Best Dining In Las Vegas 2006 - Joël Robuchon !

I watch all the Chefs out there very carefully. Once or twice a year I mention the top three, sometimes the top ten Chefs either in one country and at other times world wide. Cooking at the top level is a young men's game. Once they made it to the top, these guys usually do not last too long after that. When they step back from the stove and become celebrities, entertainers, business men and publicists, I usually consider them retired and do no longer rate or recommend their cooking. However, Frenchman and Gourmet Brother Joël Robuchon is my exception, a Chef who has remained a pick in retirement. His first restaurant, Jamin, set a Michelin record by earning its third star two years after it debuted in Paris in 1981. When Robuchon closed Jamin in 1993 and opened Joël Robuchon in Paris in 1994, the stars followed. Two years later, he announced his retirement at the age of 51. He wrote cookbooks, appeared on French television, and performed consulting work. But Robuchon was unable to stay away from the stove. In 2003, he reentered the restaurant business with L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Paris, a casual establishment that opened franchises in Tokyo in 2003 and in Las Vegas in 2005 and now at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan and more are planned for other cities worldwide.
The Las Vegas L'’Atelier is located in the MGM Grand hotel and casino and is twined with the formal Joël Robuchon at the Mansion. The openings of the Las Vegas establishments was the Chef'’s foray into America. L'Atelier is distinguished by its open kitchen surrounded by chairs from which you can watch the preparation of a course before it is placed before you. Make sure you sample Robuchon'’s world renowned potato puree. This L'’Atelier variant of comfort food also contains truffles and accompanies a free-range quail stuffed with foie gras. A dish fitting for Las Vegas.
The Mansion's interior will take your right to the Champs-Elysees. The Mansion'’s a la carte menu features another of Robuchon'’s greatest hits; a version of his caviar and cauliflower cream dish. The restaurant offers a 16-course tasting menu that permits Robuchon to show his incredible range with delicacies such as sea urchin flan flavored with fennel and a frog leg fritter with chanterelles mushrooms.
Robuchon may be retired, but with these two Las Vegas establishments, he demonstrates that restaurants bearing his name still are on top of the culinrary world. When in Vegas, go eat there. You wont find Joël at the stove, but so aren't any of the other guys whom opened namesakes in Vegas. This one is my pick for the Best of 2006 in Las Vegas!