Lisboa tour: Interview with Joël Robuchon

Fellow blogger KC was invited by the PR manager at Hotel Lisboa in Macau for a tour of the various restaurants inside the two Lisboa hotels.  He very kindly invited me to come along for the 2-day trip, where we would sample cuisine from 4 different outlets.

Immediately upon our arrival in Macau, we headed to Robuchon a Galera for an interview with the man himself.  As everyone knows, I am not a professional journalist... I just like to eat and write my experiences down to preserve my memories.  So I'm completely new at this and a total amateur.  It kinda hit me while I was on the ferry that maybe, just maybe, I should actually open my mouth and ask Joël a few questions.  After all, it would be awfully funny if I just sat around and nodded each time the man answered questions from KC...

I've kinda put together a summary of the interview below:

There's no overriding theme for the gala dinners, although this time around the restaurant is featuring seasonal ingredients from the end of spring and early summer.  In particular, seasonal vegetables such as small, white radish and larger, red turnips.  In the 10 years that Robuchon a Galera has been in operation, no dish has ever been repeated at these periodic gala dinners.

Compared to 10 years ago, it is now much, much easier to source quality ingredients in this part of the world.  In this respect Tokyo has always had an advantage, as it is relatively easy to source top-quality, local ingredients.  In markets like Hong Kong and Macau, most of the ingredients still need to be imported.  After the recent disaster, though, the ability to source local ingredients in Japan will face challenges.

I was curious about his decision to open L'Atelier in Taipei, especially given that it materialized before Singapore.  I also felt that the clientele in Taipei isn't really sophisticated enough for really top-end French.  For the last 10 years there has been only one French restaurant in Taipei I felt worthy of celebratory meals.  After L'Atelier opened, I now have two choices.  Joël had visited Taipei a number of years ago and took a liking to the people... of course!  Us Taiwanese are known for our hospitality and gentleness!  He found a certain connection with the partners, and as Taipei is a less crowded market for high-end restaurants (compared to Singapore, for example) it seemed sensible to open there.

Knowing that many chefs in Taiwan have difficulty sourcing and importing ingredients due to regulations which seem twisted and senseless, I wondered whether he had the same issues.  He felt that the local ingredients were often good enough, making it unnecessary to source certain products from overseas.

KC and I both wondered, in the early stages of both Hong Kong and Taipei, whether the locals would take to the concept of sitting on bar stool and paying a premium to dine in front of a counter.  I imagined that the older generation - who can most afford these prices - would find it difficult to equate bar stools with fine dining.  One of the mitigating factors, as it turns out, are Asian's familiarity with sitting at sushi counters while having omakase meals at Japanese restaurants.  Another is the fact that many of the clientele are from younger generations who don't have preconceptions about what fine dining should be.  With an ever-increasing number of people who are passionate about food, the ability to watch the kitchen in action - as well as the interaction with chefs - are proving to be a real plus.

I asked Joël what it was like to work with one of the best cellars in the world, as I was presented with the hard copy version of the wine list and recalled my own experience at seeing the list from La Tour d'Argent for the first time so many years ago.  Joël's observation is that while the list at places such as La Tour d'Argent and other restaurants may seem equally impressive, those lists have breadth but are lacking in depth.  For rare vintages such as '45s and '47s, some restaurants will have 2 or 3 bottles in their cellars.  Here in Macau the cellar is stocked with entire cases - and sometimes multiple cases - of the same wine.  There are some 8,400 wines listed currently.  Now if only I could score a tour of the cellar while I'm here...

The L'Atelier in Hong Kong has a smaller selection of wines from the same cellar, mostly due to the lack of storage space.  With 8,400 entries, one can imagine the amount of space needed just to ensure a stock of 3 bottles for each wine...

While there is no plan to open another restaurant in Hong Kong, the possibility exists for expansion via an additional Le Salon de Thé.

At the end of our meeting, I asked the man what his challenges would be going forward... for a man who has been at the top and has already achieved so much.  He feels that his greatest challenge is to continue to maintain the same high standards all around the world, especially given the size of his "empire".  Looking at his business card, I count 16 restaurants and 2 wine shops spanning 11 cities and 9 countries (the website lists a total of 22 dining establishments - not counting the 2 new ones in Singapore - plus 2 boutiques and 2 wine shops).  Gotta be pretty tough to make sure each one is at the top of the game...

The globe-trotting über-chef was in Hong Kong last week, and will be off looking after his global empire when he leaves Macau.  The stops will include Monaco, where he will be cooking for Prince Albert's upcoming wedding!  After the wedding he will take his holiday in Spain.  Hmmm... I wonder what kind of places a chef like Joël Robuchon will hit while vacationing in Spain?

P.S.  During the interview, both KC and I were distracted by something in the distance, directly in our line of sight.  For some reason, a bottle of Juyondai Ryusen (十四代 龍泉) was casually placed on a table by the side of the room.  It's not a bottle of sake that you see everyday, and while it can be commonplace to see a bottle of French wine in a Japanese restaurant, it's highly unusual to see a bottle of sake in a French restaurant...