UNDER THE TOQUE
Robuchon trades in Parisian Mecca for more relaxed dining
BY PAMELA PARSEGHIAN
hef Joël Robuchon “retired” a
decade ago, but he keeps opening restaurants. Since closing
his top-rated Paris restaurant
Jamin, he has opened more casual, but still upscale, L’Atelier
restaurants in eight locations
around the globe.
He is in the process of opening a L’Atelier
in Taipei, Taiwan, and discussing expanding his U.S. operations beyond New York
and Las Vegas with possible outlets in
Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles. In his new
role running a mini chain he is happier than
ever, he says, and learning more than during
four decades of running a single kitchen.
In between openings he wrote a cookbook,
“The Complete Robuchon: French Home
Cooking For The Way We Live Now,” which
was recently translated into English from
French. The original version, with more than
800 recipes, was a best seller in France.
When are you really going to retire?
Now, I am retired. I only do what I like, and
if I don’t like something, I
don’t do it.
I am very happy now. I
am not on my own. I have
good partners. We are six
altogether. It is easier to
think with five others,
rather than on your own.
What is it that you
don’t like to do?
Interview with journalists.
It is a very heavy job for
me. I refuse all interviews
on TV.
Chef Joël Robuchon has
spent his retirement
opening new restaurants
and writing a best-selling
cookbook that is newly
translated into English.
ing just a can of coconut cream in an
ice cream maker, but I don’t see that
recipe here. Did I remember that right,
and why was it left out?
Yes. That was the recipe. We have a similar
easy recipe for an ice cream made with
frozen berries in a food processor without an
ice cream maker.
BIOGRAPHY
Job: consultant and partner in
L’Atelier outlets in Hong Kong, Las
Vegas, London, Macao, Monaco,
New York, Paris and Tokyo
Birthplace: Poitiers, France
Education: helped cook as a child
at Le Petit Seminaire, near
Poitiers, and apprenticed begin-
ning at age 15
Career highlights: receiving three
Michelin stars at Jamin restaurant
in Paris the first time in 1984, be-
ing dubbed “Chef of the Century”
in 1989 by Gault Millau
Don’t you use equal amounts of butter
to potatoes for your mashed potato at
your restaurants?
It is usually 1 kilogram of potato to 250
grams butter.
Why are there no pictures in the cook-
book?
So they do not intimidate people.
SIPA PHOTOS
Why do you avoid being
interviewed on TV?
Because I’m retired.
traveling and seeing
different cultures.
How so?
The whisk and egg whites signifies working
in the kitchen.
Where is your next restaurant open-
ing?
I am planning on opening one this year. We
are proceeding with a plan for around mid-May or June in Taipei, Taiwan.
Do you expect to open more restau-
rants in the U.S.?
We have a lot of plans, but we are on
standby for Miami, Chicago and L.A. for the
moment. Because the expansion in the last
year was very fast, we have to digest that.
And of course it may not be the best time
economy-wise to open.
Why did you write a cookbook at this
point in your career and why was it
translated into English?
Today I think this works. Many people were
asking me to make a book that is understandable for customers and friends.
In the beginning it was for the French
public, but when people came to France
they asked for it in English, and it will be
published in Japanese and other languages
too, because people are asking for it.
Who is the book written for: home
cooks, aspiring chefs, established chefs
or everyone?
Not for the professional. The book was made
for a wide public. But it can always be used by
professionals. The recipes are easily reproducible with simple applications. I tried my
best to make it understandable for everyone.
Is there something you care to talk
about that I didn’t ask?
I am very pleased with the success of L’Atelier around the world because I feel the concept fits clients’ expectations. They do not
want to go to church for a meal. They want
it all over the world. We have been asked to
open a lot of L’Ateliers.
What’s nice is when people come by and
say, “You make me feel like I am at your
home.” It is not like at other restaurants. People feel like they are coming to my home. ■
pparsegh@nrn.com
CHEF’S TIPS
What is life like being a consultant?
I am very relaxed. Before I was under pressure morning to night. Now I take it easy,
and I have been learning more in the last
10 years than the 40 years at the stove by
Would you discuss the cover design of
the English version of your book? Does
the black and white have some kind of
significance?
I didn’t design it. The editor gave me a few
choices. I picked this one because it was not
complicated. It was simple, and the symbol of
the whisk and egg whites were significant.
Are the recipes examples of how you
cook at home?
It certainly is the spirit of how I would cook
at home, but I am not often at home to cook.
It is a medley of recipes I like at home
and in the restaurant.
In the mid-1980s when I did a stage
with you at Jamin in Paris, I remember
a coconut ice cream you made by freez-
• For mashed potatoes use a food mill or
potato ricer and then dry the potatoes in a
sauce pan, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. After adding butter and milk, finish mixing with a whisk for a lighter texture.
• For roasting poultry start the bird in a
cool oven. The gradual rise in temperature will leave the bird more tender.
