What five things should I know about L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon?
Dining at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas is a unique chance to experience the French master chef’s cooking in a more casual and approachable space. So before you book a table at Robuchon’s workshop inside MGM Grand Resort, here five things you need to know about L’Atelier:
1. French chef Joël Robuchon opened his first L’Atelier in Paris as a 40-seat, small plates restaurant with a central kitchen where diners could watch their meals being prepared. He wanted to merge a more casual atmosphere with fine French food — and the concept has done so well that’s it’s been replicated all over the world from Las Vegas to London to Tokyo. At L’Atelier, you’ll find all the delicious food Robuchon restaurants are known for with none of the pretense. You can come as you are-attire is business casual-and interact with the kitchen staff as they deliver food straight to your counter seat.
2. The sleek, contemporary interior design of L’Atelier is stunning. The moment you walk into the restaurant you’ll be arrested by the color combination — black countertops, bright red leather chairs, a red-tiled kitchen and fresh red roses on every table. Watch for the incorporation of food into the décor. You’ll see tall glass vases filled with water and elegant cucumber slices, carrot shavings and fresh tomatoes. And what looks like abstract art on the wall is actually framed pictures of spices such as cardamom, peppercorns, star anise and turmeric.
3. There’s quite a price range at L’Atelier, with a menu option to suit nearly every budget. If you’re looking for one of the best deals in Las Vegas, come any day before 6:15 p.m. for a $59 three-course menu. There’s also a $95 five-course menu club, a $155 nine-course seasonal tasting menu and a tapas-style à la carte menu that includes appetizers, meats, cheese and desserts.
4. L’Atelier, a Four-Star restaurant, has a more casual vibe than the adjacent Five-Star Joël Robuchon, but both restaurants take great pride in using the highest quality ingredients available. In fact, they share products and source them from many of the same places. When you dine at L’Atelier, you might be served fresh fish flown straight from Japan or French Échiré butter.
5. L’Atelier is a popular spot for fine dining in Las Vegas, so be sure to make a reservation. There are 33 counter seats and five tables that seat up to 23, so we wouldn’t recommend risking it and just showing up (unless you don’t have plans later that night). You can book online or by calling 702-891-7358.
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Although L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon isn’t a huge restaurant - there are five tables that seat up to 23 and 33 seats at the counter - groups can still dine at this Las Vegas hot spot with a reservation made in advance.
Larger groups will be more comfortable sitting at the restaurant’s tables than the counter seats, but at both you’ll have a great view of the chefs in the kitchen preparing your meal and plating your courses. Groups of six or more should call the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino’s group dining reservations line at 702-891-7433. Parties of eight or more are required to put down a $500 deposit that can be applied toward the meal and a non-refundable large party fee (it starts at $125 for eight people). Be sure to give more than two-weeks notice if you need to cancel a large group reservation, or you’ll have to pay a portion of the dining costs — and at $155 a head, that can be a pretty penny. If you cancel with less than a week’s notice, you’ll get saddled with the full bill, so be sure to call well in advance if your group can’t make it. -
When you dine at L’Atetlier de Joël Robuchon, a Four-Star restaurant from legendary chef Joël Robuchon located in the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, you can either find one of the best bargains in Las Vegas or indulge in a nine-course French tasting menu-there’s literally an option for every palate and budget.
If you arrive at L’Atelier before 6:15 p.m., you can opt for the $59 L’Unique menu, which includes an appetizer, main course and dessert-all served within 15 minutes. It’s a great option if you have theater tickets or want to try a Robuchon meal on a budget.
The restaurant also offers the $95 five-course menu club, which includes two lighter courses, such as a langoustine fritter with basil pesto or gazpacho, or a more substantial course like veal piccata with an arugula salad. A cheese course and a dessert follow to deliver a great taste of the kitchen staff’s talents. There’s an additional wine pairing with the menu club, which costs $65 per person.
If you’re looking for the ultimate indulgence, go for the $155 seasonal discovery menu, which includes nine courses and has an additional $105 wine pairing. Choose the vegetarian version or opt for the full-on French experience with courses such as lamb shoulder confit with eggplant compote, foie gras-stuffed free-range quail and mascarpone panna cotta topped with fresh strawberries.
