Once things were ordered, the espuma amuse bouche arrived with bread and butter offerings to keep busy whilst waiting for the first, selected course of l’oeuf – egg “en cocotte” with cream corn and iberico ham which was wonderfully light and rich at the same time from the perfectly confit egg.  This was the upgraded version however with white truffle shavings which, although small in quantity was actually pitched perfectly as the aroma was one of the strongest I have ever experienced and I didn’t even have to lean forward much at all to be hit in the face with the power of the truffle.  I recall having to put my nose right up against a truffle in a three Michelin starred restaurant in London and still struggling to gain any form of distinct truffle smell.

I couldn’t resist the signature le foie gras dish which is seared Duck Liver, with a quince gel, shaved stick of apple and almond crumbs on top.  I have had seared foie gras with an almond foam as one of the best I have ever had elsewhere and this was a lovely reminder of that and there is no doubt how sumptuous this dish is – the quince giving just enough acidity to balance the inherent fat, along with the apple and almond crumb for texture.  The mash on the side needs no further introduction and I genuinely wanted to have another bowl, but I am also trying to regulate my intake these days – wish me luck!

I was sat next to some charming US guests who kindly let me take some snaps of their dishes as they were just so pretty.  The mini burgers with foie gras are just superb, which I have had several times in London’s former L’Atelier location and it was also lovely to see the six choices of mini ice creams (€19 for the six) which again, the guests to my left seem to enjoy very much when having a very pleasant chat with them.  That is also one of the lovely things that can happen when counter dining – I wasn’t expecting to chat with others or wishing to invade anyone’s discussion, but was a lovely bonus to happen naturally at the bar which, I was all too happy with.

I was also very happy with my signature chocolate dessert entitled le chcolat tentation made with smooth araguani chocolate, cocoa nibs and oréo biscuit.  This was as smooth as they come and thankfully not in a huge portion size to tempt overeating.  Coffee was served but sadly I had been excluded the petit fours for some reason, which I had to effectively ask permission for and that combined with a couple of poor service episodes meant that the only negative of this meal was not being made to feel truly welcome by the staff – a first for me being a fan of Joel Robuchons, having been to their 3 Michelin starred branches in Hong Kong, Macau and Las Vegas as well as other Ateliers.  For clarity, specifics of the poor service included being told at the beginning of the meal that the waiter’s English was not so good, so he ignored the water request instead of trying to find help and interactions of one staff member who seemed utterly frustrated at having to take orders when busy.  C’est la vie.

Nevermind, as usual it does not detract the food grade being where I think it deserves to be and these were wonderfully enjoyable dishes; the only lesson from this visit to this Atelier is possibly avoid when very busy and make sure that you can either speak French, spend a lot of money or be very well known to the staff – if you have any of those, I doubt you will have any staffing issues at all.  In summary, wonderful and seductive dishes via a winning formula and was superb to be open on a Sunday on a lucky extra day in Paris.

Food Grade: 83%

The Simmental beef tartare made with French Cognac, tobasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, sweet pepper powder, butter shavings and Quail egg came together very well, albeit very rich.  Lighter and more successful for the whole table was the octopus ‘carpaccio’ (akin to ceviche) made with a freshly caught Adriatic octopus that morning was served with capers, cherry tomatoes, sea fennel, tomato concasse, lime and extra virgin olive oil emulsion, black olive ash and dry tomato powder.  This was a superb dish to share with extremely good flavour combinations and a superb dressing to glaze over the very fresh and succulent octopus.

I opted for the scampi Buzzara for my main.  Not only because I love anything scampi (langoustine tail) related, but I am also a fan of linguine which this was served with.  Adriatic scampi was prepared and de-shelled at the table by two chefs (one doing my scampi, the other chef preparing the traditional Gragada on the other side of the table).  My linguine was black with squid ink and served with extra virgin olive oil, parsley and garlic.  I had high hopes for this dish which was pleasant, but the pasta was more like tagliatelle rather than the thinner linguine I was hoping for, the scampi itself was quite flakey, showing its age since caught, but overall it was pleasing as a dish, served with a very reasonable, light and fruity bottle of Croatian Galić Rosé, using Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir grapes.

It was also very good that the restaurant was able to accommodate a bowl of children’s pasta for the youngest diner and showed the family-orientated feel of the restaurant.  For dessert the whole table shared the Kolac dana, a form of Croatian cheesecake made with Pistachio which made everyone wish they had actually ordered one each as it was that good and portion-sized.  The staff were also very kind to brig out another honey-grappa for everyone at the end of the meal as a digestif as a lovely touch and Major Foodie had absolutely no problem assisting those that did not want their bonus shot after lunch.  A lovely lunch to have for the gorgeous situation and occasion it was.

