The Emperor in America

Joël Robuchon: a name which for me would be nothing more than a living legend, or so I thought.  I first learned about him – and his formidable reputation – from the book Dining In France by Christian Millau.  Of course, it spoke of his dazzling brilliance and startling originality.  But the quote that really captured my attention was “Many of his fellow chefs regard Robuchon as the most original culinary talent in France.”  From then on, I would regularly look for his name whenever I would read articles about French chefs and Paris restaurants.  As I soon learned, no chef in the world was more revered than Joël Robuchon.  And Restaurant Joël Robuchon seemed to hover over the other Michelin-starred restaurants of Paris almost like a celestial twilight.  And then, as he said he would, he retired at age 50.

I never had the opportunity to dine at the legendary Paris restaurant that bore his name.  While chef Robuchon was never fully absent from the culinary landscape, his post-retirement presence was more behind the scenes, such as his work at the L’Astor in Paris.  And then, the news broke: Joël Robuchon would again be opening a Paris restaurant, one that would reinvent the concept of casual dining, called L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.  This was soon followed by La Table de Joël Robuchon and other ventures in Japan, and later by the Mediterranean cuisine Joël Robuchon restaurant in Monte Carlo.

However, all these restaurants, as terrific as they are, did not satisfy the deep longing of Robuchon devotees for the return of the gastronomic Robuchon.  If you count yourself among their number, then I have the news for which you have been longing:  your wait is now over.  For a dinner at Joël Robuchon at The Mansion at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas will surely be for you what attending one of the return recitals of Vladimir Horowitz was to lovers of classical piano from 1965 onwards: the experience of a lifetime.

I had the privilege to dine at Joël Robuchon at The Mansion twice in early October.  Although the restaurant is physically located on The Mansion on the MGM Grand property in Las Vegas, one enters the restaurant from the casino floor of the main hotel, just to the right of the L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon restaurant.  Once through the door, a few steps through the foyer leads you to one of the most beautiful dining rooms I have ever seen.  Designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon (with considerable input from chef Robuchon), this intimate art deco room with its chandelier, fireplace, cream-colored walls, and high ceiling possesses the magical ability to transport you to back to another era, to an elegant dining room in a mansion in Paris.  Yes, the tables are generally well spaced.  And while I usually don’t like canned music in fine dining establishments, the pleasant and light big band and swing era instrumental music only serves to enhance the wonderful mood of the place.  As for the service, it is about the best to be experienced anywhere.  Everyone is warm and friendly.

The restaurant serves two dégustation menus: a nine course menu for $165 and an expanded menu of 16 courses for $295.  I took a deep breath and opted for the full 16-course menu.  I was anxious to try everything this restaurant could put in front of me.  Before the first course arrived, one of the most impressive bread carts I have ever seen is rolled over to my right.  (One must go to Guy Savoy in Paris to find a bread cart to match this.)  Several different textures and flavors of bread are available.  My personal favorites are the traditional crusty French rolls (The best French rolls I have ever had?  Could the fact that the flour is imported from France be a determining factor?).  Among the soft breads, I very much liked the basil rolls.  There is but one choice of butter (salted), imported from Normandy.

With 16 courses in front of me, I began with the amuse bouche, a lemon gelée flavored with vanilla and topped with an anisette cream, and ended with the first dessert, strawberries in a lime syrup and tequila sorbet.  If this weren’t enough, I also had a superb cheese course before dessert.  (I passed up the second dessert. I simply could not accommodate the chocolate with a hint of peppermint.  I also had no choice but to dismiss the candy cart, which is even grander than the bread cart, if that is possible.)

Nearly all the courses were delectable.  My very favorite of the evening was the pan-fried sea bass with a lemon grass foam and stewed baby leeks. The duck foie gras and vegetables in a green cabbage ravioli was a standout as well.  And in place of the scallop cooked in its shell with a lemon and seaweed butter, the restaurant instead served a truffled langoustine ravioli with steamed green cabbage, perfectly accompanied (thanks to Esther Milstead, their talented and enthusiastic sommelier) by a smoky red Burgundy.  The only disappointment was the last course before dessert, a confit of lamb with a Mediterranean flavored wheat semoule, which I found to be rather bland.

