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| - I'm disappointed to say that this was not a life changing experience.
My wife and I ate at the mansion a few months back and had one of the best dining experiences I can remember. L'atalier had all the elements to be great, but it just fell short.
The service, the ambience and overall atmosphere were superb. The food wasn't bad. But for the price and the expectation we had (being a Joel Robuchon restaurant), it missed the mark in many ways.
We started with the poached Kushi oysters and the hamachi ravioli. The oysters were decent, but only because they were high quality oysters. There was no pizazz. The hamachi crudo was wrapped around decadent uni roe (hence the "ravioli") and drizzled with a flavorful vinaigrette. Definitely the best thing we tried.
The next two dishes were quite forgettable:
Mushroom stuffed pasta gratineéd - a dish that's not exactly sure what it is, though the mushroom ragout was seasoned perfectly.
Langoustine fried in wonton with basil pesto - As I said with the oysters, this dish was decent, but only because of the langoustine. There was no expert technique involved, just top quality product.
We, next, had the famous foie gras stuffed quail. Certainly good and fairly balanced. The sweet soy glaze really rounded out the flavors.
Our sixth offering was the spaghetti with uni butter and leeks. We added three grams of shaved truffles from Alba. This was the biggest disappointment of the evening. There were aspects of this dish that were executed beautifully (perfectly cooked pasta and leeks), but it never really came together flavor wise. It was in dire need of salt and there was almost no presence of uni detected. The truffles were barely noticeable. It was very blah.
Our server was gracious enough to notice or distaste and kindly voided this dish off of our bill.
Our final course was the confit of suckling pig with braised cabbage. Again, impeccable execution of most of the components, but the dish was severely unbalanced. The cabbage screamed for some acid to counteract the beautifully fatty and unctuous pork. There was a palpable lack of sear on the pork itself (arguably the best part of a presentation like this). I also would've loved some kind of jus to bring everything together.
One more note. It's an open kitchen. I saw a lot of coughing, sneezing, ear wiping, finger tasting, etc. Blechhh...
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