Food Grade: 71%

Following a road trip tour of France through Burgundy, Macon and Lyon, I decided to stay somewhere nice on the way back to the UK as the final stopover, prior to a morning drive to Calais.  A scan of various sources led me to the Relais & Châteaux L’Assiette Champenoise hotel just in Reims.  Whilst it was clear at time of booking that there was no availability in the restaurant (perfectly understandable), a la carte dishes from the main restaurant menu are actually offered for in-room dining to my amazement.  Menus at the restaurant itself start at a very reasonable €155 for lunch on certain days to set menus of €285 and €385 at the fuller end with a la carte dishes being around the same price as a base entry set-lunch menu in full.  For those wishing to gain the best value of the restaurant, it’s clear which one you can opt for if available on chosen day of visit.

On settling in to the room, we were offered to have the electric car put on charge for €25 whether it was on all night or for 5 minutes which is a bit of a strange policy and very much a relative let down when many five star and Relais & Châteaux hotels provide EV charging included for the general premium one is paying to visit, such as Lucknam Park which I have just enjoyed doing so, from my stay there this summer.  A bit of a geeky, techno side bit: I’ve been driving electric cars for 5 years now and the rate is like any, the more Kwh you pull, the greater the charge obviously, so firstly makes no financial sense to put on for an hour or two at this rate of €25, but that rate also resembles an unnecessarily high premium charge for the reasons I can break down: an electric car with a 75 kW battery (like mine) pulling charge at an average of €0.1 per kWh overnight (which is very likely and sometimes cheaper), the actual cost is therefore around 75x 0.1 = €7.50 and that’s 0-100%.  No-one in their right mind will have 0% battery on arrival (unless they want the 8 year warranty for an EV battery voided) and are unlikely to charge to 100% for battery conservation so let’s say 10-90% as the average high demand; therefore, 80% of €7.50 = an actual cost of around €6 to the hotel that charges €25 for even 5 minutes of charge and is basically 500% mark up at the average minimum charge.  I politely declined the offer resulting in our baggage handler to immediately turn around in what appeared to be disapproval at my decision – strange, but ok…

One very nice touch from the hotel was that even though we were not able to gain a table, the canapés for the restaurant were afforded to us whilst enjoying champagne in the garden. These included a tartlet of Comte cheese and nut vinegar, a falafel with lemon gel, a bite of petit tuna, feta cheese in a red pepper shell and foie gras on cereal crackers.  These were enjoyable and intricately made, although I was surprised at the lack of foie gras and tuna flavours presented and generally speaking, these seemed to represent those within the 1 Michelin starred field, certainly not in the same sphere as that experienced at La Vie, Germany (now closed), Alinea, Chicago, Zen, Singapore and Geranium, Copengahen as quick examples.

The main surprise however was that the canapés were served by a waiter who seem to regard questions about the ingredients as annoying and clearly did not wish to engage any longer than necessary and was almost Basil Fawlty-like in having to engage at the ask – not the best of starting impressions, but perhaps they were extremely busy and we were a late arrival, so I’ll reluctantly let that slide I thought.   

We took advantage of the rare dining offer from the hotel  and as mentioned, these are in the region of €150 each so I elected for the one turbot dish and a host of other normal, room service dishes, both menus of which are attached for you to see the difference.  There was only one dining chair in the room (from the one desk), so when the trolley arrived, we asked what the hotel’s arrangement for the other chair was, to which the waiter shrugged shoulders and moved speedily back to the door.  Evidently he didn’t have the highest motivation to help an actual solution and I’m not sure I’ve seen a waiter ‘take cover’ so quickly from a simple question and virtually sprint away.

“Have I done anything?” I was beginning to ask myself on this third, bizarre exchange with hotel staff.  An observation: based on this offer of serving restaurant dishes in the hotel, one would have thought they have done this once or twice before and a seat is a fairly important component of the meal, particularly when an event like this.  So this was now actually a bit of a blow to the experience when about to enjoy a €145 turbot dish from a new, 3 Michelin starred restaurant from a sofa seat that placed the height of the table roughly at the guest’s nose when sat down.

Once both of us were able to reach the table, the room service dishes themselves were generally pleasing: very good smoked salmon in ‘thin’, cuboid-like slices with lemon and a wonderful herbed cream (€28); foie gras fermier, preserved in glass jar was good value (€28), but a little lacking in foie gras depth again; a beef tartare (€29) that was quite finely diced, almost mashed in texture but with very good balance of seasoning with sour dough toast and an array of mini desserts which, again were very pleasant and consisted of vanilla cream, chocolate mousse, caramel cream and tiramisu (€21).  These actually represented very good value for the calibre of room service dishes these were. What was a slight puzzle was to see Heinz tomato ketchup and mayonnaise in little jars provided as well and I was wondering what they would go with best – the salmon, the foie gras, the beef tartare (which had no chips) or the dessert…?  Not only are these surprisingly low-end variants as condiments, they were obviously never going to be compatible or of use for our chosen dishes so the main point, whilst not a huge issue, only served to show a strange lack of judgment or lack of thought in general for such a venue to include.  

