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| - We ate here in the summer of 2008, and the experience left us cold, both figuratively and literally. We were so excited to eat here after trying (and loving) L'Atelier...Joel Robuchon is the "Chef of the Century" afterall. Ultimately, however, we could not overlook the poor, dismissive service despite pretty good food. Yes, it was pretty good, but not memorable. We were seated in a little room off the main "house"...I think it was supposed to be a "veranda" off the Mansion. Whatever it was supposed to be, it was dark and chilly (think Siberia). I'm not sure what we did to be exiled there, as we were dressed very well (I kept my shorts and sandals in the hotel room!), but here we indeed languished with some other unlucky souls. Our server begrudgingly came to take our order, and perhaps we lived down to her expectations when my wife "only" ordered the six course dinner (for about $200) despite my going for the whole enchilada, the Grand Degustation menu (12 courses at that time for about $300). I think we were further tagged with the scarlet "C" (for cheap) when we only ordered bottled water and a glass of wine each. The waitress then disappeared, only to bestow a few intermittent visits to us the rest of the evening. We thought that she might have just been in a foul mood, but then we saw her obsequiously chattering about and hobnobbing with some apparently higher-rollers in the next room. Oh well.
The bread service was quite amazing...a bread cart loaded with all sorts of classic French baguettes, batards, etc. turned out to be a life-saver because even though I was to "experience" 12 courses, I was still left hungry. Suffice to say I got to know the bread guy pretty well that evening. 5 of the 12 courses were vegetable courses (!), and the final 2 were desserts. They were OK, but definitely not worth paying $300 for. Oddly, my menu did not even include a lobster course while my wife's did. The standout of the evening was the Sauteed veal chop with natural herbs gel and vegetable mille-feuille. This was beautiful and refined...just delectable. In direct contrast was the Soybeans cooked risotto style with mushrooms and chives...the soybeans arrived underdone and unpleasantly firm.
The desserts were not memorable...what was memorable was the perfunctory manner in which we were hurried on our way (with a pat on the head and a kick in the ass). Wow, just thinking about this makes me boil! Damage was about $700 for the two of us. Never again...never again.
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