En Plus Haute Cuisine - Monday, 29 Sept.

Ten small courses of the best food in the world, flowing perfectly from one to the next – what a way to wile away the afternoon! I did so today at l’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, a restaurant I’ve wanted to try since it opened in 2003. In its first couple years you couldn’t make a reservation, and you had to stand in a long line outside to wait for the next open stool (there are 36 of them) at the counter that surrounds the cooking/plating area. Woolworth’s lunch counter it ain’t, although more than once that image of efficient and friendly food service came to mind! Today I made a reservation online, and when I arrived a bit early they were able to squeeze me in to an available stool at the very end of the bar, right against the wall – a perfect spot for a shy Swede who wants to be able to swoon over the food without it being obvious to everyone! My stool gave me an excellent bird’s-eye (gourmet’s-eye?) view of the half-dozen handsome young male cooks working in a somewhat confined prep/plating area (clearly, additional cooking and baking happens in the kitchen behind this prep area, and I saw one female cook who came out towards the end of the afternoon). The restaurant and uniforms are all done in snazzy red and black. It’s located at 5, rue de Montalembert at the Hôtel du Port Royal, very close to the rue du Bac metro stop in the 7th arrondissement. Save your nickels and dimes, boys and girls. This is a must do! Eat sandwiches and takeout food during the rest of your trip so that you can splurge on lunch or dinner created by one of the world’s very greatest chefs (some say the best) and his colleagues Eric Bouchenoire, Philippe Braun and Eric Lecerf (cuisine), François Benot (pastry) and Antoine Hernandez (sommelier), and flawlessly executed by his excellent staff.


The menu offers a wide variety of classic and totally inventive items, some in a small tapas-size portion and others in a big main-course size portion (they appear to be happy to let you share with your friends). They also have a tasting menu (my pick!) – these ten courses are all small, and they take your palate on a well-designed journey of flavors, textures and temperatures. They offer a wide variety of wines and other beverages (some people close to me even ordered diet Coke!).

I ordered the 2003 Château Séran, a red Bordeaux from the Médoc region and some Badoit, my favorite sparkling mineral water, to accompany my lunch.

The first dish was cauliflower “crème” with crab – a clean and velvety-smooth pureed thick cauliflower and potato (I believe) soup, served chilled in a frosted espresso cup with a large mound of perfectly seasoned shredded crab and a sprinkling of fresh herbs. It was sweet and pure, and I was oh-so-happy to have nice slices of crusty, porous baguette to soak up the last few drops of it!

Next came another chilled soup, but with an entirely different character – a puréed gazpacho with a scattering of micro-basil leaves, a few drops of balsamic, and some small buttery crunchy croutons. It was zingy, tasting of tomatoes, hot peppers, garlic, onion, herbs, crème fraîche, and a touch of vinegar.

And then some more crab, but this time it was wonderfully sweet chunks of king crab, lightly dressed in a smoky and peppery paprika sauce, served sandwiched between very thin slices of white radish.

By this time I felt like some cartoon character whose eyes had twirled around in their sockets and whose head had sprouted flowers from the wonderfulness of these courses and the way the wine married with each of them in different ways, revealing different characteristics of itself and of the food. But the next dish, “egg,” would have knocked me off my stool if I had not been able to lean against the wall! It was a perfectly poached egg served in a deep frosted glass footed ramekin with warm puréed spinach, cream, perfectly cooked Chanterelle mushrooms, mushroom foam and herbs. I don’t know what they feed these French hens, but the yolk of the egg was orange, rich, sweet and pure. The whole dish was warming and sweetly satisfying, earthy but in a restrained, classy way! With this course the wine revealed a gorgeous fruity aspect of its character.


This was followed by some more restrained earthiness – a generous portion of perfectly seared duck foie gras, served over some toothy white beans, topped with a couple thin homemade potato chips, and sprinkled with a few herbs. What a wonder that God would create such an animal and man would figure out a way to fatten its liver so. Rich, unctuous, indulgent, and pure fat – who says this isn’t good for you?!? Send ‘em my way, and I’ll have a word with them!

Next came a small portion of seared Morue (cod) served with julienned cooked carrot, mushrooms and zucchini, and dressed with a bit of paprika sauce. The fish was soft, steaky and slightly oily. The whole dish felt warm, comforting, and good for whatever ailed you!

Then, my “main” dish – dark, sweet, rich quail with Robuchon’s famous potato purée topped with a couple thin slices of truffle. The plate had been dressed with a few drops of intense triple-reduced demi-glace (probably made with roasted quail and other poultry bones) – don’t overlook this explosion of flavor when you’re eating this dish! A mound of amazing chervil accompanied this – light as a feather, it tasted as if it had been slightly oven-dried and then sprinkled with a few drops of vegetable consommé. With this dish the wine revealed all of its character – its delicious fruit, its earthiness and dark herbaceousness (if there is such a word), its cleansing and balancing character.

Now it was time for dessert! And they served two of them! The first was a scoop of slightly chilled sweet sabayon crème with a small oval scoop (a classic shape called a quenelle) of amazing herb sorbet (tarragon, mint, parsley, basil), diced pineapple, and a thin crescent of caramel.

The second dessert was a scoop of vanilla crème, a quenelle of raspberry sorbet, a few fresh raspberries, some very thick raspberry coulis, and a thin disk of dark chocolate.

Coffee (espresso) with a small bowl of sugar cubes and a homemade caramel finished the meal. I felt absolutely “graced” and contented, not stuffed by this tour of spectacular French cuisine. The bill came to only 134.50€ (about $200), a bargain for two hours of the best entertainment you can find! It was an extra blessing for me since it was underwritten by my friend Leah Harding, who traveled to Paris with me in April – we were planning to eat at one of Robuchon’s restaurants, but just failed to squeeze it in to our schedule – so Leah gave me the cash and ORDERED me to use it on this trip!

I also very highly recommend his other restaurant, Le Table de Joël Robuchon. It’s a little more out-of-the-way (at least relative to where I usually hang out) in the 16th arrondissement at 16, Avenue Bugeaud. It offers gracious, warm, beautiful, calm table seating, a more formal and relaxed atmosphere with a similar menu – a better choice for a special occasion dinner and quiet conversation. But for a slightly more informal experience, perfect for the solo diner, l’Atelier takes the top prize!