

Our "relationship" with Joel Robuchon (the restaurant) spans many years. We first visited the Mansion Joel Robuchon (3 Michelin stars) in Las Vegas literally a decade ago in 2010. That was our first time being introduced to the famous bread cart, mignardises cart, the copious displays of caviar, and his signature velvety mashed potatoes.
We celebrated our anniversary there a year later, splurging for the menu degustation, which blew us away. We totally understood why this was the only 3-Michelin star restaurant in Vegas.
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas
The following few years, we went next door to try 1-Michelin starred L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon (twice!). My impression of L'Atelier at the time was that it was "the more casual side of Joel Robuchon. The food is still made with the same precision and love. However, instead of opulent carts filled with every bread choice imaginable and waiters dressed in tuxedos to attend to your every need, you sit at a very trendy bar overlooking an open kitchen."
And then after 2014 . . . we stopped going.
Chef Joel Robuchon, the world's most decorated Michelin star holder (32 stars) passed away in 2018.
Revisiting Joel Robuchon Hong Kong in 2020

In 2020 we finally re-visited Joel Robuchon for Bryan's birthday. This time it was L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Hong Kong. It had been years since we had been to any Joel Robuchon restaurant, so we were especially curious to see how it compared to the ones we had visited in the US.
Interestingly, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Hong Kong has three Michelin stars, a far distance from the US one, which has one Michelin star. We later learned that Joel Robuchon specifically made it a priority to elevate the Hong Kong location to 3 Michelin stars, tapping Chef Olivier Elzer to push it beyond what any other L'Atelier had achieved worldwide. Hong Kong was the first L'Atelier to achieve three Michelin stars in 2012, which it has maintained to this day.
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