L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon at the MGM Grand

Joel Robuchon is no stranger to the French culinary world. The man himself has garnered a total of 24 Michelin stars combined across his restaurants worldwide. Though awarded the title Chef of the Century back in 1989 and also the title France's Best Craftsman in 1979, he still commands a very respectable culinary empire in the present. Our fantastic experience at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in London almost dictated us for a return, only to a different location none other than Las Vegas. If the French word l'atelier (English: workshop) is any indication, this places offers the opportunity for diners to get a glimpse of the kitchen magic while allowing a more interactive dining experience. This is Joel Robuchon's way of combining both quality foods with a casual trendy environment.

Consistent with the theme of L'Atelier in other locations, this place features counter top seating where diners face the kitchen throughout the entire meal. Seating here is primarily at the counter top although do they have about four regular tables. Why would you want to sit at the regular table? You would be missing out. Be sure to sit at the counter top. It is part of the essential L'Atelier experience.

With Joel Robuchon's restaurant empire all over the world and the impossibility of him being physically present at the restaurant every night, he does an excellent job in making sure there is consistency in the food quality across his restaurants. Who says you can't have gourmet French cuisine in a relaxed (and yet trendy) setting? At L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, they make it happen.

The amuse bouche for that night was avocado chunks, avocado cream, and grapefruit segments sitting on grapefruit gel. This creative combination resulted in a light flavor that was nowhere intense but subtle enough to not overshadow what was to come.

The seared duck foie gras with almond-stuffed cherries was one of my clear favorites of the night. Slicing through the piece of foie gras with my knife was an indication to how soft and moist the foie gras would be when I ate it.

The well-constructed salad with king crab, asparagus, and avocado was delicate and light enough in order to leave space for courses that were heavier and more intensely flavored.

The steak tartare was good although it was not my favorite of the night. The meat was probably chopped the finest I have had in a steak tartare and I would have liked it to be just a little bit less finely chopped and also to go easy on the mustard. I really liked the old fashioned crinkled cut french fries that came on the side and the classic twist it gave to the dish.

The chilled and thinly sliced veal was impressively delicate and probably the most tender piece of veal we have had. The thin layer of tuna sauce over the veal was carefully prepared that it did not take away from the pure flavor of the veal.

Our experience with eating suckling pig primarily from Greek restaurants in Chicago usually come with too strong of a porky taste. The suckling pig course at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, however, puts to rest that this meat can be deliciously prepared without leaving a heavy trace of porkyness to it. The suckling pig was very well flavored and the meat was tender that we would have been fine even without a knife.





The house signature Joel Robuchon potato puree was easily one of the silkiest and smoothest we have had.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon is one of the finer restaurants in Las Vegas and with its casual trendy and comfortable setting, it is not difficult to see why it ranks among the favorite of many people. Watching your dinner prepared in front of you in the workshop created from the mind of the Chef of the Century is really quite unique and worth experiencing.

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L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand
3799 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Accolades
2010 AAA Four Diamond Award
2009 1-Michelin Star
2009 AAA Four Diamond Award
2008 1-Michelin Star
2008 AAA Four Diamond Award
2007 AAA Four Diamond Award
Chef of the Century by Gault Millau

Maude's Liquor Bar

We constantly find ourselves transported to circa 1930s France at Maude's Liquor Bar.  Vintage blue metal chairs, wooden rustic tables, and dark brown retro couches make up the furniture. The wall on one side of the wall is made up of exposed bricks and the other side of the wall is plastered with white ceramic which enhances the vintage look. On the ceiling are mismatched lamps and chandeliers that function more as decorative items than a main source of lighting. Maude's is always such a dim place. It's sexy and mysterious. The facade is a black wall and black door with an inconspicuous lettering that says Maude's. Now that it's summer and with the days getting longer, the mysterious door is left open, allowing that burst of sun light to penetrate into the first half of the restaurant near the entrance until the sun goes down.

Brendan Sodikoff does it again with Maude's offering down to earth French food. Along with his other projects that turned into instant successes, Gilt Bar and Doughnut Vault, his entrepreneurial goal is to cater to foodies and scenesters. His ventures' presence are definitely felt in the Chicago dining scene. The kitchen at Maude's is helmed by Jeff Pikus as the executive chef, an alum of Alinea.

The beer list includes a good variety of local micro brews and unique import beers. The cocktail list is made up old time classics such as Sazerac. The wine list is equally good in variety and if nothing else floats your boat, you can't go wrong with the $4 table wine by the glass.