For wines, I believe that soft, delicate wines work best with this cooking.  Go for wines that will heighten and broaden the wonderful array of flavors, not wines or champagnes that will overwhelm them.  One standout was the 2003 Château Carbonieux, a white Bordeaux that sent the already wonderful lettuce cream and sweet onion custard dish to dazzling new heights.  For champagnes, a lovely rosé broadened and deepened the flavors of the tuna tartar accompanied by cold red bell pepper confit with bergamote and ham.

[A note about wine pairings:  Wine pairing dinners are not available at this restaurant.  Yes, several very nice wines are sold by the glass.  But do not come expecting to pay a flat fee for “open wine” with dinner (i.e. when a half glass, a third of a glass, etc. is paired specifically for each individual course, depending on the size of a given course).]

Almost without exception, all the courses prior to the cheese course and dessert are a dazzling array of mild, delicate flavors and textures, the likes of which I have seldom if ever tasted.  This is cuisine to be eaten slowly, letting all the multiple tastes and flavors dance in your mouth.  (I inquired about  how often the dégustation menu is expected to change; 
"It changes when Mr. Robuchon says it changes," was the response.)

My return visit two nights later was just as impressive, perhaps even more so.  This time I did begin with a glass of champagne, the non vintage Bruno Paillard.  The starter was once again the lemon gelée amuse bouche.  Next came the Brittany lobster in a cold sweet and sour turnip ravioli, flavored with nutmeg and rosemary.  The main course is a roasted Brittany turbot ‘on the bone’ with celeriac and truffled stew.  It arrives in its cooking dish and is expertly plated by Maître d’hôtel and General Manager Loïc Launay.  This is delicious, with an absolutely splendid sauce. (It is every bit as wonderful as the fabulous turbot I had at Per Se in New York last winter.)  As for wine, all the courses are well accompanied by a glass or two of the 2003 Château Carbonieux I had so enjoyed the night before.

The dessert I ordered, a chocolate case filled with red fruits, strawberries and vanilla ice cream, was followed by an even more extraordinary dessert specifically recommended to me by chef Le-Tohic, the orange and mascarpone custard in a sugar bubble surrounded by foamy cinnamon milk.  All this was accompanied by a unique and very tasty dessert wine recommended by Ms. Milstead, the "La Face Cachée de La Pomme" Niege Cidre de Glace from Québec.  My thorough enjoyment of both these desserts must have been readily apparent, for chef Le-Tohic re-emerged from the kitchen with Executive Pastry Chef Kamel Guechida, allowing me to convey my ebullient appreciation directly.  Then came that fabulous candy cart!  Here, I can give but one directive: don’t even think of passing up the green apple marshmallow, the likes of which you have never before tasted.  And for coffee, surely the best total dessert experience I ever had must only be accompanied by the very best coffee—and so it was, served in a small glass pot with a French press.  This is surely the richest, most flavorful coffee I have ever tasted.

In closing, I need to make clear that this restaurant is not for everyone.  If your preference is for rich, intensely flavored cooking, you may leave feeling disappointed.  Also, you must ask yourself how much you truly enjoy fine gourmet cooking, regardless of the fame of the restaurant or the notoriety of the chef.  (I remember a question put to Arrigo Cipriani, the proprietor of Harry’s Bar in Venice, about whether he found the French difficult to please.  He replied that the opposite was true; the French were among the easiest to please, because they are accustomed to eating well.  Mr. Cipriani then added something I have never forgotten.  He explained that the customers hardest to please are often the ones who eat worst at home, for they typically lack the ability to properly evaluate and appreciate balances of tastes and flavors.)

But enough of caution.  After enjoying not one but two remarkable yet very different meals, there is no question that the opening of this restaurant is nothing short of an absolute triumph.  Here, in far away Las Vegas, Joël Robuchon again establishes himself as the formidable “Horowitz of the stoves”, a true emperor in the realm of French gastronomy.  I also must congratulate the Executive Chef, Claude Le-Tohic who, as a holder of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France, is a highly distinguished chef in his own right.   I am also grateful that someone as gracious and skilled as Mr. Loïc Launay oversees the front of the house, for this restaurant provides one of the world’s truly extraordinary dining experiences.  Before leaving after my second dinner, I had one last request: I asked Loïc Launay to please convey to chef Robuchon my heartfelt congratulations, for Joël Robuchon at The Mansion has been selected for the 2006 list of the 10 best French restaurants in the world located outside of France.  Although the list is released in late December, I saw no need to withhold congratulations when the selection is this obvious.

Maurice Graham Henry

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