What was a huge issue was that when my a la carte choice of the turbot dish (from a medium- reasonably weighted turbot of 6kg) was brought in, the waiter removed the cloche and started to walk away when I had not finished my other dishes and refused to leave it.  I politely asked again as I still had my other dishes including hot toast to enjoy and removing the cloche made no sense as my main would go cold (obviously).  As there was a language barrier, I called down to the reception on the phone to help quickly translate this crucial point to the waiter so there was no confusion, but the answer gained from the reception was that the waiter was not allowed to leave the cloche in the room and the receptionist could not answer why.  Whaat?! Sure as anything, even when I had finished off my other starter as quickly as possible, the turbot had gone cold which ruined the pleasure of the dish which was my only one from the a la carte – a bit of a kick in the groin when this dish is priced at €145 (not exactly a cheap price for one dish of turbot).  It wasn’t in my actual plans to steel the silver cloche if that was in the equation for the policy and I just couldn’t understand why they couldn’t leave that and collect with the rest of the trolley when all done.  In terms of the dish itself, the turbot from Brittany was good quality as one might hope with a wonderful vin jaune frothy sauce (creamed sauce made with dessert wine) and sweet, preserved onion.  However, it was sadly a total disaster based on being at best luke warm, but basically nearly cold at time of eating. 

As this and the other factors above had now combined to destroy my happiness at the dining experience, I did actually decide to give some immediate feedback to the manager after my meal who, in fairness did a very good job of listening and engaging with my points.  This was with the exception of one of the staff blatantly wanting to stand outside and eavesdrop leading me to close the door fully for privacy (which I had requested to not make a scene).

In order to bury the hatchet and allow staff to turn the room over, I headed to the bar with my guest to have final digestives and seemed to be well looked after by the barman which was actually a very welcome change, but sadly short-lived in that on leaving, the staff member that was trying to eavesdrop earlier to my feedback asked out loud if I had enjoyed my evening (knowing that I had not) in what I can only describe as a bizarrely provocative send off.  This was actually the final straw and by this stage, with all instances combined, I was actually internally furious and in active disbelief at all episodes and the general calibre of the majority of the staff.  So much so, that I question just how much training these members have actually received or how much care has gone in to the design, delivery and quality assurance of their actual training (something I am also very familiar with, from over 20 years’ worth of experience of managing and delivering training in numerous fields, separately to reviewing food).

All in, the pre-dinner canapés, in room dining dishes and digestives in the bar came to €567 for the two of us, which, interestingly was actually nearly twice the cost of the stay for the night for two (€295).  In summary, the food ranged from pleasant and elegant, to fair, to under seasoned and unmemorable and from very reasonable and harmless to overpriced and hugely unenjoyable.  As usual, my food grade has nothing to do with the factors of service, cost and decor etc, these are simply things I am obliged to mention, particularly when they are either very good or very bad.  To be clear, the food grade is taken from the canapés and one a la carte dish as will obviously be unfair of me to grade the food of this 3 star restaurant with the in-room dining even if from the same kitchen as they are completely different menus.  So in fairness to the restaurant, the hope is that the level of dishes are a notch up from that which I had a glimpse of and further dishes would give a fuller picture naturally.

Overall, in terms of a hotel stay and experience, the service and all instances outlined above, left a (strong) impression of staff that ranged from glimmers of warmth and good hospitality to general indifference to non-caring and then in some cases cheeky service and very poor hospitality I was not anticipating at this 5* hotel / Relais & Chateaux hotel, working in conjunction with a 3 Michelin starred restaurant. Perhaps, neither would the actual manager and owner of this Maison either, but one can only hope.

To finish the experience for this special holiday occasion, we checked out the next morning after a €8, half-size cup of coffee from a Nespresso pod, to receive the bill for everything had in full, with no smiles or genuine asks of whether we had enjoyed the stay, to then finally slowly drive off with as much energy in motivation to return soon as there was additional electric charge in the car.

Food Grade: 68%

El Celler de Can Roca (the cellar of the Roca family) opened in 1986 in Girona and moved a short distance to its current location in 2007.  The former location is now a casual eatery run by the Roca family mother of the three brothers who govern the now 3 Michelin starred institution today – Jordy Roca leads the pastry section; Juan Roca is the Executive chef and Jessep Roca the sommelier in charge of all wines and drinks.