You can also experience L’Atelier as the small plates restaurant Robuchon envisioned in Paris by ordering a few courses from the à la carte menu. The menu is laid out tapas-style, so you don’t have to order an appetizer, main course and dessert. Pick and choose among the courses, which include options such as Maine lobster salad with sherry vinegar dressing, steak tartare with old-fashioned frites, and a green chartreuse soufflé topped with pistachio ice cream. -
- Lacey Rozinsky
- L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
- Sommelier
Xavier Boyer is the chef at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Prior to this appointment, chef Boyer was the chef de cuisine at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in London, England. Before this, he worked with chef Robuchon in Paris at Le Laurent (two-star Michelin) and L’Atelier. Chef Boyer was previously employed by Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts in Le Cinq (three-star Michelin) at the George V in Paris. He has also worked as a private chef and appeared regularly on Gourmet TV in France.
Chef Boyer, a native of Montpellier, France, studied culinary and pastry arts at Paris’ L’Ecole Superieur de la Cuisine Francaise, and graduated from Lycée Saint-Joseph du Parchamps in Boulogne. He is fluent in English and Italian. -
The sleek, contemporary interior design of L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon is visually arresting with its dim lighting, bold black and red scheme and open kitchen concept. The Four-Star restaurant from world-renowned chef Joël Robuchon specializes in small plates and snappy counter service from chefs who prepare your meal in front of you in the central, open kitchen. The color combination in the restaurant catches your eye from the moment you walk in — there are black countertops, black placemats and black base plates that stand in strong contrast to the bright red leather chairs, red-tiled kitchen, red glassware and fresh red roses on every table. Whether you’re sitting at a table or at the counter, every seat provides a show with views of the open kitchen, garde manger, hot line and pastries being made and plated with almost surgeon-like precision.
Another element we love about L’Atelier is that the food is the star-not only on your plate, but in the décor as well. In the kitchen you’ll see tall glass vases filled with water and decorative elements like thinly sliced cucumbers, carrot shavings and piles of fresh tomatoes. Take a close look at the abstract, geometrical prints on the wall. What looks like squares are actually framed pictures of whole and ground spices such as cardamom, peppercorns, star anise and turmeric. -
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon isn’t a large restaurant, but it comfortably seats larger groups as well as couples and single diners. The Four-Star restaurant from world-renowned chef and owner Joël Robuchon is located on the ground floor of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. It’s a popular spot for fine French food with a more casual atmosphere than the adjacent Five-Star restaurant that’s named for Robuchon.
The restaurant has a large counter with 33 seats where you can watch the chefs prepare your food and plate each dish in a fully exposed kitchen. There are also five tables that seat up to 23 people-a good option for groups-as well as a small bar in the back that has four seats.
L’Atelier is one of several small plates restaurants (all with the same name) created by Robuchon, who wanted a restaurant that would serve fine food but exude a homey feel. The concept, which Robuchon began in Paris, has been replicated at locations all over the world-from Las Vegas and New York to London and Tokyo. -
The best place to sit at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon really depends on how many people you’re dining with. The Four-Star French restaurant, located on the ground floor of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, is best known for its small plates and visually arresting kitchen design. If you’re dining solo or with a few friends, we’d recommend taking one of the 33 seats at the counter.
If you’re with a group larger than four, it will be hard to have a conversation at the counter, so we’d recommend snagging one of the five tables that seat up to 23 people. Regardless of whether you sit at the counter or at a table, you’ll have a great view of the open kitchen, garde manger, hot line and pastry station. It’s really just a matter of where you’ll feel comfortable with the number of people in your party.
Keep in mind that if you’re dining with a group of eight or larger, you’ll have to put down a $500 deposit and a non-refundable large party fee (which starts at $125 for a group of eight). The restaurant requests 24-hours notice for cancellations, but larger parties have to give more than 15-days notice to avoid being charged a portion of the expected dining cost. -
The upbeat jazz music played over the speakers at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon matches the French restaurant’s more casual vibe. The Four-Star Las Vegas restaurant is famous for its small tapas-style plates and centrally located open kitchen where you can watch your foie gras or soufflé being prepared. The light jazz played nightly offers an energetic, but not overwhelming, environment; if you’re seated at the counter, don’t be surprised if your neighbor strikes up a conversation with you about what you’ve ordered or are eating. The close seating arrangement isn’t uncomfortable, but certainly allows for conversation to flow among strangers.
On the other hand, the kitchen is almost silent as chefs meticulously prepare your food and plate it with a surgeon-like precision. One of the best parts about L’Atelier is that you’re likely to interact with the chefs directly, who often deliver the food right to the counter after they’ve created it. -
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, a Four-Star French restaurant in Las Vegas, was created by master chef Joël Robuchon as a place where fine food would be freed from the constraints of dining room service and the pomp and circumstance that’s usually on display at French restaurants. He opened his first L’Atelier in Paris as a 40-seat, small plates restaurant. The concept did so well that it’s been replicated all over the world, from London to New York to Hong Kong.
