db eats: L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

Eggs are a notoriously difficult food to match with wine. And yet, upon my recent visit to Michelin-starred L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in London’s Covent Garden, this food and wine feat was accomplished not just once but twice in the course of, well, several courses.

It’s difficult to resist succumbing to greed when you dine at one of the legendary French chef’s eight restaurants.

As tempting as the lunch menu was, (hot corn velouté with shallots and golden croutons, pan-fried hake with parsley roots purée and crunchy hazelnuts, need I go on?), I was blessed with the company of a comparative connoisseur of Robuchon’s cuisine, a person capable of guiding me through some of his more famous dishes.

My companion in these elegant, decadent surroundings? Alice Paillard, area export manager of Champagne Bruno Paillard, a house that has a special relationship with the restaurant.

Fortunately Bruno Paillard Champagnes are rich and complex enough to pair up with even the likes of duck and lamb, according to Alice. It was a relief to discover there were no restrictions on the sumptuous-looking menu even though we were to drink Champagne throughout the meal.

As we selflessly worked our way through the Robuchon taste extravaganza, we first tested Alice’s theory out on two different Brut Première Cuvée Paillard wines. They had exactly the same dosage, cépage and reserve wine components, just different disgorgement dates.

Understandably (and convincingly), these were to all intents and purposes two completely different wines, but each in its own way worked well with the relentless array of starters, mini-starters and between-course tastebud ticklers that were brought to our table.

This began with the shot glass-sized pre-starter composed of foie gras, Port reduction and parmesan mousse which exquisitely kicked the taste buds into action.

It was good preparation for what was to come. Crispy langoustine fritter with basil pistou, coriander panna cotta served with a lightly smoked aubergine caviar, soft poached egg coated with crispy rice batter and Oscietra caviar, Jerusalem artichoke soup with quail egg and a mushroom and black truffle crouton, all of which were crafted both aesthetically and in flavour combination to the utmost delicacy and beauty.

The ‘main’ courses (by this point I had lost count of how many we had devoured) of free range quail stuffed with foie gras and truffled mashed potatoes (for Alice) and Pyrénéean milk-fed lamb cutlets with fresh thyme both paired very well with the breadth of the Bruno Paillard 1999 cuvée.

The dessert was preceded by a pre-dessert. A fun, flower-shaped banana, mango and toffee ice lollipop coated in rich white chocolate was the perfect cold introduction to the trio of sorbets.

Each flavour also carried its own unique texture: icy lemon, creamy blackcurrant and the most sorbet-like texture of all came with the orange blossom flavour.

Palates numbed by the coolness of the sorbets, we had finished our Paillard-Robuchon matching exercise with conviction, satisfaction and an understandable sense of gluttony.

However, in a final flush of ambition, we were tempted to encourage Bulgarian head sommelier Ivo Stoyanov to release his one final bottle of Bruno Paillard’s most expensive cuvée, NPU (1990 in this case) from his cellars for us to taste.

However, it was abundantly clear this was destined to wait patiently in the cellars for whoever is happy to pay the £330 for this rare wine to match with the exquisitely prepared food. I for one don’t think it will be waiting in the cellars for too much longer.

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
13-15 West Street
London
WC2H 9NE
+44 (0) 207 010 8600
www.joel-robuchon.com

Jane Parkinson, 08.12.2009