An impressive array of canapés arrived firstly. A welcome Catalonian soup with vegetable and truffle made with vegetable stock; brioche with liquid truffle centre (veery good); crispy bacon on radish; a meringue with truffle ice cream (which was a little gloopy); ‘Timeline’ was a series of bites on a long stone outlining the milestone dates of the restaurant including parmesan cheese, fish brandade, pigs trotter with sea cucumber and kale.  The breads were beautifully done tomato brioche, plain sourdoughs and wine and rasin sourdoughs. The level of effort that had clearly gone in to all of these canards was not lost on me and was a wonderful start, albeit, none actually making me melt with pleasure as I have done at say, Victors’ Dining.

The first course was Xarel-lo (teardop) steamed peas with pistachio pesto, citrus gel, Montseny wasabi sprouts, pea sprouts, and Montseny wasabi oil.  These were truly delightful peas and very hard to gain and prepare perfectly as they were here.  The delicate steamed peas complemented the tempered taste of the wasabi and pistachio pesto perfectly. It was a wonderful start to the meal.

Next up was the cauliflower dish with lychee, laminated cauliflower, cauliflower puree with ragweed seeds, bergamot and verjuice, cauliflower puree with butter, fried cauliflower puree, cauliflower couscous, fried broccoli flower, lychee sauce and fermented grape. The combination of textures and flavors was very good, although not hugely memorable. The lychee added a sweet and tangy touch to the dish, while the cauliflower puree and couscous brought a nutty and earthy flavor to the plate.

The langoustine with sagebrush, vanilla oil and toasted butter was cooked perfectly. The flavours were subtle, with the vanilla oil adding a gentle sweetness to this very small bite-size dish.  Ultimately the foam did not add too much value but the langoustines were as one would expect, very good quality.

The fish of the day “suquet” with hazelnut foam, semi-dried tomato with capers and black olives, grilled lemon purée with anise liqueur reduction, rosemary, mint and fennel oil and fried bread with freeze-dried garum was a highlight of the meal. The fish was cooked to perfection, and the tomato, capers, and black olives added a tangy flavor, while the lemon purée brought a zesty freshness to the plate. It was a pleasant dish but somehow, not earth-shattering

The poularde (rich chicken fattened by the diet of the chicken) brioche with truffle and fresh herbs sauce was superbly executed. The brioche was utterly soft and buttery, with as absolutely perfect outer shell and the truffle and herbs sauce was rich and savory. The chicken itself was very good quality, but I simply did not gel with the overall flavour of this dish.  Foie gras is always a joy, but the combination of these produced a stodgy dish overall I thought and whilst I appreciated the skill of the cooking completely, it juts simply was not a huge pleasure in density and flavour.

For dessert, the candy apple which was a caramelized apple sphere with calvados, green apple, butter biscuit, caramelized apple foam, and Catalan cream ice cream was a masterpiece. The flavors were perfectly balanced, with the caramelized apple sphere being the pinnacle of dessert cooking skill (akin to the fabled dessert at Schwarzwaldstube) providing a sweet and sticky texture, and the Catalan cream ice cream adding a creamy and refreshing touch to the dish. Superb and enjoyable in every way.

Finally, the milk dessert was very nice. The milk caramel, sheep’s milk ice cream, sheep’s milk curd-cheese foam, sheep’s milk yoghurt, and milk cloud were all perfectly balanced. The flavors were subtle and creamy, with the sheep’s milk ice cream and yoghurt bringing a refreshing and tangy touch to the dish and had the visual and textural fun of the candy floss. An impressive petit fours trolley arrived for selecting whichever ones appealed for coffee in the garden.

There was a bit of a tussle between tables reserving coffee tables in the small garden space outside and not-knowing this, the restaurant kindly produced another table for myself and guests in order to gain some sun.  The sommelier of the three Roca Brothers (Jesse) greeted all tables outside but my impression was that all tables other than ours were local diners (also in large groups) and so FaceTime was perhaps easier with other guests of the same language.  Service throughout inside the restaurant was hospitable, but also sincere to the point of creating a very quiet environment – I felt the staff could afford to take the service a little less seriously and relax a little more as a genuine feeling.

Overall, El Celler de Can Roca is a high end dining establishment, no question. I praise the sheer efforts and skill of the kitchen, noting as above, that less of the dishes actually hit the love valves than expected.  This was hard to grade overall for a final grade, but if I break down the actual criteria of the Michelin guide, I would say that the restaurant’s quality of ingredients were at the 2-3 star level; the mastery of flavour at the 2 star level and and cooking techniques at the 3 star level; personality of the chef in the cuisine at the 2 star level; value for money extremely good and worthy of 3 stars and consistency of food the 2 star level.  Therefore, I believe it sits more in the mid 2-3 star band, with reasonable flavours but it is absolutely a class act to enjoy (if it does not take your whole calendar year to arrange gaining a seat).