L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon NYC (2006 - 2008)

[Nathan]

there's this wonderful thing called google.

[cchen]

I'm thinking of checking it out tonight, since it seems, most people are out of the city. Is there a dress code?? Is the tasting menu still the best option?

[Sneakeater]

I just called and was told that, since it's Labor Day weekend, they decided to take reservations from hotel guests only -- and they're booked for the entire night (including the counter, which I thought they normally weren't going to reserve after the 6:00 PM seating).

[cchen]

I just called and was told that, since it's Labor Day weekend, they decided to take reservations from hotel guests only -- and they're booked for the entire night (including the counter, which I thought they normally weren't going to reserve after the 6:00 PM seating).

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Damn.

[Nathan]

I dined at Atelier on Saturday evening (along with Sneakeater).

When I arrived at 8 the dining bar was half empty; it was almost full when we left at 10:30.

For budgetary reasons I eschewed the tasting menu (although if one ordered all of its components ala carte (unusually, all of the dishes on the tasting menu are also available ala carte) one would pay almost double for its individual constituents).

The decor is adequate, with the open kitchen and the bar surrounding being much more impressive than the room overall. Its a casual but comfortable and well-designed setting (the bar anyway).

The menu is divided into small tastings, appetizers (most of which were available in tasting portions as well), and entrees.

I had the langoustine fritter...this has been discussed elsewhere and is terrific. The basil sauce complements nicely.

The seared squid with chorizo and tomato water would have been terrific, if the squid wasn't overcooked. Every other component of the dish was outstanding.

I split the "Alsatian pastrami" with Sneakeater.

Let's just say that Katz's does not have the best pastrami in New York anymore.

I had an entree of quail stuffed with foie gras and served with Robuchons' famous mashed potatoes which are pretty much entirely butter and covered with shaved black truffle. The dish was as luxurious as it sounds, though not more than the sum of its parts.

Food, one cocktail and two glasses of wine, tax and tip worked out to about $150.

The only dining experience in NY analogous to Atelier is Bar Room at the Modern. Atelier is obviously much better in terms of food (and I love Bar Room) but the ambience is roughly comparable. The service at Atelier is somewhat more polished but equivalently informal.

However, although Atelier is "better" than Bar Room, it is also two to five times the price. And, Atelier's tasting menu at $165 is as expensive as only one or two restaurants in the city. However, Atelier is simply too informal to be considered a four star restaurant. Neither is the food polished or consistent enough. To use the much criticized star system: Atelier is serving topnotch 3 star cooking at four star prices....if doing the tasting menu...and although one can do it "on a budget" as I did....I'm glad I had a large lunch and a snack in preparation...

Edited September 5, 2006 by Nathan (log)

[Sneakeater]

To me, the food at Atelier is SO much better than the food at the Bar Room at the Modern (a place that I, too, like a whole lot) that I'm not sure it's a useful comparison. If I were to be forced to come up with a comparison at gunpoint, I might try Bouley Upstairs, although that one doesn't work, either. I think Atelier is really sort of sui generis. That was certainly the intention behind at least the first one. (I know: it's hard to call a member of an international chain sui generis.)

It's hardly a brilliant observation to note that the problem with Atelier is going to be the value calculus. What's interesting to me (if not to anyone else) is how different my initial response here was from my initial response to Cafe Gray. When I first went to Cafe Gray, I thought it was so overpriced for the service and the surroundings that I was actively angry. So angry that I couldn't appreciate the food. I've come around in a big way about the food there. But I still think it's a fundamentally flawed conception. Which I don't think about Atelier.

Trying to figure out why, I would point to two things. First, the room at Cafe Gray is tacky and noisy, and the service is (to me) substandard. The room at Atelier is quite tasteful. It doesn't strive for luxury, but my subjective response is that it achieves its apparent aim of providing a stylish but undistracting background for appreciation of the food. And, at least at the counter, service at Atelier is as professional as you could wish.

