Only The Best: ROBUCHON.

I think the best way to divide the food I ate in France is into two categories: experience and quality. I’m not really sure which one is more memorable, and I’m not sure it really matters. The experiences were great, don’t get me wrong. Trying snails and oysters for the first time definitely was a landmark of my life, and prompted a whole essay you can find below. But what I do know is that I had one meal that blew me away, and I will definitely never forget it, and that’s what I’m going to focus on now.

Wikipedia, the source of all sources, tells me that Joel Robuchon has the most Michelin stars of any chef of all time. I BELIEVE IT. When my mom and I entered L'Atelier, we knew we were in for a huge treat, but we didn't know just how huge. This meal was... well, you'll see.

The sanctuary itself...

We did not know what to order. L'Atelier proposes a tasting menu, which my mom quickly decided on, since variety is key when all the food is mind blowing. I was then left with just too many choices and very poor French to help through. The waiter basically chose for me- good service is key at restaurants like this one- and I put all my trust into whatever he put in front of me. I had no need to be worried.

French bread. But also- just look at the place settings! Done Just Right.

Two things before I delve in:

1. Each item we ordered came on a different plate, perfect for what it was. Enjoying the aesthetic value of the plate was almost as good as the food itself. Especially since you couldn't see the whole plate until the food was gone. A sort of gastronomical "Where's Waldo", if you will. The French also have so many different forms of cutlery. I got stressed out by the cutlery a lot. And I was left at the end with an extra knife, which makes me think I messed up.

2. The French developed the perfect verb for their language: "saucer". It means, literally, to sop up the sauce with bread. This meal took "saucer" to a new level. There wasn't even a bit of sauce left on the plates, we didn't want to miss even a single drop of Robuchon's expertise. I thought I had eaten healthily until I realized I probably consumed an entire loaf on my own through my saucer-ing. Not that it mattered, it was debatably the best part of each course. Maybe I just like sauce a little too much.

My mom and I shared everything so my meal vs. her meal is sort of a non-issue, but for organization's sake I'm going to run through my menu first. I started with the green asparagus, which are just becoming of season now. The white asparagus were everywhere around the open air markets of Paris, but the green ones are treasures in the early days of spring. They were thick and huge, so I was surprised I got five, but really I was lucky I got five. They were never chewy, like asparagus can sometimes be, and I'm going to give credit to the chef for that one. I don't want to give credit to the butter covering the entirety of my plate, although that probably helped. In the little dish was mousseline sauce, which is basically a whipped hollandaise. It was fluffy, perfect for either a light dab or a full dunk.

Next came the langoustine ravioli. Langoustine isn't translatable, but it's sort of a lesser lobster. The ravioli wasn't stuffed with shredded langoustine, it was crammed with BIG, FULL pieces of the shell fish. Basically it was pieces of the fish lightly wrapped in ravioli. And if you're wondering what that black stuff is on top-- it's truffles. Shaved truffles. Only the most expensive mushroom in the world. And that's exactly what it tastes like- expensive.
Every plate looked like this one when I was done with them

My main course was scallops. I thought two was a little shabby for a main course, but I was wrong. I also thought they should have given me a fish knife, but I was wrong again. Scallops are thick! I needed a real knife, and each one of those scallops provided me with at least 5 (YES, 5!) big bites of goodness before they were gone. Not to mention the butter-lemon-olive oil sauce with a little chili powder being perfect for the power of the saucer.

Sitting on real shells... so classic.
Yeah, the scallop is sitting on real rock salt. Talk about presentation.

And now on to my mom's menu. Starting with the formal "amuse bouche" of cold potato soup, with a real potato chip on top just for kicks. Each bite tasted of a little olive oil and vinegar, the perfect simple way to get your palette roaring for more. Did I mention it was good?

