♥ Joël forever ♥

Today a friend and ex-colleague was kind enough to treat me to lunch at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (3/F, The Landmark, Central). We hadn't had the opportunity to catch up over lunch in a while and it was good to see her again - I am already looking forward to our next lunch together :-)

I had not eaten at L'Atelier for some time, and my last experience at Le Café wasn't really memorable, mostly due to a slump in service quality. I was therefore curious to see what the situtation was like at L'Atelier, and honestly I could not find anything wrong with our meal today. The food was fabulous and cooked perfectly to my liking, and the service was efficient and polite, as it used to be. I guess the visit from the Master himself back in September probably put things back on track... As usual, the set lunch was fantastic value for money, and the show at the kitchen counter is still as entertaining as ever.

Guess what butter L'Atelier is now serving... ?? Bus is it really Bordier ? Similar but not identical shape... warrants further investigation, will revert in due course (as I admired more than tasted that cone...)

Amuse-bouche: cauliflower cream, foie gras mousse, port jelly & a sweet and crispy soldier

Very good - the cauliflower and foie gras preparations were very tasty, and the port jelly was pretty fragrant. I am not too sure cauliflower and foie gras pair very well together though, but I think it's rather a matter of taste as the execution of this AB was faultless.

Starter: La seiche - le blanc caramelisé au soja, fine crème de chou fleur et chou fleur à la cru au citron vert (sauteed cuttlefish with caramelised soy, crunchy and cream of cauliflower)

I am a huge fan of cuttlefish and this was absolutely delicious. The work on the textures and temperatures was very interesting  - slight chewiness of the cuttlefish and creamy cauliflower, both warm, with crunchy citrussy raw cauliflower in very thin slices, excellent olive oil drizzling and caramelised soy sauce "ring". The flavours paired extremely well together. Very, very good.

Soup: les ravioles de foie gras dans un bouillon de poule et fleurette pimentée (foie gras ravioli in warm chicken broth)

Excellent broth, tasty mini-ravioli of duck foie gras, chopped dill and a side of whipped crème fleurette with a sprinkle of chilli (the menu was not specific on this point but I think I tasted piment d'Espelette). Very light and packed with flavours.

Main course:  le pigeonneau de Bresse rôti, purée de maïs aux chanterelles, jus au Porto (roasted Bresse pigeon with sweet corn mash, chanterelles and port reduction)

I think there is a bit of work to be done on the description of this dish on the menu... the mushrooms were craterelles not chanterelles (aka "trompettes de la mort" in French) and the pigeon was baby pigeon (ie pigeonneau). The corn mash was a mix of sweet corn, thin polenta and juice from the mushrooms. Apart from me picking up on translation details again, the dish was absolutely de-li-cious. The mushrooms were fragrant, as was the port reduction, and the pigeon came cooked medium and was perfectly pink, tender and juicy. The creamy mash tasted both of young, sweet corn and mushroom jus, and the attentive waiter placed a little bowl of water in front of me to rinse my fingers - like, do I look like I pick bones with my fingers in a Michelin-starred place lol ?? That would be unheard of...  ;-)
The pigeonneau was topped with a slice of excellent crunchy smoked bacon (poitrine fumée) and rested on a bed of young greens that had soaked up the juices of the hot meat. Good they took my plate away before I licked it, because THAT would have been really unsightly... XD

Dessert: Le marron - en mousse sur sa plaquette de chocolat au lait, paillettes de cassis (chestnut mousse with milk chocolate and blackcurrant flakes)

No blackcurrant flakes in sight (rather, the berries themselves showed up - topped with gold foil AAAARGHHH, but let's not go there...), and in lieu of a milk chocolate bar (ie a "tablette") it was more a few thin leaves (with more gold foil, I must be glowing from within right now...) and a cute (and unannounced) little quenelle of blackcurrant sorbet topped the delicious chestnut mousse. I am a chestnut junkie, so I knew this would be right up my alley, and it did not disappoint. The chestnut mousse was creamy and nutty, and with just the right amount of sweetness, and the blackcurrant sorbet was gorgeously fruity and gave a bit of balancing sharpness to the sweet chestnut. A light and excellent dessert.

Petits fours: mysterious green macaroon, chocolate pearls and pâtes de fruits

The macaroons' texture was very nice (as usual), but to be very honest I did not manage to identify the flavour. Definitely a bit of matcha in the cream, but there was a mysterious herb in the biscuit (coriander ? mint ??) which tasted a bit "green". Interesting but I would need a much bigger macaroon to analyse that taste properly ;-)

A big thanks to L. for treating me to lunch, my treat next time at Caprice ;-)