L’Atelier, located on the ground floor of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, has a centrally located kitchen where diners can watch as the chefs prepare food and meticulously plate each dish. There’s a lot of interaction between diners and the service staff — who quickly refill water, bring drinks and can help you with any food allergies or dietary restrictions — as well as the kitchen staff. In fact, the chef who created your food just might deliver it right to your table or seat at the counter. If you’re in a small group or with just one other person, we highly recommend sitting at one of the 33 seats at the counter, which surrounds the open kitchen. There, you’ll have the best view of the chefs using tweezers to lay down garnishes or squeeze bottles to dot each plate. -
The chef doesn’t need to visit your table to make sure you’re enjoying your meal at Four-Star L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon-with a centrally located open kitchen, the chefs interact directly with diners while they work, handing over the plates as they create them.
L’Atelier, which translates from French to “workshop,” is exactly that: a place where guests can see the chefs hard at work preparing food and meticulously plating each dish. Master French chef Joël Robuchon came up with the concept for the restaurant, which specializes in small, tapas-style plates and has an exquisite tasting menu. He opened the first L’Atelier in Paris and the idea has done so well that it’s been replicated all over the world from Las Vegas to London to Tokyo. There are 33 seats at the counter surrounding the kitchen, where you’ll get the best view of the action and the most face time with the chefs, as well as five tables along the perimeter of the restaurant that seat up to 23 and four seats in the back at the bar. -
When you dine at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, a casual French restaurant located inside MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, you really can’t go wrong with anything you order. In fact, it’s not uncommon for diners to order several small plates and share them, so they can try as many dishes as possible. Before you make a reservation at this Las Vegas hot spot, here’s a list of the best five things to order:
1. The $155 seasonal discovery menu is the ultimate indulgence. It has nine courses of delicious French food, including the signature foie gras-stuffed free-range quail with mashed potatoes or the langoustine carpaccio with lemon vinaigrette. This menu comes with an amuse-bouche, several small plates, a more substantial entrée, two desserts and coffee or tea. You’re sure to leave the striking red-and-black restaurant full and satisfied.
2. L’Atelier offers one of the best deals in Vegas: a $59 three-course menu called L’Unique, which is offered before 6:15 p.m. each day. You’ll receive an appetizer, entrée and dessert (with two choices for each) all served within 15 minutes. If you want to try chef Joël Robuchon’s cuisine on a budget, this is a great way to do it.
3. The signature desserts at L’Atelier are made with chocolate or raspberry. We love the chocolate sensation, with an Araguani chocolate base that’s topped with crémeux and ice cream rolled in Oreo cookie crumbs. If it’s in season, we also recommend the refreshing framboise en surprise, a white chocolate sphere filled with raspberry and topped with yuzu ice cream.
4. No good French meal would be complete without a glass of great wine, and L’Atelier certainly has an impressive list to choose from. There are grand crus from Burgundy, first growths from Bordeaux-including varietals of Mouton Rothschild, Lafite Rothschild, Château Margaux and Château Haut-Brion-as well as more international picks from Spain, South America and Eastern Europe. The wine director hails from British Columbia, so you’ll also find some interesting Canadian ice wines that are perfect to cap off your meal.
5. If you’re dining with a group, you can create your own tasting menu by ordering three to four small plates off the tapas-inspired à la carte menu. Choose from dishes such as the restaurant’s signature steak tartare, as well as a ton of meat-, fish- and vegetable-based options. Plus, there’s a selection of high-quality cheeses and desserts. -
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, a Four-Star French restaurant located within the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, is owned and operated by master French chef Joël Robuchon. Robuchon basically came out of retirement (from opening new restaurants) to open his first L’Atelier in Paris, where there were just 40 seats, no dining room service, a focus on small plates and an open kitchen where diners could watch their food being prepared and plated. The mix of formal and informal really caught on and the concept has been replicated across the globe, from New York to London to Tokyo.
The executive chef at L’Atelier in Las Vegas is Steve Benjamin, who despite his American-sounding name, actually hails from France, where at 14 he began volunteering as an apprentice at a local restaurant outside his hometown, just north of Paris. Benjamin was working at L’Astor at the Sofitel in Paris when Robuchon recruited the entire team to open his first L’Atelier, and Benjamin later was tapped to head the Las Vegas outfit. -
The pastry chef at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon is Kamel Guechida, who also creates the desserts next door at Five-Star sister restaurant Joël Robuchon. Guechida, who was trained in southwestern France, has worked with master chef Joël Robuchon since 2000 in his kitchens in Tokyo, Paris, Macau and Monte Carlo.
