a slice of pizza on the way back to the hotel because I WAS STARVING.”
@Clare
In my case, I was ready for some spicy korean food after this meal.
Amazing shots.
The mystery encased in the pasta (La Morue fraîche en imprimé d’herbes aux sucs de légumes et basilic) looks like a scored vegetable skin, like cucumber. Perhaps it was blanched to keep its color?
Mmmm, these are making me very hungry! once again, excellent food photos.
Must wipe drool off my chin!
xJOLE
Seriously drooling. Also:
1. Pan-seared foie gras is soooo much better.
2. The Best Thing I Ever Ate = Best Thing to Do on Friday Nights.
Potato and leak soup?
The souffle looks incredible – all my favorite flavors?
i always forget not to look at your blog on an empty stomach. drooool.
I am drooling right now… yum
Sarah
theantiquepearl.blogspot.com
You seem not too excited about this place…
OH MY GOODNESS, what a journey to the senses! Thanks for bringing us along with you
xx
I’m going to Paris is a couple weeks and this is definitely putting me in the proper culinary frame of mind.
oh I have always been thinking of giving this one a try but felt like it is a little too “left bank snobbish” to actually carry seriously good food…
I would be really interested to know how you would rate it against same-standard NYC restaurants. I know France is known worldwide for its cuisine, but I can’t help but think that for equivalent prices, the best food I have had was always in NYC…
And what were your favorite addresses in Paris? I’d love to know and check them out if I haven’t already, cause I have intense trust in your tastes (weird coming from someone you’ve never met huh?)
Happy thanksgiving anyways, and even though we don’t celebrate thanksgiving here in France, one thing I am thankful for is your blog and your inspiring approach of food and photography!
yummy))
checkout my shoppinglbog
the macro shots showcasing the details/effort put into the most of the dishes are really beautiful
We went to l’atelier de Joel Robuchon in Paris in June this year. We anticipated it being the culinary highlight of our trip. Sadly it was the culinary disappointment of the trip. Not that it was bad by any stretch. The food looked absolutely magnificent, and the service was nice, even if they did obviously fawn all over the wealthy Singaporeans next door. But the food somehow lacked depth of flavour, even though it looked sensational. A couple of courses were magnificent in both taste and appearance, but for such a big ticket night, with a high level of difficulty making bookings from overseas, it was disappointing as an experience. My husband is a great Robuchon fan and has enthusiastically made some of his recipes at home (oh my, his mashed potatoes and roast lamb are incredible), he was even more disappointed than I was. Expectations are a terrible thing.
The caviar/sliced potato reminded me of my Rhodesian Ridgebacks vomit……Mostly foamy white with a dollip of yellow bile in the middle.
Sorry, Love your pictures though.
wow, the food looks so nice, too nice to eat! especially that sashimi thing with the green any red, looks like glitter. and the anchovy dish look so nice!
that looks sooo yummy!!! Did you eat all that? It looks so much…
Really nice photos! I am so happy that you post more often!!
What else did you visit in Paris? I love that city, I lived there for a while.
bisous,
mia
The carpaccios look delectable! I’ve heard mixed reviews about Chateaubriand… but I’m still keen to give it a try!
brutal, i cant believe people actually eat foie gras. you have a dog right? that you love to death. imagine doing to your dog what they do to ducks to get there organs big enough for you to eat them that way. have you ever seen a video of them force feeding the ducks with mechanised pumps to engorge there stomachs. absolutely unbelievable that you would support something as inhumane as that and then call yourself an animal lover.
Catherine needs to chill out. Seriously. Get a grip hahaha.
how can you eat so much ?????
but it looks very nice
i love sea urchin too. love foie gras too. love everything that’s too darn expensive. re food ethics… i can’t defend for myself. i found out from alfred hitcock (the birds) that hens were tricked by men into laying eggs. then there’s the “meatrix” on how animals are farmed for meat. then what about the use of leather? it’s mind-boggling.
Yes this is exactly what I wanted to say about this place. It isn’t mindblowing but it is competent. Competent was the best word.
As always your photography is amazing, but I pine for the days when this blog was geared towards “look at this cool thing I did, I’ll show you how to do it” instead of “look at all this cool stuff I can afford”. I’m afraid all this travel-around the world basking in luxury blogging has left ordinary me with little to connect to.
wow.. i’ve looked at your blog for ages and never commented till recently, but some people find such creative ways to twist everything you do in a really fucking bizarre way lol
anyhows, the potato, fish and caviar dish looks amazing, as does the souffle – would’ve thought two citrus tastes would be too much.. and i agree about craving/needing korean food after western dishes – our dinner just then was carbonara + cucumber kimchi lol
The food looks delicious! great photos!
xoxo
never been to this place. I’m wondering how long it has been running.
It looks very nice though. I must say I never had as nice experience in restaurants in the US as in France (Am I too French that my taste is calibrated?). Although I’m sure if I wanted some Japanese cuisine I would never have in Paris that I had here in LA or NY. Culinary experience stays very special to me in France. Something I never had somewhere else. And it’s not only about the food I think.
The photography here is just stunning, don’t know what the food tasted like but just from look at these pics I want to try L’atelier even though I’ve heard mixed reviews.
I remember I went there three times in one week. One of the times, an old, chic lady that sat next to me said to the chef “this is the best meal I have ever had in my life.” Your photos really do them the utmost justice photographs can possibly do.
P.S. There is a great (personally, one of the best I’ve had here) traditional Korean restaurant in the 16th.
wow that all looks very yummy! i giggled at your description of the mashed potatoes, because I totally know what you mean by delicious but nauseating.
We ate at L’Atelier in Vegas and really enjoyed it. I guess you could say BECAUSE it’s not THE pinnacle of fine dining, maybe we enjoyed it more? Lowered expectations? =) Although we DID have 3 dishes involving foie gras on our menu – in addition to the seared, we also had a foie gras parfait and a foie gras-stuffed quail. “Crowd pleaser” is right!
My husband and I are going to Paris in late February and (after watching Bourdain’s 100th episode) I’m also debating between Chateaubriand and Comptoir. I’m afraid getting a RSVP will be a nightmare though, especially since neither of us speak French!
guys it was way obvious from the beginning that she is not an animal activist- look at those different kind of animal skins she always uses. and filthy rich to be able to create her own label and items from scratch. but who cares, just love looking at her pictures it’s of such fine quality! Posts always sensational, keep it up !
I love Joel Robuchon, had a great time with him in Vegas last year. He made us 2 desserts himself, one of the sweetest men ever.