Second, the food. I now love the food at Cafe Gray. But the style of cooking there is kind of demotic. Determinedly semi-casual. Taken in tandem with the room -- and again, as much as I enjoy it -- the food at Cafe Gray just doesn't seem like it should cost as much as it does. The food at Atelier is certainly a somewhat pared-down version of the very hautest haute. But I can't help but think it's a level (or maybe more like half a level: it's hard to talk about Atelier because it's hard, for me at least, to pin it down) above the food at Cafe Gray in terms of ambition, formality, and precision. (I admit that my response here might be colored both by a general preference for French cuisine and by my having been cowed by Joel Robuchon's inescapable reputation.)

Think of Atelier's famous "sugar sphere" dessert. Is $20 an outrageous price for a desssert anywhere (let alone one eaten at a counter)? Sure. But is this dessert simply astonishing, both in flavor and presentation? You bet it is. Is there anything else like it in town? Not that I know of.

I think the problem is that most of us (at least those of us who haven't been to other Atelier branches) simply haven't seen anyplace like this. It really is a unique concept. So the value calculus is kind of hard to figure. I think the prices should be lower. Indeed, I would have thought that the "Altelier" concept would require that it not be one of the very priciest places in town. But neither the prices nor anything else about Atelier prevented me from respecting, appreciating, and enjoying my two meals there.

Edited September 5, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Nathan]

on a quick note: I think your dessert was $12 or $14. and no, i don't think that particular item was a bad value.

I compared it to Bar Room at the Modern insofar as they are similar in layout and concept (at least purportedly).

but yeah, I too am not sure how to talk about it...

Edited September 5, 2006 by Nathan (log)

[Sneakeater]

Since there's a dearth of gorey details about NYC Atelier so far, here's a blow-by-blow account of my second meal.

Smoked Foie Gras layered with Eel. An excellent excellent dish. This did not seem weird, the way that Wylie Dufresne's foie gras topped with anchovy did two or three years ago. It seemed like a perfectly natural way to serve foie gras. The eel was a good complement.

Seared Squid with Chorizo. As Nathan said, the overcooking of the squid was an odd misstep. The high quality of the chorizo should not be underemphasized.

Alsatian Pastrami. Just great. I'm not gonna make invidious comparisons between different smoked meats available in the City, but this is something I'm already craving again (and now that it's September I'll never be able to return to Atelier). It's served with a fancy horseradish condiment and fabulous super-buttery fingerling potatoes. I wish I were able to describe the taste. I can say that Alsatian "Pastrami" apparently doesn't taste much like the Roumanian real thing. Sort of like the difference between Nova Scotia or Scottish smoked salmon and belly lox.

Steak Tartare with French Fries. I was hoping these would be the best french fries in the world, but they were just kind of good. OTOH, this was the best rendition of steak tartare (a personal favorite dish) I've ever had -- and by a pretty long shot. The quality and proportions of the ingredients were just perfect. As for the texture, I don't know how you describe an unctuous mush so that it sounds appealing, but it was. I wish I could go back for the hanger steak.

The Famous "Sugar Sphere". This is more complicated than I'm able to describe without the aid of a pony. It's a sphere of sugar, made silvery, encasing a leechee ice cream (or was the leechee ice cream on the side with some other creamy matter within the sphere?) and other, tarter stuff. It's one of those dishes where you (or at least I) can't tell exactly what you're eating, but it's so cool, and so good, that you just sort of fall into a stunned enjoyment. Not a Wylie-styled "I've never even conceived of anything like this" type stunned. More a "this obviously took a lot of work and it was worth it -- wonder what it is, exactly" type stunned. Showy, to be sure. But delicious. And just plain cool.

Edited September 5, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Sneakeater]

I had an entree of quail stuffed with foie gras and served with Robuchons' famous mashed potatoes which are pretty much entirely butter and covered with shaved black truffle.  The dish was as luxurious as it sounds, though not more than the sum of its parts.