Guechida has overseen desserts at the Robuchon restaurants in the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas since they opened, and he creates all of the seasonal desserts at L’Atelier, as well as the selection of petit fours and migardises at Joël Robuchon. When you dine at L’Atelier, look for signature chocolate or raspberry desserts, including the chocolate sensation, made with Araguani chocolate and topped with crémeux and ice cream rolled in Oreo cookie crumbs or the framboise en surprise, which is a white chocolate sphere with raspberry filling and yuzu ice cream. You can also expect to find some traditional French tarts, sorbets, ice creams, soufflé and mousse on the menu. -
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon has a varied menu that is predominately French — with a few tasting menu options and wine pairings — but there’s also an à la carte small plates menu that is perfect for dates or friends who love to share food.
Located on the ground floor of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, L’Atelier offers a $95 per person menu club, which includes five courses, as well as a $155 seasonal discovery menu of nine courses. Each menu can be accompanied by a wine pairing, which costs $65 or $105, respectively.
The menu club might offer a soup to start, a small plate such as a langoustine fritter with basil pesto, your choice of an entrée, such as veal piccata or salmon, along with a cheese course and tarts or ice cream for dessert. The longer tasting menu changes frequently to incorporate seasonal veggies and fish, and you can expect to be served a few small plates followed by more substantial courses such as a lamb shoulder confit with eggplant compote. Then you’ll likely get two tasty desserts-such as a mascarpone panna cotta topped with strawberries and balsamic ice cream or a blackberry compote with spice cake and rhubarb sorbet-plus coffee or tea. If you’re not a carnivore, ask for the special vegetarian nine-course tasting menu, which is also served nightly.
The à la carte menu offers a range of small plates to choose from, as you would at a tapas restaurant. You’ll see a ton of intriguing recipes (some of which are on the tasting menus) made with fish, meat and vegetables as well as cheeses and desserts. Be sure to order the signature steak tartar and the foie gras-stuffed free-range quail with mashed potatoes. This menu is a great option if you want to share or create your own tasting menu.
The French restaurant also offers one of the best deals in Vegas: the L’Unique menu, which is three courses for $59 before 6:15 p.m. You get an appetizer, entrée and dessert, all served within 15 minutes, for a great price. We highly recommend this option if you have to make it to a show or just want to experience a Robuchon-quality meal on a budget. -
Vegetarians should roll up their sleeves when they head to L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon; the Four-Star French restaurant located within the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas offers a nine-course vegetarian menu nightly as an alternative to the French tasting menu. You can certainly indulge without sacrificing on portion size or ingredients here.
If you’re not in the mood for nine courses, you can opt for complete control over your dinner by ordering à la carte. L’Atelier has an impressive list of delicious tapas-style small plates, and you’ll certainly see some vegetarian-friendly options, such as an heirloom tomato salad with basil oil and fleur de sel, spaghetti, a seasonal vegetable salad and a selection of cheeses. Of course, you can also ask the kitchen about which courses work best with meat ingredients substituted, and the chefs will do their best to accommodate any special vegetarian requests. -
At L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, you can expect to see some fine cheeses on both the tasting and the à la carte menu. The Four-Star French restaurant and its Five-Star sister restaurant next door, Joël Robuchon, have a similar selection of fine imported cheese from France as well as domestic cheeses from the United States. There’s a good range of sheep’s, goat’s and cow’s milk cheeses at both restaurants, but you’ll have to go to Joël Robuchon for the cart — it’s not available at L’Atelier.
When you order the $95 menu club, there is a cheese course included, as well as a selection available à la carte. There’s usually a specialty cheese with a spread available, too, such as the Abbaye de Belloc sheep’s cheese with black cherry marmalade — the rich, dense, almost caramel-flavored cheese is still made in the traditional manner by monks at the abbey of Notre Dame de Belloc in France. -
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon shares a pastry chef with its Five-Star, adjacent sister restaurant, Joël Robuchon, so you know the quality of the desserts here is top-notch. Both restaurants, located on the ground floor of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, serve up elegant, exquisitely plated confectionary marvels, but you’ll find fewer mignardises at L’Atelier, where the focus is on the chocolate and raspberry dishes.
