L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon @ Hotel Michael, RWS Singapore

The L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon or  Joël Robuchon Restaurant by the world's most decorated Michelin star chef,  Joël Robuchon need not to introduce. He was titled "Chef of the Century" by the guide Gault Millau and awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (France's Best Craftsman).

I feel really lucky to have chance to dine at one of his restaurant without fly over to other countries that need pay an amount for the flight ticket. It is now so convenience, it is so near, right at the Sentosa Island, Singapore.

The degustation menu at the Joël Robuchon is unusual pricey, SGD$565++, absolutely not a price that easy to afford by me. So, safest way is chooses the degustation menu at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon which is more likely to suit for my budget for this first trip.

I was received their call when I having my meal at Iggy's, and honestly I have to minus the marks of the first impression for the mistake they have done for. I made the reservation online as usual, for 1pax of course but then they said the reservation for 2pax. I have to double confirm with that and soon they find out there are two reservation under the name of Mr. Wong. A mistake that really need to get rid of, how can they call the right contact no. but wrong person?

But I would said, this is the only mistake that they had made and the whole dining experience is totally fabulous.

Main Entrance at Hotel Michael, Level 1

Table Seating and Bar counter seating

I just simply like to arrive early earliest because no one will disturb me from taking a clear photo of the interior or anything else and I also like to have my meal early then I can go back earlier to have a "Good Night".

Open-Kitchen Concept

“This concept has convinced me that its informality and conviviality, where you can have just one dish or a whole dinner, is the way people want to eat today. In addition, you have the theatrical aspect, of being able to watch the food prepared.”   - Joël Robuchon on L’Atelier

This is the first time I have my fine dining meal at a bar counter seating, it is so unique experience for me.

Selection of wines

Create your own menu

It is only available from Monday to Wednesday.

Marc Vasseur

Sous-Chef de Cuisine

While I was taking some photos, it is unexpectedly that Chef Marc Vasseur welcomes and bring me into the kitchen to take more photos and have a closer look at it. It is really open-concept, isn't it?

Iberico de Bellota

Spotted this, the lovely Iberico =]

L'AMUSE-BOUCHE

Foie gras custard with red Porto wine and parmesan foam

The tiny portion of this delicate custard enough to tell me that I come to the right restaurant, making the right decision. The taste buds is bloom, ready to indulge for more.

Bread basket by Yoshihiko Tauchi

I was regret that I had totally forgot to taste at least one of the bread after the meal. I don't have take any bread at the beginning because my stomach is so small but well, I sure have the other chance when the time is come by someday, soon. The breads are so tempting, even just looks at it.

LE CAVIAR OSCIETRE

Ossetra caviar over capellini dressed with fresh tomatoes

The nicely presented capellini topped with the luxury Ossetra caviar, served with the juicy fresh tomatoes is simply yummy, refreshing and the caviar explode in the mouth and dance.

LE CRABE ROYAL

King crab on a daikon wrapping cannelloni style

The swee king crab meat wrapped with the daiko which is lightly crunchiness for the texture and dressed with the thick flavoured sauce, perhaps crab or lobster bisque, more likely similar to the taste of that.

L'OURSIN

Sea urchin on a shellfish custard with creamy corn foam

An innovative and similar dish to the Japanese's chawanmushi, velvety smooth, topped with creamy corn foam, golden crouton, raw sea urchin and some herbs/spices. Every single scoop paired with different component bring up different taste.

LE FOIE GRAS

Pan seared foie gras with apricots, rosemary and dates

Classic dish, the foie gras. I didn't expected that the foie gras come in such large portion, well at least it fits the foie gras course, that largest portion of foie gras I ever had. It is perfectly seared and seasoned, the savory foie gras serves with the sweet apricots and dates. You won't go wrong with this superb combo, it is divine.

LA SOLE

Dover sole cooked on the bone, basil broth and artichokes

Having any fish course in a fine dining restaurant(casual fine dining), I always prefer my fish to be boneless. The dover sole is firm and...perhaps a texture of bouncy, "QQ"? Very interesting to find out the Y-shaped bones when de-done it. Beautiful dish but just less impressive in the way of flavours.

LA CAILLE

Foie gras filled free-range quail with mashed potatoes

The signature main course. The quail come in a rather small portion but tender and delicate with the caramelized skin and the foie gras rather difficult to be seen. Only I discover another signature and famous dish by now, the hand-whipped mash potatoes. The mash potatoes is heavenly delicious, creamy and smooth. One is never enough.

