THE Vegas Uncork’d food and wine festival kicks off Thursday, and one headliner is, of course, the revered and almost mythical chef Joel Robuchon.
But Uncork’d is just one of his regular Vegas visits. He comes to town at least four times a year for eight to 10 days. He’s here to tweak his menus and make up brilliant dishes on the spot — like the foie gras with black truffles and chicken broth we sampled at L’Atelier in February.
“The No. 1 reason for the visits is to change the menu, to make some seasonal changes to what we offer,” Robuchon says.
“Something that might surprise you is I don’t have a preconceived idea. A lot of the inspiration is of the moment.” His two MGM Grand restaurants, the Joel Robuchon tasting-menu mecca and the more casual L’Atelier, only open for dinner. So Robuchon spends his days reaching out to other chefs, checking out produce providers and even visiting culinary schools.
He’s both spreading the gospel of Robuchon and looking for ideas.
Regardless of which Robuchon restaurant you visit while he’s in town, you’ll find newly invented dishes, based on something he concocted as recently as that day.
Despite being known as the chef-of-the-(last)-century, he’s still evolving — and right now, that means he’s frowning on molecular gastronomy.
“Too many chefs are attracted to molecular gastronomy,” he says.
“It’s not the kind of cuisine that should be important, with all the additives. I know I was really the first one to make it famous, but I have complete control of what I’m doing. The danger is that those who don’t have the knowledge and that control start using additives that are not acceptable.” He’s too politic to call out any chef in particular, but he really believes such food can be unsafe, so:
“Right now, I am doing the reverse of molecular gastronomy. I’m working with scientists to find ingredients and produce that are proven to be good for you. Turmeric is very good for you. White tea is better than green tea. One of the dishes I’m experimenting with is carrot puree with turmeric. Also white-tea gelee and sea urchin.” Our interview is winding down, and we start discussing Las Vegas in general — for instance, the premiere of Cirque Du Soleil’s “Viva Elvis” at Aria. The chef’s face lights up. He talks about how he would have never met Cirque founder Guy Laliberte (or pals like Celine Dion) if he hadn’t come to Vegas. He’s 65 now and still working hard, but also enjoying his life “immensely.” “I started working in the kitchen when I was 15,” he says. “I had to wait until I was 50 to see snow on the mountains. But tonight I am joining Mr. Laliberte at ‘Elvis.’ Vegas represents the idea of America I had as a kid. The big cars, the pretty girls; everything is possible in Vegas.”