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FWIW, "not more than the sum of its parts" was exactly what I also found wanting in this dish, although I couldn't put my finger on it.

[larrylee]

FWIW, "not more than the sum of its parts" was exactly what I also found wanting in this dish, although I couldn't put my finger on it.

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So, to borrow a line from Tampopo, "it lacks gestalt."

[skye]

Ate here last week and had almost everything. Must say that my overall feeling was dissapointment. Some things were very good, but others were not good at all (ie the foie gras burgers-the brioche buns were absolutely saturated with fat, and the little burger patties were hard and dry. Now, you could say that of course a foie gras burger is greasy, but both of these problems could and should have been addressed in the recipe development stage). To me, a cook who's spent my entire career being told that Joel Robuchon was essentially the everlasting pinnacle of chefdom, it seems that "very good" doesn't really cut it, at least not at this price point. Lots of things were under- or over-seasoned, the lemon/vanilla amuse thingy tasted like soap (am I really the only person who noticed this?) and I'm still waiting for someone else on this board to point out that while the pastrami and the foie gras on the pastrami dish were quite good on their own, together they taste EXACTLY like braunschwieger, which is a nasty flavor that I'd hoped I'd left in my childhood. I feel like new york diners tend to conflate fat with good flavor, and as such I'm not suprised to read everyone's rapturous posts, and also, I think there's a tendency to WANT to like a meal that you've spent $165 on. However, I wish I heard a little more critical eating going on. Folks, for $15 a bite, you deserve to be amazed by every single sensation. Dishes shouldn't start out good, but get too salty as you keep eating, or be overcooked, or be ordinary. The sphere desert sounds like it might do the trick-my dining companion and I didn't order any desserts, preferring to sample as many savories as possibles, so I'll have to go back and give it a shot. I'm not a big Bruni fan, but I think every once in a while he hits a nice line drive, and I predict a massacre.

[Sneakeater]

I feel like new york diners tend to conflate fat with good flavor,

Wait. You mean that "fat" and "good flavor" don't mean the exact same thing?????

also, I think there's a tendency to WANT to like a meal that you've spent $165 on.

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This is undeniable.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to avoid sounding "rapturous", cuz I don't feel rapturous about this place. I feel confused but generally pleased (a lot more pleased than you, to be sure).

[skye]

Wait.  You mean that "fat" and "good flavor" don't mean the exact same thing?????

oh, boy. Peaches, basil, smoked paprika, fresh apples.....and on and on and on. These things can even occasionally be satisfactory without bacon.

From the "scientific look at flavor" viewpoint, I'd point out that fat actually coats the tastebuds, which can be a very useful tool for the chef-ie, by introducing fat into a dish you can change the order and duration of the perception of other flavors, etc, but if it's the basis of the cuisine, a chef's perennial ace in the sleeve, you're essentially engaging the stomach, which is a natural glutton, rather than the mind, which can enjoy and discern pleasure on so many more levels than just 'mmm, full' a la Homer Simpson.

All things in moderation of course. Fatty, salty meals cure hangovers.

[Nathan]

I don't think anyone has been rapturous about the meal. Sneakeater liked it more than I did....I thought that at times it was very good and other times simply not good enough for the price point. I basically predicted two stars and think that's exactly what Bruni will give it.

I think we might have had a different amuse, though frankly, I don't remember mine at all.

[chefboy24]

Wait.  You mean that "fat" and "good flavor" don't mean the exact same thing?????

oh, boy. Peaches, basil, smoked paprika, fresh apples.....and on and on and on. These things can even occasionally be satisfactory without bacon.

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umm, skye, sarcasmn...

sarcasmn...skye

have you two met before?

[Curlz]

As Skye said, "Folks, for $15 a bite, you deserve to be amazed by every single sensation." For me, that includes the service. I just hope nobody has an experience like we did in Vegas. Not for that kind of $$$$, and certainly not in NYC!