Imported Red Potatoes from France

Source from Joel Robuchon - page officielle-

Tomonori Danzaki

Executive Chef

Before move on to the pre-dessert, I feel so lucky to see him come to here. The executive chef, Tomonori Danzaki is overseeing both Joël Robuchon restaurant and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. It is so pleased to have chance to take a photo with him, just like others have the autographed from their favourite artists. The moment I made up my mind to try my luck at the casino after my meal(which not include in my itinerary) and ended up with some extra income :p

L'EXOTIQUE

Exotic flavours of the island and coconut ice cream

A palate cleanser, refreshing dessert, smooth coconut ice cream but nothing so outstanding.

LE SENSATION

Creamy araguani chocolate with cacao sorbet and orea cookie

The orea cookie coated cacao sorbet neatly sat on the creamy araguani chocolate and covered with the ring-shaped chocolate disc. It is enjoyable and to end the meal.

Dessert Menu

Not so soon to end the meal, there is another dessert that I actually want to try but not include in the degustation menu.

LA SPHERE

The sphere coated with ivory chocolate and tangy raspberries

Whoala! The beautiful and brilliant dessert. The hot raspberry coulis is pour onto the sphere, and soon the ivory chocolate sphere melt to reveal the raspberry sorbet within. It is a sweet and tangy and absolutely my favourite of dish!

Victor Cher

Victor Cher served me at the bar counter seating the whole night. He reminded me one of my friend, Andy who is so similar in personalities.

Didn't have a closer look but what I believe it is Louis XIII cognac collection.

Verdict: There are a group of customers who come from the TimeOut KL and one of them has an unofficial interview with me and the other couple of diners. One question asked why I decide to try the degustation menu for a price of roughly RM765 which is consider very expensive for the Malaysian, I just said that I never has the "conversation of currency" in my mind during travel. If looks at the fine dining at Malaysia, isn't it roughly the same price of RM260++ and you can see the difference of the ingredients' grade. The degustation menu worth for the price. Except the only mistake that the receptionist made, the dining ambiance, the service, and the foods are impeccable and perfect. I have the confident to try the degustation menu at Joël Robuchon restaurant...erm, next year.

Iggy's @ The Hilton Hotel, Singapore

 

Iggy's

Iggy's, a restaurant that needless to introduce. The restaurateur, Ignatius Chan is also award-winning Sommelier but not really what I "care" for because I'm rarely take any wine when dining at outside unless the set menu inclusive of wine pairing.

Miele Guide No.1 2011/2012

For being on top of the list of Miele Guide and ranked as World Best Restaurant(28th), I think most people really having high expectation for their first visit to Iggy's, I'm not exceptional. I have research and read so many food reviews about Iggy's for a year, it is 50/50, some said amazing good whilst some said terrible bad. I still decide to pay a visit but in a safety way-lunch.

 

The Hallway

I arrived at Iggy's just a bit earlier right before it is opens for lunch. The door is closed. The welcome service is really unprofessional. Is that really necessary insists to open the door sharp at noon and can welcome and lead the customer to the bar to have a seat while waiting?

 

Interior, Dining Area

Dim lights and intimate.

Set Lunch Menu

For safety, opt to go for lunch and also I don't have time for dinner, my dining schedule is fulled.

Amuse Bouche

A kick start with the refreshing and flavorful amuse bouche. The amuse bouche consist of fresh cut tomato, essence, puree and foam. It is very simple but yet cold, sweet and delicate.

Foie Gras

Fig, Hazelnut, Creme de cassis

For the first course, it is absolutely looks so beautiful and artful. It seem very common to see the combination of foie gras with the seasonal sweet fruits, such as fig, apple, apricot and etc but then will find that actually this combi is the safest way to enjoy the foie gras. It is taste good, satisfy without any complaint.

Sea Bream

Cauliflower, White Onion, White Chocolate

The upcoming dish is the sea bream, a very versatile fish that can use for bake, grill, steam or even fried. It is not my favourite of fish but since it is a seafood, I'll give it a try, I'm a seafood lover anyway. Texture is the highlight of this whole dish, the sea bream and the white chocolate cauliflower puree both are very creamy. The puree is moderately sweet so that it won't overwhelm the taste of the sea bream. Somehow, I think the taste can't catch up the texture. It needs a balance point.

Wagyu Flank

Haricot Vert, Onion, Madeira

The wagyu itself is great but the green beans are too salty, I have to serve it with the wagyu together to "reduce" its saltiness level.

Laguiole Knife

Fortunately, the Laguiole knife just letting me feel a bit better when carving with it, it is nice and comfort to hold instead.