One of the items that make Maude's menu stand out is the seafood platter called Maude's Plateaux clearly stands out as memorable. Served in two tiers, it includes a dozen west coast oysters, a dozen east coast oysters, octopus ceviche, salmon crudo, and jumbo cocktail shrimps. They were very accommodating to my shrimp allergies and substituted the shrimps with an entire lobster. For those with an even bigger appetite for seafood, the Grande Plateaux is served in three tiers and comes with everything mentioned. Our favorite presentation among the seafood items in the Maude's Plateaux is the octopus ceviche which is served on a slab of stone salt.

The pomme frites served with garlic aoili is also a favorite. As with all fries, we dig into the tall cup of fries as soon as it's served since they're best when still warm. The crispy and warm fries dipped into the cold aioli are a wonderful combination of texture, temperature, and taste.

The chicken liver mousse, served in a canning glass jar, is very smooth and rich making it a perfect spread on the toast accompaniment. Along with the toast is also the shallot marmalade to go with the liver mousse.

Several of their items are reminiscent of Gilt Bar such as the tenderloin steak tartare, roasted bone marrow, and steak. An item worth noting on Maude's menu is the Lyonnaise salad with a twist. Instead of the traditional bacon served in Lyonnaise salads, it comes with grilled pork belly. Other classic French items include herb buttered escargots, foie gras, chicken cassoulet.

The famous classic creme brulee is must-have for every visit to Maude's. Inspired by Francois Massialot's original creme brulee recipe in French dating back to 1961, a round cast iron is first heated and then put on the surface of the creme brulee instead of using a blow torch to produce the crisp burnt sugar.

Our favorite way to end the night is the $3 whiskey shots. The whiskey used for the shots change constantly but the both times we had it they were rye whiskey. Sticking to the vintage and down to earth theme, the whiskey is served in the stainless steel device usually used to measure a shot.

Maude's is here to stay for a long time in the Chicago dining scene. Given the competition since it is smacked in between other popular restaurants along Randolph Row, the well known stretch of dining scene in the Fulton River District, there is nothing that Maude's need to worry about. With it's unique character that exudes the feel of 1930s France, this alone makes Maude's a stand out. Just make sure you score an advance reservation.




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Maude's Liquor Bar
840 West Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60607

Accolade
Best Restaurateur of the Year 2011 Nominee, Brendan Sodikoff

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in London

My sister L and I can be very different individuals on so many levels but the one thing we sure have in common is seeking out restaurants at our travel destinations and making advance table reservations before departing for our travel. As she is trying hard to secure a table at Heston Blumenthal's restaurant for her upcoming trip to London, it reminds me of my own gastronomy moments when T and I were in London. We did not make it to Blumenthal's Fat Duck but will be keeping that, and his new restaurant Dinner, for our next trip out there.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon was the best dining experience that happened to T and I on that trip to London. Voted Best Chef of the 20th Century, Joel Robuchon also holds the most Michelin stars in the world across his restaurants. He pursues perfection in his restaurants and cuisine and his restaurant L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon is another reflection of his culinary confidence. Right from the service to the execution of the food, this restaurant deserves its 2-Michelin stars. The servers were knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the menu and the French cuisine had an exquisite flair without any pompousness.

Unlike what one would come to expect of bar seatings in general, i.e. where you get to see the bartender and mixologist at work, the bar seating at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon offered an experience on a different level. We sat on stools at the high top counter that enabled us to observe and participate in the action going on in the kitchen which included the kitchen crew preparing and plating the appetizers, entrees, and desserts. The bar counter seats a reasonable number of people although it seemed like only parties no larger than two people were seated there, presumably for reasons of easy communication between larger parties. Any parties of three or more were seated at tables in the dining room although I don't imagine they would not try to accommodate requests to be seated at the kitchen bar.

One of the impressively presented items was the baked clams with minced garlic and mushrooms. The clams were served on a thick bed of sea salt and whole red peppercorns.





One of the signature dishes is the La Langoustine, perfectly fried until crispy and served with basil pesto.





The Les Spaghetti was entirely on a class of its own and it truly stood out for me. It was so much more than just spaghetti. Prepared Atelier-style, the dish came with sea urchin. I am a big fan of uni (sea urchin in Japanese) at sushi restaurants and while sea urchins are commonly found on sushi menus, they are not commonly found at non-sushi restaurants. Admittedly, sea urchin may be a matter of one's own personal taste and may not be widely appreciated in western cuisine. Always served in sashimi or nigiri-style at sushi restaurants, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon took the wise risk of introducing it with spaghetti and it worked beautifully. The sea urchin was used to make the creamy sauce and there were also bite-size pieces of sea urchin hidden in the sauce.


