[Taipei] L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

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L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

Address: 5/F Bella Vita, 28 Song Ren Rd, Hsin Yi District, Taipei / 台北市信義區松仁路28號Bella Vita 5樓
Tel: (02) 8729 2628
Hours: 11:30am~2:30pm, 6:00pm~10:00pm
Website: www.joel-robuchon.net
Price: [lunch] 1,280~2,880 NTD/set, [dinner] 3,000~6,000 NTD/person
Visited on: 2012-01-26

The dramatic black and red decor, with a sleek dining bar surrounding a central open kitchen. Yes, you are at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Like the rest of the workshops around the world, L’Atelier in Taipei fosters an interactive atmosphere between diners and the kitchen, separated merely by a counter. A vibrant and convivial vibe permeates the air as chefs experiment and create while diners witness the preparation of dishes right before them. Everyone is part of the action.

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon 

Bar seats

Open kitchen 

Table setting

If you have groups of 3 or more you can also choose regular tables for easier conversations, but that’s not nearly as fun as sitting at the bar.

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[Hong Kong] Caprice

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Caprice

Address: 6F Four Seasons Hotel, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 3196-8888
Hours: 12:00pm~2:30pm, 6:00pm~10:30pm
Website: www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/caprice/
Prices: [lunch] 460~520HKD + 10%/set, [dinner] 1000+ HKD
Visited on: 2011-12-23

Caprice barely needs an introduction. The only French restaurant in Hong Kong with three Michelin stars, Caprice is led by Chef Vincent Thierry (ex-Le Cinq of Four Seasons Hôtel George V, Paris), who orchestrates a contemporary French menu around seasonal and imported ingredients, many air-flown in from France. All these takes place in surroundings of opulent gold, custom-made Swarovski crystal chandeliers, floor-to-ceiling windows, a spectacular vista of the Victoria Harbour, and a chandeliered open-kitchen as the focal point. Even the air smells elegant.

Caprice

Swarovski chandelier 

Open kitchen

It is also worth mentioning that the maître d’, pastry chef and sommelier all have Le Cinq on their résumés. An impressive lineup, for sure.

Plating

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[Shanghai] Cooking Class at Maison Pourcel

Maison Pourcel

Add: 8/F, 35 Shanxi Nan Lu, near Changle Lu 陕西南路35号8楼, 近长乐路
Tel: 6215 8777
Hours: 8:30-11:30am
Website: www.maisonpourcel.com
Price: 388 RMB/person, includes breakfast and a 3-course tasting
Visited: Nov 2011

Every other week, Christophe LeRouy from Maison Pourcel opens his kitchen for an exclusive session to reveal some cooking secrets. Here are picture highlights from the “See Provence in Your Dish” class I attended back in August, starting with some of the best croissants I’ve had in Shanghai…

Today’s menu: foccacia bread, cod fish with anchovy pissaladiere and tomato coulis, and mackerel esbache with tomato jam. Let’s turn up the heat.

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[Taipei] Justin’s Signatures 饕客食坊

Justin’s Signatures 饕客食坊

Add: 17, Ln 265, Dunhua S Rd Sec 2, Taipei City 台北市敦化南路二段265巷17號
Tel: (02) 2736 8000
Hours: 12-3pm, 6-10pm
Website: www.justinquek.com
Price: [lunch] 1280~2080 NTD + 10% [dinner] 2980~4280 NTD + 10%
Visited: Oct 2011

I wasn’t planning on trying any fine dining restaurants in Taipei, a city that is more known for its street food and chic cafes. Somehow I still ended up making a dinner reservation at Justin’s Signatures, an upscale French restaurant by Singaporean celebrity chef Justin Quek, after it’s been recommended to me by a few friends. The meal, unfortunately, turned out to be a fusillade of culinary fireworks that left me dazed but not amazed. It’s true that each dish was beautifully orchestrated with extravagant ingredients, but somehow the end results fell short of expectations.

We were seated right next to the kitchen, and the constant sliding of the kitchen door was disturbing throughout the meal. It also didn’t help that the table next to us were occupied by an especially rowdy crowd.

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[Shanghai] Jean Georges (2)

Jean Georges

Add: 4/F, Three on the Bund, 17 Guangdong Lu 广东路17号, 外滩三号4楼
Tel: 6321 7733
Hours: [Lunch] 11:30am~2:30pm [Dinner] 6pm~11pm
Website: www.threeonthebund.com
Price: [lunch] 218 RMB + 10% [dinner] 500~700 RMB/person
Visited: Jun 2011 (visit 1, 3)

Please note that this was an arranged tasting.

With a menu featuring Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s classic lineup and a spectacular vista of the illuminated Lujiazui right outside the window, it’s no wonder that Jean Georges remains one of the most highly regarded restaurants in Shanghai after so many years of opening. But…

…but I really shouldn’t have eaten so much that evening. 15 dishes, that’s how many dishes I tasted that evening, and that doesn’t even include the amuse bouche and complimentary chocolates and marshmallows at the end. It’s not so much the quantity that troubled me – I’m quite proud of my stomach space – but the thought of having to describe so many dishes in one post became so daunting that in retrospect, I wish I hadn’t stole food off each and every one of my companions’ plates.

But what is done is done. Let’s take a look what flowed through our table. The 7-course Jean Georges Menu (998 RMB + 10%) began elegantly with Egg Caviar, a signature dish that graces the cover of Jean-Georges’ “Simple to Spectacular” cookbook. A fluffy, lightly scrambled egg topped with whipped cream and a generous dollop of caviar, this was one of my top three favorite dishes of the evening.

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[Shanghai] Maison Pourcel (2)

Maison Pourcel

Add: 8/F, 35 Shanxi Nan Lu, near Changle Lu 陕西南路35号8楼, 近长乐路
Tel: 6215 8777
Hours: [La Table] 5:30-10:30pm [Studio Bar] 11:30am-11pm
Website: www.maisonpourcel.com
Price: [La Table] 700 RMB+/person [Studio Bar] 300 RMB/person
Visited: Jun 2011

Please note that this is an arranged tasting.

I had the pleasure of dining at Maison Pourcel again for a special olive oil-themed tasting menu. Since I already blogged about this restaurant, I will skip the intro and go straight to the food. For more information and pictures on the restaurant, please refer to my previous post.

Maison Pourcel has a special themed-menu each month, and for June, the focus is on olive oil. The whole menu is 8 courses long (1198RMB/person, see full menu here) and would take hours to finish, so the chef kindly picked out four of the dishes for us to sample.

Like last time, the meal started with a few plates of amuse bouche – fried foie gras with herb mustard cream, smoked salmon on a cake-like bread, and a savory pastry.

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[Shanghai] Fulton Place

Fulton Place

Add: 1/F, 570 Yongjia Lu, near Yueyang Lu 永嘉路570号, 近岳阳路
Tel: 3461 1775
Hours: [Tue-Sat] 6-10:30pm (closed on Mon and Sun)
Website: www.fultonplace.cn
Price: 350~450 RMB/person
Visited: Apr 2011

Chef Marc Johnson at Fulton Place has been accumulating good reviews since the restaurant opened in July 2010. Time to give it a try.

Fulton Place is not so big, but the room does not feel crowded thanks to the high ceilings, calculated lighting, and comfortable space in between tables.


We arrived at 7pm to an almost empty restaurant, but the space was quickly filled at around 8pm when the crowd started trickling in.

The wall paper is rather interesting. You see the lizard and the bird, but can you spot the man having dinner with a sheep, or the woman holding a baguette while dancing on a chunk of cheese?

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