L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

Friday night The Lady Spence & I continued our counter-dining journey, this time with a stop at the recently opened L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon at The Four Seasons. Well, we didn't actually just "stop in" - I reserved it a month ago. We wanted to sit at the counter - the seats where you NEED to be - which are virtually impossible to get without some serious planning. We had been wanting to go to Robuchon's L'Atelier in Paris, but it is next to impossible to get in there so we held off for the NY opening.

Once we were seated at the counter I looked at The Lady and said "2-for-2" and was all smiles. This was because our waiter was bringing over none-other than Mr. Robuchon himself (who rarely makes an appearance since he has also branched out into London and Vegas) to say "bon jour". Sadly, that was about the extent of our conversation with him since he speaks very little English.

Our waiter - who was positioned behind the counter and attended to our every need - then went over the menu with us. We decided not to do the official tasting menu (which consists of many of Robuchon's signature dishes like sea urchin and carmelized quail), but instead to design our own.

Before the first course came out we were treated to a mini foie gras starter inside of a shot glass. It was like BUTTER! I loved it but sadly the Lady shied away. Then out came the bread basket, filled with mini-baguettes and rolls, which tasted like they were just flown in from Paris!

We started off the first course with Le Crabe (seasoned crabmeat inside of 2 thinly spiced avocado slices with a mild spicy oil) and Le Homard (lobster in a turnip ravioli). Both of these we loved and couldn't decide which one we liked better (although I think the crabmeat had the slight edge). Round 2 consisted of La Langoustine (a crispy langoustine fritter with basil pesto) and Le Calamar (sauteed squid with baby artichoke and chorizo). We both agreed we could've passed on the La Langoustine. Problem being - these portions are all very small - typically only 2 of each item. The Langoustine only had one so it was a bit awkward to have to cut it in half. Le Calamar was the largest of the small portions - which the chef had split for us in the kitchen. Moving on to our favorite course - Le Burger (beef and foie gras "slider" burgers with lightly caramelized bell pepper and a few light and airy french fries with a ginger ketchup). This one was SO good we ended up with 2 orders! We finished off the main part of dinner with Les Spaghettis (angel hair in a light oil with parmesan & truffles). This one had come from the "appetizers" section although it was actually the size of a reasonable main course and was plenty big enough for us to split - which again they did for us in the kitchen.

Between courses the head chef Phillipe (who speaks English very well) came over for a visit, followed by Robuchon's business partner Eric. An amazing touch that made you feel as if you were sitting in the kitchen at their homes at a dinner party while they were preparing the meal.

Even though they brought out a small complementary desert in a shot glass that reminded me of an upscale lime jello, we decided that we couldn't NOT have one of the regular deserts so we went for Le Chocolat Noir (a dark chocolate molten cake with a tonka bean-laced semmisweet coffee mousse and pistachio dust). SO heavenly!!!!!!!!!!!! However chef Phillipe thought we could use more than one desert and sent us over a complementary order of Le Sucre (a violet and lychee sugar sphere, milk ice cream, wild rose and blackberry coulis), the house signature desert which was presented to us by the head pastry chef and his assistant.

After 3 1/2 hours we decided that it was regrettably time to call it quits. Everyone came back over to wish us well as we left and The Lady even got direct line to Chef Phillipe in Paris (he typically runs L'Atelier there) so that we could be assured a table there the next time we go. This was a truly transcendental dinner and will probably go down as one of the best I’ll ever have.