 


Another memorable dish was the octopus salad. The octopus was tender and delicate; the texture was smooth, almost like medium rare. The perfectly seared duck liver pate came in a generous portion that was rich enough to be shared but even if anyone wanted it all for him or herself, who could blame him or her? It was fantastic.


 


For dessert we shared the Rum Baba which was absolutely divine. The sponge cake was soaked with rum and the liquor taste shone through pretty strong. The rum-saturated cake came with a thin piece of yellow meringue shaped into a star and also accompanied with sorbet. Several types of alcoholic coffee drinks were offered on the dessert menu with descriptions on the country of origins of the coffee.

 

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in this London location delivered and matched expectations for being a 2-Michelin stars recipient. We would be very interested in experiencing the other L'Ateliers in other parts of the world for a basis of comparison but this is for sure: the London location deserves the recognition it has.

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L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

13-15 West Street

Covent Garden, London

WC2H 9NQ

Accolades

2011 2-Michelin Stars

2010 2-Michelin Stars

2009 2-Michelin Stars

1989 Best Chef of the 20th Century by Gault Millau

Next, Paris 1906

Tickets to dine at a restaurant?

Alright, so I am not embarrassed to admit that on the day when it was announced that Next was finally scheduled to release tickets, along with thousands of people I was one of those who waited anxiously and obsessively for an incoming email. Will I get that email today or not, I wondered.

Chef Grant Achatz and business partner Nick Kokonas have reinvented the system of dining logistics and in lieu of table reservations, patrons need to purchase tickets for the dining experience. It works like how you purchase tickets for a concert or a game, but of course the entire process of purchasing those coveted tickets is not without frustration before ending with excitement that you got to the tickets before the other remaining thousands of people did. There's no denying that the ticketing system is a great business model from a restaurant's perspective as it deters common problems such as no-shows for table reservations or having people who made reservations show up with a couple more unexpected people than they have reserved for.

Months prior to the opening of this highly anticipated restaurant, it had received an obscene amount of media praises. How could a restaurant that was not even opened receive that much coverage even from non-Chicago based publications, including the New York Times and Washington Post? Food news websites like Grub Street constantly provided updates and speculations on when tickets would be released. Put simply, Chef Grant Achatz is a genius. He has a pretty remarkable life story too having won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the United States at the age of 35 and later getting diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer and is now in remission.

A mailing list was set up probably about half a year prior to Next's opening to notify people about the tickets release. Up until the week before the ticket release, there were close to 20,000 people who signed up to be on the mailing list and priority was given to those on the list before tickets would be available to the public. Within the mailing list, priority was given according to the order in which people signed up. When we were eligible to purchase tickets, we received that information in that most coveted email from Next. We could then go to Next's website to create an account, put in our email address to generate a password, log in, and then purchase the tickets. If you did not receive that email announcement but still tried to generate a password to create an account, tough luck. A note will pop up telling you to wait to be notified. That sounded like it was simple enough a process to go through except that hundreds of people were also trying to log on to the website which created the infamous server overload which led people to keep hitting the refresh button on their computers a gazillion times so that the proper web page would appear. Adding to the server overload were the other thousands of people who were not eligible yet to purchase tickets but still went on to the website just to try their luck. But yes, we received the email on the first day tickets were released and after many attempts of hitting our refresh button, we snagged our tickets and counted down to the day we were going to Next for dinner.

The ticket pricing varies between the day and time of the dinner. For example, a table for 7:30pm on a Saturday is pricier than a table at 8:00pm on a Wednesday. Tickets are sold per person but also according to the number of people in your party. Only tables for parties of 2 and 4 are available. There is a kitchen table available for 6 people and that is only available one per night. Wine pairings and non-alcoholic pairings are add-ons.

Next promises great vision and concept of restaurant dining. It features a different menu every few months and the menu focuses on a different city and a different timeline. Their debut menu is featuring an 8-course dinner for Paris 1906. Come July, the menu will move on to the futuristic Bangkok 2060.

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Paris 1906 - Escoffier at the Ritz
inspired by the recipes of Auguste Escoffier, who along with Cesar Ritz, opened the Hotel Ritz Paris. 


1. Hors d'Oeuvres
Paired with Alsace sparkling Chardonnay


From right to left clockwise: truffled egg custard with salt cod inside an egg shell, foie gras baked in brioche, mushroom duxcelle wrapped in leek, anchovy on a quail egg, pork rillette on a cracker.

Every piece of amuse bouche was delicately created and made great palette teasers but if we had narrow it down to a favorite among these, hands down our pick goes to the anchovy sitting atop the poached quail egg. The anchovy was fresh with no hints of fishiness. When we popped the quail egg into our mouths, the yolk surprised us with a burst of runny egg yolk. If this was any indication to what we would expect for the rest of our meal, it definitely set us on the path for more greatness to come.

