Lauren and I will be in Vegas for our first anniversary in September and after much research, I’m about 90% committed to L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. My my budget is $300 or less, so that means immediate disqualification for Picasso or Alex. For those that have had dinner at L’Atelier, did you enjoy it? Would you go back? Also, I know I can just call, but has anyone tried to BYO there? If so, were they gracious about it?
If anyone has an idea for a different place, I’m all ears. We plan to do L’Atelier (or something similar) on our anniversary night and then do LOS the next night.
check out the blog http://www.kevineats.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, he does a great job of pictures of tasting menus and he just went to the restaurant two weeks ago
I was there in May. $500 for the two of us. We bought wine off the list. We did enjoy it and it was a fun experience with very good food and presentation. We were there early so it was not busy and we had plenty of interaction with the staff which made it more fun. Having said all that I probably wouldn’t go back.
Paul - which menu did you order? I’m thinking that we’ll do the five course seasonal tasting menu that their offering for $75pp - that plus BYO for $35, we should have plenty of money in the budget for extra glasses of wine or additions to the menu.
None of the menus impressed us or rather I should say that there were many dishes a la carte that we wanted to try that were not included in one of the menus. Instead we ordered individual dishes and shared them. I think we ended up doing 5-6 courses so we each tasted 10-12 dishes. And we ordered 2 bottles of wine. Going BYO with corkage is a good option.
I never do the tasting menu at any of the l’Ateliers I have visited. I always order whatever. I have never had a bad meal. When we go to Vegas, which we may do next week, we always go there. We usually order wine from the Robuchon list instead of the regular list. BYO is a good option too. But the list is expensive . . .
I’ve been to the one in Paris a few times with my wife and we order many dishes, whatever strikes our fancy. We order wines from them (I would never BYO in France). Excluding wine and tip, it usually comes out to around Euros 135-150 per person. We enjoyed every time we ate there.
The one in Paris is one of my favorite restaurants. The one in NY, not so much. A lot has to do with the room; Paris is really interesting and ‘clubby’, NY big and open.
We had dinner at L’Atelier last year. We enjoyed it quite a bit and will definitely go back. In the summer they do $75 per person tasting menu and the website says ask about a $39 3 course menu. These usually expire at the end of summer but with the economy maybe not. Check the website for details.
From a prior post on another site. I have the list of foods we ordered if you are interested. With Joel Robuchon in the kitchen the food was really spectacular. Please note my comment on the price - I think the total with our food+wine+wine by the glass+tip was ~$350. With less wine you might be able to get out under $300. I’m not sure about BYOB.
Dinner at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon.
The sommelier was knowledgeable about the wines on the list. Once he realized we were winos he started letting us try the different wines they had open by the glass. The list was large and French-centric with a whopping 3X mark-up. We wanted to drink Burgundy but our meals would have killed any of the ones on the list so we went with a very good Rhone – the 2003 Marcoux CdP.
In all a fantastic meal with very unique food and presentation. It was difficult for us to decide how much to order but the waitstaff helped out quite a bit. The open kitchen concept is interesting to watch. With Joel Robuchon actually in the kitchen the staff was walking on eggshells. He was totally quiet and hardly said a word, just pointed and stared. I think that was enough. Robuchon was going between the LDJR kitchen and the Robuchon kitchen. LDJR deserves its one star rating but be prepared for some sticker shock at the end. The website says $125 per person and that was about right WITHOUT tax, gratuity and most importantly wine.
Good luck with your choice. We tried to go the one in Paris after this but couldn’t make it work. We will try again in Paris.
Due to the recession, MGM has been running seasonal tasting menus in all of its restaurants since the beginning of the year. They are on the Summer menu right now, but will switch over to the Fall menu in September. L’Atelier’s is $75/pp, others are cheaper.
Even the Wynn is offering their “Taste of the Wynn” program for Alex @ $89/pp - too bad it’s not offered on the nights we’ll be there, otherwise we might have done that!
We also went to Craftsteak and thought that their summer menu special was a good deal for good food. They allowed corkage @ $25? (maybe $30 I don’t remember) and we brought in some very nice bottles. We did not even look at the wine list that night.
Paul,
Mary and I went there a few summers back and had a great meal. Probably not one of our all-time handful, or as good as The Mansion, but considering price very reccomended. We we’re lucky enough that Robuchon was there so they were on, plus we met him and had him sign our tasting menu which we collect. We had a menu of eight courses (two of which were dessert), preceded by two amuses. I think it was $120 each. As I recall we brought two bottles for a reasonable fee, ordered a couple of glasses of bubbly etc, and they gave us no attitude. The food was all very good, with a few dishes excellent. What’s funny is that there was a smoked salmon that I really wasn’t looking forward to but was the best I have ever had and perhaps the best dish. I also will never forget the amazing truffled mashed potatoes that came with a foie-stuffed quail. I don’t know if you’ve been to Ortolan, but the style of the food is similar to me. Neo-french, but not out there.
