The World’s Most Awarded Chef Joël Robuchon takes us into his restaurant to talk Gordon Ramsay as target practice, healthy juices for your prostate, and more important things than food.
There are so few experiences that can legitimately be deemed “once in a lifetime”… There’s the obvious, losing your virginity…or if the Browns ever make it to a Super Bowl…And for a single working girl on a budget like me, the invitation to dine at the Michelin 3-Star, 5-Diamond-awarded Joël Robuchon restaurant in Las Vegas was one of them.
I did not have a date for the evening and that actually bothered me for a couple weeks leading up to my dinner. I kept thinking this was an incredible invitation and I should be sharing it with that…guy, but such fantasies did not work out. Now how was I to make this memorable?
Well, you can think the experience won’t be as great as you imagined, but you can resolve to make it a good one. And fortunately for me, a beautiful blonde close friend like Denise made my perfect dinner companion. We walked into the gorgeous space, greeted by a large shimmering chandelier, surrounded by sleek tables draped in white with royal purple sofa seating. To be honest, we felt intimidated. We were escorted to our table, which was tucked away near a peaceful garden that felt like an oasis from the usual glitz of a Las Vegas fine dining establishment.
I was ten shades of awkward, while Denise and I fumbled through deciphering the French menu. A glass of water slipped through my hands and crashed onto the pretty white plate in front of me, making one of those everyone-turn-around-and-stare type sounds.
However, we only needed to take a deep breath and realize in Joël Robuchon, we’re getting 5-Diamond treatment, so f***ing relax and enjoy the pampering. Our host for the evening Bernard Claeys, along with his superb staff, put our jumbled nerves at ease. We didn’t need to fully understand the menu, but just told Bernard our likes and dislikes, which he listened to carefully and ordered us sumptuous dishes of sea bass, lobster ravioli, and potatoes so whipped, you’d think they were Nick Cannon on a plate of Mariah Carey.
A couple days later, I was given the opportunity to interview the most decorated chef in the world Joël Robuchon. He only speaks French, so I wondered how smooth this would go. The esteemed Robuchon was not stuffy, as expected, but actually really casual and cool. His interpreter Sebastian Dumonet helped dissolve any possible communication barrier.
In addition to asking standard questions like the first meal you ever made, (which, for Chef Robuchon, was “eggs” while left home alone for the first time at the age of 8 or 9) we wanted to ask more CraveOnline hard hitting journalistic questions.
Like, did his apprentice Gordon Ramsay always have a foul mouth — and “what’s your favorite junk food?”
In our video interview below, he tells us about Ramsay walking out on the job after Robuchon threw a plate at him — and he admits that a Coca Cola hits the spot now and again.
When I asked Chef Robuchon what every man should learn to cook, he gave the usual answer — eggs…but then offered up some very important advice to men on how to keep their prostate healthy by drinking pomegranate and carrot juices. Thank you, Mr. Robuchon. Stay tuned and you’ll learn celery can get you lucky.
What I found most profound is when I asked Chef Robuchon to talk about the best meal he ever had. But rather than talk about culinary masterpieces, he expressed that ”[it] greatly depends on the people that you are with and the moment and the situation that is currently happening.” He shared a story of eating and drinking wine at 10 a.m. in a Swiss restaurant with close friends, and the long lasting memory cultivated from that experience, lending itself to being one of his best meals.
Finally, I asked him to define success. Chef Robuchon explained that success isn’t getting people to dine at his restaurants. Success is when the people return, because of the rich memory of their experience. And that idea left me even more filled up than the eight-course dinner.
I thought dining at Joël Robuchon was an experience that could only be “once in a lifetime” and I was initially bummed because I didn’t get to share it with a lover, but what I learned was that a Joël Robuchon dining experience is not only for the perfect date or the cookie-cutter romantic special occasion. What derives from being there is what is special. This is a restaurant for that just-because random night out. What I’m saying fellas, is don’t save this place for the birthday or that big event of getting down on your knee.
And I’m pretty sure if you do bring your lady here, she’ll be the one down on hers…I mean kneeling, in gratitude. Keep it classy.
*Joël Robuchon and L’Atelier De Joël Robuchon are inside the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
(Photo Credit: VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)