 



2. Potage a la Tortue Clair
Paired with Domaine de Montbourgeau L'Etoile

The turtle consomme, we were told, was meant to whet our appetite so we were encourage to drink it all the way. It was garnished with petite vegetable bits and a flower bud. The consomme was light but very tasty and I found myself finishing it until the very last drop.

3. Fillet de Sole Daumont
Paired with Macon Chardonnay


The fillet of sole was prepared with crayfish butter and the shell of the crayfish head was filled with crayfish mousse. What better way than to pick the shell up from the plate with your fingers and suck the crayfish mousse out. The plate was generously lined with saffron sauce that had an encrusted surface that was reminiscent to what creme brulee is like.

4. Supremes de Poussin
Paired with Les Amandiers Faugeres (red blend of Syrah and Grenache)


Chicken dishes are generally underrated and not thought of very much as something worthy of specialness but clearly Next is setting a new way of how we treat chicken. We were told that the chicken was selected from 20 breeds of chicken. Covered with foie gras butter, the diamond-shaped piece of meat on the plate was absolutely tender and smooth at its best. The poached cucumber was filled with chicken mousse in the center and delicately wrapped with salt pork.

5. Caneton Rouennais a la Presse
Paired with Domaine Brusset Cotes du Rhone Villages Cairanne


The pressed duck was unquestionably the star of the night. The beautifully roasted duck breast and leg were served family style and carefully arranged on the plate with a fresh bundle of rosemary tucked in between the meat arrangement. The decadent sauce was made from duck jus, cognac, and red wine. The duck was prepared medium rare and it was easily one of the best meats I have eaten.

Gratin de Pommes de Terre a la Dauphinoise

Served alongside the duck was the potato gratin topped with crispy bread crumbs. Having the duck and potato gratin together, it brought out the classic way of how one would normally pair their protein and starch in a meal.

 

6.  Salade Irma 

The light tasting salad was very welcoming after the duck and acted almost like a palate cleanser. The plate was lined with a few pieces of asparagus tossed with egg emulsion. Sitting on the bed of asparagus was an edible wild flower lightly drizzled with lemon vinaigrette.

7. Bombe Ceylan 

Paired with Ramos Pinto Porto Quinta de Ermavoira

The dessert was the coming together of coffee, rum, and chocolate. Is there a better combination than that? Inside the dome-shaped dessert was rum vanilla ice-cream and within the center of the vanilla ice-cream was coffee ice-cream. The dessert sat on a chocolate base and was covered with coffee powder. Glazed cherries accompanied the dessert as well as the smear of creme anglaise on the plate.

8. Mignardises 

The three varying sweets were presented on a two-tier platter. That included the sea salt caramel squares, nougat, and beet-flavored gumballs. Generally eaten at the end of a meal, these petite delights brought us to the end of our beautiful 8-course dinner. How did it end so quick? Time flies when we are having a good time.

What made this entire experience so special (besides getting bragging rights for those coveted tickets!) was topped by the fact that it was luxury dining but without all the pompousness and stuffy atmosphere. The entire waitstaff were very approachable and happy to answer any questions about the menu and were clearly very knowledgeable about the wine grapes and aging process for the wines on the pairing list. The diners around us were also visibly passionate abut their food. Given that the menu was inspired by Escoffier back in 1906, the planning and execution for every dish was incredibly well thought out reflecting Grant Achatz's attention to detail into making each dish his own. It is not something that people indulge on a weekly or monthly basis but Next offers relatively affordable luxury dining that is not necessarily beyond reach.

I quote Phil Vettel from the Chicago Tribune: I went to Next looking for greatness, and I found it.

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Next

953 West Fulton Market

Chicago, IL 60607

Accolades

2011 Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People

2011 TimeOut Magazine 5 Stars for Next

2011 3 Michelin Stars Chef 

2008 James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef 

2007 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Great Lakes

2003 James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef

2002 Food & Wine Magazine Best New Chefs

August

Of all the decadent foods that we ate in New Orleans, August Restaurant wins hands down as what we think is arguably the best restaurant in that city. All dressed up, we were pumped up for a night of fine dining and August delivered. The entire execution of the dining experience and food at August stayed true to Chef John Besh's awards: Top 10 Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine magazine, James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southeast 2006, America’s Top 50 Restaurants by Gourmet magazine.

If the amuse bouche was any indication to the level of goodness of the rest of our meal, it certainly was a good way to start us off. The egg shell was filled with fish mouse and topped with black caviar and a tiny sprig of parsley. There was no hint of fishiness in the mousse which should be the way how fresh fish items are. The mousse was light and maybe even a little fluffy.

