back to L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon
When I told Josh we were returning to Paris, I asked is there any where he wanted to eat. Answer, Joel. You honestly can't go wrong except for the huge dent in your wallet. I am a big fan that everyone sits at the bar. We had a corner for the four of us and it worked perfectly.
We had many of the same things last night. One of the specials last night was carpaccio of sea bream. They even had a special plate for it. Thinly sliced sea bream with just a hint of lemon, fresh herbs and olive oil over the top.
If you are going to have foie gras, this is the place to do it. We all did. Pan seared foie gras cooked to perfection with roasted cherries. Just spectacular. Almost leaves you speechless and of course you feel compelled to finish off the entire thing.
One of us had the spaghetti. You can either get spaghetti with red sauce or carbonara with creme and large chunks of soft pancetta. He went with the latter and I got a bite. Wow.
Someone had the steak au poivre
Someone else had the lamb chops
Fred and I split the turbot for two. Simply prepared with tiny mushrooms on top. Really well done but compared to all the other interesting things there, this just didn't wow me. Maybe I was too full from the foie gras so I barely finished this.
Everyone got a bowl of their mashed potatoes. Actually this is more butter than potatoes and it is also out of this world.
We had all hit the wall but the small plate of madelines and caramels just hit the spot.
We walked back across the Ponte which is such a cool bridge. No cars. Also, people leave their locks on the bridge just as if they had carved their name in a tree. You can read the locks, most of them have something on them. Once in awhile, I believe after they run out of space, the police come and cut them off and it fills up again very quickly.
We stopped by the Costes Hotel just to take a peek and perhaps have a drink but the place was jamming. Instead we went back to our hotel where the boys could smoke some cigars before we settled in for the night.
Always a little out of it the first day but we definitely got a good day in.
Comments (Archived):
Next week for us at Joel. The mashed potatoes are the best on the planet. See you Saturday.
As a New Yorker, I also love Paris as my second city.For me its just the life on the streets, really great hidden art galleries and the wine, especially the natural wines with selections from places like The Jura that even we can’t find here,Enjoy.
People watching at the Hotel Costes bar/restaurant is an event in itself – position yourself in one of the corners with an aperitif or coffee – enjoy!
one more note – was just in Paris last week to launch our partnership with Orange – the Orange folks took me to a great local Parisian bistro – http://www.leverrebouteille… – great typical French bistro food plus a cute surprise on how they serve the chilled wine – in icewater in a standing bag! definitely order the lamb if you make it there
Your pictures of the food are amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Joanne,I am having such a busy day but i cannot drag myself away from these fantastic photos.I too love Joel’s restaurants – I’ve only been to the Paris one once but used to go to the London restaurant quite often and I always prefer the bar area.I miss Paris, thank you for reminding me why.
i have only been to the one in paris, a few times now. for some reason ihave never been to the other ones. perhaps it is the magic of paris thatmakes me not want to go to joel anywhere else.
I’m sure it is :)I feel the same about using those super cheap small round wine glasses….only in Paris.
Joanne,Did you eat at L’Atelier Saint Germain or Etoile? Thanks!
the one next to hotel montalembert