L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon restaurant to reopen in London

French restaurant L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon is to return to London this autumn, four years after the closure of its original Covent Garden site.

The restaurant, which launched in 2006 and at one point held two Michelin stars, shut its doors in 2019 less than a year after its namesake, the legendary French chef Joël Robuchon, died at the age of 73.

It will reopen on 15 September and take over the site of its sister brand Le Comptoir Robuchon in Clarges Street in Mayfair.

Executive chef Andrea Cofini, who joined the Joël Robuchon International group in 2014, will oversee the relaunch.

He previously worked at the two-Michelin-starred L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon restaurants in Paris and Shanghai and has developed the new menu alongside group executive chef David Alves.

The new London opening will serve some of Robuchon’s most famous dishes, including the puree de pomme de terre – mashed potatoes with a 2:1 potato to butter ratio – as well as sea bream carpaccio; and quail with foie gras.

It will also see the return of the marble-topped dessert trolley, which will showcase freshly made Madeleines and patisserie, as well as a daily-changing cheese trolley.

A redesign of the space will create a new bar area at the entrance which will host a new programme of live music until midnight on Monday to Saturday and 11.30pm on Sunday. The main 74-cover restaurant will feature an open kitchen behind a marble countertop.

Robuchon started working in kitchens at the age of 15 and his global restaurants held over 30 Michelin stars between them over the course of his career.

He won the Taittinger Prix Culinaire in 1970 and was named ‘Chef of the Century’ by French restaurant guide Gault & Milau in 1989 and served as a mentor to chefs including Gordon Ramsay, who compared working for him to doing a stint in the SAS.

Since his death, the Joël Robuchon International business has continued to trade worldwide and currently holds 15 Michelin stars across its sites in Hong Kong, Miami, Taipei, Las Vegas and Geneva.