August gets bonus points from us for having the flexibility of the menu. While the degustation menu looked absolutely amazing, we had just come from happy hour at Luke and managed to eat an obscene amount of raw oysters and therefore would not have been able to stomach a 5-course dinner. Our server told us that if we liked any of the items from the 5-course degustation menu, we could order them ala carte style. Score.

The sunfish crudo was a winner in its own category. Dressed with a citrus vinaigrette, the sunfish slices were perfect for every bite. While we have seen ceviche in many places, we noticed that crudo seems to be popping up at restaurant menus these days. Crudo is raw fish in Italian and the fish is commonly accompanied with some sort of citrus dressing. While ceviche and crudo sound and look similar, the difference is that crudo is not "cooked" in the citrus juice but serves as an accompaniment.

The mangalitsa pork belly was amazing in its own right. We first learned about the Mangalitsa pig from Ming Tsai who said during one of the episodes of The Next Iron Chef that this breed is one of the most expensive and premium swines around and it is noted for its lard. While we have not seen Mangalitsa pork in any Chicago restaurants, they definitely are making the rounds in Chef John Besh's New Orleans restaurants including Luke which we also went to.




If there was a category for decadence, the best contender would have to be the duckling breast served with roasted duck foie gras. The duckling breast was tender and juicy done medium rare. The foie gras was rich and its petite serving was well portioned.

We topped off our meal with a deconstructed Hummingbird cake. The bite-size sponge cake was lightly seared on one side which gave it a slight crisp and burnt fragrance. It also came with a scoop of cream cheese ice-cream which replaced the traditional cream cheese frosting of a Hummingbird cake.

A large part of our travels involve gastronomic adventures and at the end of each trip we always ask each other So what was your favorite meal? August it was for the both of us.

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August

301 Tchoupitoulas Street

New Orleans, LA 70130

Accolades

2008 Food & Wine Magazine 50 Best Chef Hall of Fame

2008 Bon Appetit Magazine The Hot 10 Restaurants

2006 James Beard Award Best Chef in the Southeast

2006 Gourmet Magazine Top 50 Restaurants

1999 Food & Wine Magazine Best New Chef

Beef Shank Pot-au-feu

 

We were out in search for cupcakes when we stumbled upon what could possibly be our favorite butcher shop. We got our cupcakes first, and then made a U-turn and headed two blocks south to where we first saw the butcher shop when we were on our way to fulfill our cupcake mission. The Butcher & Larder is a winner. They have everything we could ever want from pork belly to roasted beef/lamb/pork bones to duck meat. It doesn't even smell like a butcher shop. Among other things, we walked out with two beautiful pieces of beef shank. And then we had a plan. Preparing for that night's dinner was in order. Armed with these beautiful pieces of meat, we headed to our favorite local grocer (the kind where it has been handed down to the next generation and we can buy a whole box of produce and only get charged $15...what?!)

We learned a new root vegetable that day. Rutabaga (roo-tuh-bay-guh). They were in a box next to the turnips and our grocer told us that rutabagas are like turnips. We added it to our produce box. Later we looked it up on Wikipedia and found out that rutabagas are swedish turnips. When cooked, the color, texture, and taste reminded us of sweet potatoes. The rutabaga is on the left most side of the picture below.

I don't think we could have been happier with how well marbled the beef shanks were as shown in the picture below. The marbling on the beef made the meat so much more tender and soft when biting into it. Beef shanks are probably not the most popular cut of meat for people to buy as the meat is thought to be tough but if stewed and simmered for a few hours it will turn out beautifully.

 

Ingredients

2 lbs beef shanks

1 medium white onion

1 large carrot

1 medium turnip

1 medium rutabaga

2 medium Russet potatoes

2 large stalks of leek

2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorn

Salt to taste

Water

Method
1. Peel and cut into chunks the onion, carrot, turnip, rutabaga, and potatoes. Using only the white and light green parts of the leeks, cut into 2-inch lengths.

2. In a large pot, combine the onion and half the carrot and leeks. Add in the beef shanks and throw in the thyme sprigs, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Sprinkle salt over the ingredients (you can always add more salt later). Fill the pot with water until it covers the ingredients. Bring to boil under high heat and then let simmer under low heat for about 2 hours.

3. Add the remaining carrot and leeks along with the turnip and rutabaga into the pot. Continue to simmer under low heat for about 45 minutes. Add in the potatoes and continue to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender. If needed, season with a little bit more salt.

4. Skim the fat or oil off the broth before serving. Dish out into serving bowls.