[Fai Jackson]

Just got back from a meal at Atelier.

A full review will have to await my having time to collect my thoughts.  Now, just let me say this.

The knives will be out for this place, and it's easy to see why:  $20 cocktails??????  Wines by the glass that range from $12 to $20 to God knows what??????  (Let me repeat:  $20 cocktails?????????  Does it mean I'm a hopeless alchie that I ordered one anyway?)

But OTOH, they have a $160 seven-course tasting menu that, given their a la carte prices, is a pretty good deal.

And then there's this:

This food is in some ways at a level above anything else I've had in New York.  Even better -- more creative, more audacious, and technically brilliant to boot -- than EMP.  But still, for all that, not so fancy or complicated that it's inappropriate to the surroundings.

I have to think more to work this all out for myself.

But I'm VERY excited about this meal.

Go before September comes and you won't be able to get in any more.

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Actually, it is about the same price as in Paris. I was there last December and my meal--4 dishes and a glass of wine was nearly 100 euros (don't recall, and would have to dig up the bill) They have a 100 euros tasting menu that would actually be a good deal but I have to have the serrano ham and the oeuf, and the langoustine ravioli as they are my current favourites.

[Nathan]

As Skye said, "Folks, for $15 a bite, you deserve to be amazed by every single sensation."  For me, that includes the service.  I just hope nobody has an experience like we did in Vegas.    Not for that kind of $$$$, and certainly not in NYC!

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I don't think they'll have that issue here. The staff in NY appear to have primarily come from the previous restaurant at the Four Seasons...they're not starting ex nihilo they way they might be in Las Vegas. The service on Saturday was polished, if slightly too effusive.

[Sneakeater]

Thanks, chefboy!

[Joe Gerard]

I could not disagree more. I had the tasting menu, and with the exception of the amuse, which I really disliked, and the sea urchin (a little too much taste of the sea) every course was a home run. The langoustine is amazing, the poached egg over spicy eggplant stew as refined and beautiful a dish as you will find anywhere. I would not turn down another shot at the quail and foie gras accompanied by those amazing mashed potatoes (an extra little crock covered with summer truffles appeared out of nowhere).

I rarely have the experience of loving every dish on a tasting menu, and that goes for Boulud, Keller, etc. To expect perfection in any restaurant, even at this price point, is a recipe for an unhappy dining life. I would also add that several diners chose three or four courses for far less money, an option not available in most restaurants of this class.

As for Bruni, if he awards two stars it should put the final nail in his coffin.

[cchen]

I had dinner last night at the bar. Something to note - dining to my left were Jean-Georges and his wife, celebrating their anniversary, as well as Chef Regis Monges of Le Cirque. Robuchon himself was overseeing the kitchen and was schmoozing with the all guests.

But on to the food. I had the tasting, and added a cheese course as well. My friend and I both found the tasting menu inconsistent, with the misses being the capellini w/ caviar and and the cod. The capellini I thought really didn't have any susbstance and the cod dish was very bland. But every other dish was very, very good.

What Sneakeater said was right. You can't find this anywhere else in NYC. While I did spend a lot (after wine and such), I think it was money well spent.

BTW, they're changing the menu soon, so if you want some of the current dishes, try to go soon!!

[Sneakeater]

How hard was it to get seated?

What time did you go?

[cchen]

How hard was it to get seated?

What time did you go?

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My friend had made the reservation a few weeks back for a 9pm seating.

[Sneakeater]

Hey wait. I thought they said they were only going to accept reservations at the bar for the 6 o'clock seating, and it would be first-come-first-served after that. I guess not?

[cchen]

Hey wait.  I thought they said they were only going to accept reservations at the bar for the 6 o'clock seating, and it would be first-come-first-served after that.  I guess not?

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Don't think so.