Next was crab and radishes. It was cold and wet, and every bite made more of a mess. But I wouldn't call it a mess, I'd call it an explosion of yum. Not to be colloquial or anything, but that's what it was. It was sweet too, which was surprising but I welcomed it because I trust Joel Robuchon. When he wants his crab sweet, he can make it sweet.
Next was scallop soup, in the most delicate broth imaginable. It was almost like the broth didn't exist, except that it did, and it's flavors made sure you knew it. Inside the soup was a scallop wonton, complete with the coral. That's when you know you're in a good restaurant, when the coral is just as precious as the food itself.

This next dish may have been the winner for me, but really, there was no clear favorite. This was gnocchi with black truffle sauce. More truffles for the wallet's loss and the mouth's gain. These truffles were not only shaved, but also cut, allowing for the full truffle experience. You could eat them with the gnocchi or without, your preference rules on this dish. The gnocchi was sticky, and thank god- the longer its stuck in my teeth the better really.

Truffles in the morning, truffles in the evening, truffles at supper time...

Ahhh... Foie gras. A French staple if I've ever known one. You can literally buy buckets of this fattened duck liver on the street in Paris, and we did. A whole jar of it. But when it's warmed, like this one, it's really special. The fatty fatty fatty greatness (not just goodness- greatness) of the duck liver literally melted in my mouth. And the flavor was crazy: it's sitting atop apricot and pear jam, but seasoned with shallots on top. My tongue was confused, but oh so happy!

I want to put in my two cents here about French food. It all just... melts. In your mouth. No chewing required. I have a theory that if it weren't for the hard, crunchy, on-the-verge-of-being-stale, give-your-jaw-a-work-out-with-every-bite, French bread that is just so quintessentially French, I truly believe that the French would just drink their food. Talk about taking "liquid diet" do a new level. If being on a diet meant this much melted butter and cream. But seriously, the food is so good because its all so soft.

Last of the pre main course delights was the St. Pierre. I liked this white fish because it still retained its fish flavor without making you feel like you're sitting on a boat. Not to mention the pesto butter sauce. Anything with pesto makes my heart flutter.
My mom ordered lamb. I was mad. But this lamb... gave me hope for lamb eaters everywhere. Also, her mash potatoes were fluffly clouds on a plate. Like I said before, the French drink their food.

eww lamb.

I know everyone has been wondering where the French cheese has been. Well here it is: the biggest piece of brie you can possibly imagine. It smelled so strongly my eyes watered a little. My throat burned. It was the only thing I couldn't finish the whole time I was at the restaurant. But not to say it wasn't good, it was just too much. It also came with raisin toast, which I thought was a nice touch. Raisin toast is a nice way to make cheese that you can feed to your five year old. Or your twenty year old.

That's a whole hunk o cheese.

Dessert time! My mom's dinner came with two: an orange ensemble with caramel delicacy, and a hazelnut thing. I don't like hazelnut, it's the only food in the world that makes me sick. I know I'm missing out on Nutella but I don't care. And I'm not a huge orange lover. But my dessert was sensational. Aptly called the "chocolate sensation", each spoonful was an adventure. At first I thought it was vanilla ice cream in chocolate mousse with oreo sprinkles (although it probably wasn't oreo. But it was, just fancier.) I was still impressed when I thought that was all, especially because it came with a chocolate oval cap. But as I got to the bottom, I realized that there was also chocolate fudge sauce lining the bowl. I praised Robuchon's genius at hiding such a surprise, when all of a sudden, little chocolate rice balls of crunch! It was like waking up and getting all your presents, and then having more arrive as the day goes on. Except these presents are chocolate, which is the best present of all.

Little did I know what was on the bottom...

And to finish, coffee. But even this was served in a classier, cleaner, cooler way than any coffee I've ever had. Really a great finish.


The whole meal was great, superb really, as I'm sure you can tell. But the real kicker was that it was LUNCH, not dinner. We then had all day to talk about the food, walk around with the food in our bellies, reminding us of our great meal of happiness. It wasn't like a big dinner, where you just want to curl up in bed with your fullness and wallow. This was lunch, just a nice reminder int he middle of a Parisian day that it's nice to be alive.