Peach

Yoghurt, Elderflower, Spanish Onion

Most probably the best dish of the set lunch. Refreshing, light and sweet ending for the meal

The Iggy's is similar with the Cilantro KL, the restaurants' designs are about the same concept. The foods are actually good, but not outstanding. No complaint with the service except the welcome service that I have mentioned above. $85 for a such set lunch, it is quite valuable but really need to think twice if I will return for the gastronomic set dinner which is pricey, many said that it not worthy, really?

Fui Cooks At Home VI: "Bloody" "Scary"? Sparkling Wine Cheesecake

Been a long time lazy to update this blog~

Reactive with the newest creation, a wine flavor cheesecake. Thanks to Yue's recipe. I have messed up at the part of jelly decor and God bless that gave me a chance to try out this new "decoration skill" with my itchy hands.

Fine Dining Dishes by Fui

I had promised a friend to bake a cake for her when she comes to join us this Chinese New Year's gathering but unfortunately she can't make it due to personal reason. This cake is also use for my friend and my birthday celebration. So it is multi-purpose :p

Sablee Pastry

When you get some "Ohm", you'll feel like everything need to be good to show your passion and sincerity. Therefore, I have a self-bake pastry for the cake crust instead of using any digestive biscuit. This biscuit actually is easy to make and it is smell good and delicious!

Cream Cheese Mixture with Macerated White Grapes

I'm actually a bit worrying every time trying out the new recipe, especially cheesecake, worry the cheesecake will not set.

For choosing the white wine, I do use Brown Brothers Orange Muscat & Flora 2010 dessert wine to add more citrus flavor in it. Other sweet white wines will do so, such as moscato or sparkling.

I do use seedless grapes and spend over half an hour to totally remove all the tiny seeds, to make it 100% seedless.

I was messed up with the part of jelly decor, forgot to add the water caused the first layer of jelly so thin. Soon the "naughty" idea pop up in the mind, make the 2nd layer with adding the luster dust. Luster dust is mostly use to paint the fondant cake but I just want to try out mixing them into a jelly :D


Bravo, I can't believe it can be such beautiful and I feel so proud with my "new creation", surely you can't find such a decor cake outside there.


Dessert

Sparkling Golden Fortune Wine Cheesecake

Dessert Wine and Grapes Cheesecake

The center look carefully is not red grapes but painted with red amber jelly :p The surrounding golden sparkling jelly look so gorgeous :D Bring Fortune!

Celebrate birthday with my friends and glad they like it :D


Recipe(8" round):
Sablee Pastry
100g Unsalted Butter, Soften
50g Pure Icing Sugar, Sifted
1/2 Egg Yolk
125g Plain(All Purpose) Flour, Sifted
Pinch of Salt

50g Unsalted Butter, Melted

In the bowl of a mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and icing sugar until pale.
Turn the mixer to the lowest speed, add the egg yolk and mix.
Add the flour and salt and mix just until the dough comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and shape it into a disc.
Cover with the plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill thoroughly before rolling.

Roll out the sablee pastry to 5mm thick and place on a baking tray. Bake at 180°C until golden brown. Allow to cool, then break into pieces and blitz in a food processor to form fine crumbs.
Mix 160g crumbs with butter and press into the cake mold, refrigerate to set.

Grapes in White Wine
300 ml white wine
200 g green grapes, chopped

Combine all ingredients & leave to stand overnight.
Drain to remove grapes & reserve the wine for the filling & topping.

Cheesecake Filling
250 g cream cheese
100 g sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
240 ml whipping cream
10 g  gelatine powder
120 ml white wine, from grapes in white wine
grapes in white wine

In a small saucepan, pour in white wine and sprinkle gelatin powder on top, leave it for 10 minutes. Dissolve gelatine in white wine over low heat.
Beat cream cheese, sugar & lemon juice until smooth, then fold in gelatine mixture.
Whisk whipping cream to soft peaks, then gently fold into the cheese mixture.
Fold in the chopped grapes.
Pour into the prepared pan/cake mold & refrigerate to set.

Decoration
135 ml white wine, from grapes in white wine
15 g sugar
50 g water
6 g sheet gelatine
Grapes
Luster Dust

In a small saucepan, combine wine, sugar, water & gelatine, leave it for 10 minutes. Heat the saucepan over low heat until gelatine is dissolved, cool slightly.
Add in small amount of luster dust, mix well.
Decorate the cheesecake with grapes.
Pour over the cheesecake & refrigerate to set.




Happy Chinese New Year to everyone. Have a fortune year and healthy be always!