As soon as the hype and crowds at Roppongi Hills subsided (a bit, anyway), we ventured in. Not to mill around alongside the gawping multitudes, but to make a beeline to the door of L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. It's not every day that a new restaurant opens from the man who was hailed in his native France as Cuisinier du Siecle -- Chef of the 20th Century. So we were salivating to see what he has in store for us, now that we're well into the new millennium.
Of course, this is not Joel Robuchon's first operation in Tokyo. But it is very different from the faux chateau in Yebisu Garden Place where (together with that other stellar Parisian restaurant, Taillevent) Robuchon gives Tokyoites the Michelin three-star treament.
Here he has foresworn any attempt to duplicate the pomp and circumstance of haute cuisine (so very last century, dahling) in favor of an approach that is altogether more convivial and contemporary. In fact, in the context of three-star Michelin chefs, L'Atelier represents a remarkable change of direction.
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