The à la carte dessert menu is subject to change, but you’re likely to see a good selection of chocolate, fruit and custard desserts. Like the tasting menu and the cocktail list, the dessert ingredients rotate seasonally, so if you get a chance to try a raspberry dessert, we highly recommend it. We love the framboise en surprise, which is a white chocolate sphere filled with raspberries and topped with yuzu ice cream, as well as the chocolate sensation, which has a cool Araguani chocolate base and is topped with vanilla ice cream covered in Oreo cookie crumbs.
For a more unusual dessert, you might want to try something like the green Chartreuse soufflé, made with a green French liqueur and topped with pistachio ice cream. For the less adventurous, there are also some ice creams and sorbets, as well as a selection of traditional French tarts. -
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, a French restaurant in Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, serves up delicious tapas-inspired dishes that are exquisitely plated. With master chef Joël Robuchon, who owns L’Atelier and the adjacent Five-Star French restaurant that also bears his name, you know you’re getting the highest quality ingredients that have been prepared with the utmost care and plated with artistry and precision.
L’Atelier, French for “workshop,” is just that: a restaurant with a centrally located, open kitchen where you can watch the cooks at work. There’s a focus not only on the beauty of the vessels each course is presented in, but also a meticulousness Robuchon is famous for (especially with sauces); you can guarantee every item has been placed on your plate with a purpose. Whether you’re seated at the counter surrounding the kitchen or the tables around the perimeter of the restaurant, you’ll be able to observe as the chefs lay down small garnishes with tweezers or use squeeze bottles to precisely dot each plate — there’s an almost surgeon-like quality to the way each dish is assembled. -
The chef at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon makes it a point to incorporate seasonal ingredients into the restaurant’s French menu. You’ll find a number of delicious fruits, vegetables and fish that change with the seasons, which makes it all the more worthwhile to return to L’Atelier again to see what’s new.
The nine-course $155 seasonal discovery menu will give you the best taste of the chef’s seasonal ingredient selections, with courses such as an avocado- and cilantro-flavored grapefruit gelée, a turbot fillet with baby leeks, buttery shellfish sauce, lime and ginger and dessert such as a blackberry compote with spice cake and rhubarb sorbet.
Whether you eat meat or not, we also think it’s worth trying the nine-course vegetarian menu that’s offered nightly-it’s another good option to experience tons of seasonal ingredients, as well as cut down on calories.
If you order one of the restaurant’s specialty cocktails, you can also expect to see some seasonal fruits being used. We love the traditional Bellini made with champagne and fresh white peach purée, as well as the mojito framboise made with Montecristo rum, raspberry, mint and fresh lime juice. -
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon serves fine French food-and no good French meal would be complete without a wine pairing. The Four-Star restaurant, located on the ground floor of Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, offers a $65 per person wine pairing with the $95 five-course menu club, as well as a $105 wine pairing that complements the $155 nine-course seasonal tasting menu.
Of course, if you’re looking for a great wine to pair with your three-course L’Unique menu or à la carte choices, the sommelier staff is on hand to recommend wines to enhance your meal. L’Atelier has two sommeliers in the restaurant every night, as well as a wine director who hails from British Columbia. His background in fine French and Spanish wines gives the wine list a broad selection of traditional European reds, as well as a smattering of interesting picks from Eastern Europe, South America and the director’s native Canada. There are plenty of bottles for less than $100 a piece, but if you’re looking for that once-in-a-lifetime dinner, there are also prestige wines, including grand crus from Burgundy and first growths from Bordeaux. Some of the priciest selections include a $27,000 bottle of 1927 cheval blanc and a $10,000 bottle of 1982 Château Pétrus from Bordeaux. -
The wine director at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, as well as the adjacent Joël Robuchon, is Harley Carbery, a British Columbia native who previously served as the assistant general manager and sommelier at L’Atelier.
Carbery oversees all sourcing, purchasing, training and tasting at both restaurants, located on the ground floor of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. He is supported by two sommeliers on staff each night at L’Atelier, who are on hand to help you select the perfect wine to complement the small plates you’ve ordered, or to craft a wine pairing for your tasting menu.
Carbery is a certified Spanish wine educator, so you’re sure to see some Spanish wines on the list, in addition to delicious bottles of prestige French reds and whites. When he took over wine direction at the restaurant, he added many bottles of wine that cost less than $100 in a campaign to introduce diners to more fine wines affordable prices at both L’Atelier and Joël Robuchon. Don’t be surprised if you see some vineyards from Carbery’s homeland speckled throughout the list, including Inniskillin, Osoyoos Larose and Mission Hill to name a few.