Atelier — Restaurant in Ottawa

We came to atelier before the change in concept and we really loved it. When we heard about this 40 course menu, I got excited and we had to come back.

I really really wanted to like this place but it just did not work. The whole experience was kinda designed to be a high end experience (with the price tag that comes with it) but it just does not flow at all.

The dishes: They were truly beautiful, the attention to details is amazing but 95% of them just lacked The Something that makes it memorable and worth eating. We were half way through the experience and I could not remember anything I ate (other than 2 dishes that I liked). They were mainly bland (the foie gras mousse) or not balanced (the super salty pork belly which clearly lacked some carbs to absorb this fat). And omg, we were here in February but NONE of the dishes were actually served warm, they were all cold or, at best, room temperature. It felt like a summer menu and was quite a disappointment. Wine pairings were nice, but the full wine tasting service left us just a little underwhelmed in terms of quantity served. There are many dishes and so little wine.

The service: I can see the attention to details that was thought to servers but they just are not delivering it. The huge thing for me was when the girl came to serve the 3rd wave. She served the 1st plates and I noticed a clear dark hair on her hand (she was fairly skinned). She then served the 2nd plates and the hair fell on 2 plates which I waited 5sec for and then removed hastily. She did not even acknowledged the situation, she clearly saw me removing her hair and did not even as little as apologise. There is no way, I am paying 1k at the restaurant and the service is at this level. On the other hand, the sommelier seemed like the only one who had proper training in the industry and was super pleasant and knowledgeable.

Atmosphere: Definitely not as refined as in any high end restaurant. Other than the decorations, empty walls, etc, I was quite bothered by the kitchen music. It is a pretty small restaurant with only 7 tables or so. When I'm experiencing a high dining experience, I want to be dissolved in it, however, I was constantly pulled out of my evening by the pop music from the kitchens. I understand, I work too and I put on my music, but in a small restaurant, where you could clearly hear it, it just does not work and, again, as with the food or service, just shows the lack of attention to details that I would expect from, again, a high end experience.

Overall, left this place with a feeling of disappointment and some nostalgia about our previous...

We had the 12-course blind tasting menu with extended wine pairings, and it was a fantastic experience. The service was high-end in the modern style - i.e. prompt and highly professional, but with a personably friendly touch. The wine selections for the extended pairings (12 pairings in all, as opposed to 10 with the regular pairing option) were all excellent, both as pairings and when judged as standalone wine experiences.

And then there was the food. For anyone who hasn't tried this kind of multi-course tasting experience, it's important to set expectations: each individual serving is sized to allow you to savour the flavour of both the dish and the pairing, while being able to complete the full 12-course experience. Likewise, the pace of service is intended to allow you to savour and reflect on each dish - and again, to allow you to complete the full 12 courses (and wines!). We were told in advance to expect the full service to take around 3-1/2 hours, and that estimate was 10 minutes high. The timing was just about perfect to allow us to savour the wines in particular. As for the dishes themselves: excellent. Every last one of them. Since this was a blind tasting menu, there's no guarantee that you'll have even a single one of the same dishes that we had, so it's more important to emphasize that the flavours, textures and presentation were all excellent. To provide one example: the Fig and Black Garlic entree, and its accompanying Valdespino Inocente Fino Sherry pairing, was a successfully daring exercise in whimsy, though the name of the dish is a very brief shorthand for its actual execution!

You receive a personal copy of both your menu and the accompanying pairings at the conclusion of your meal, though at least one of the wines had been cellared at Atelier for long enough that your chances of finding it in the primary market is remote to nil. Again though, that's part of the experience - that wine, a 2007 Chateau Massereau, was fabulous.

So, we arrive at the business end of the meal - it's time to pay the bill. How do I evaluate the price? In one word: appropriate. 12 fine dining courses, with all that implies, accompanied by 12 wines of an equivalent calibre. This meal was an occasion, and worth every penny. If you're familiar with Ottawa's fine dining scene, you'll find Atelier to be one of its exemplars, and I highly...

After watching Spinning Plates I wanted to go to Alinea, but their reservation system that would only accept reservations for 2, 4 or 6 people made things difficult. So I started looking for options closer to home and I found Atelier, whose chef/owner had previous experience at Alinea. The food was very good and I could notice some of the techniques that I had seen on the documentary being applied to the plates (liquid nitrogen, spherification, etc). Texture and flavour made a great combination in most plates. Out of the 10 savoury courses, the meat and the lobster were the only ones that I didn't care much about. The other 8 were truly amazing. The fruit and the dessert were ok, but I had higher expectations. One thing that I noticed was that my food wasn't hot in any of the courses. I don't know if that was intended or if it's related to the fact that with a reservation at 7:30pm I was the last person to arrive at the restaurant. The food temperature didn't bother me at all, but if you prefer piping hot meals you may be disappointed. The presentation of the plates was always spectacular. The couple next to me was celebrating an anniversary and they even got a "floral arrangement" made of cotton candy with a card. The service was also excellent. After I made my reservation I was contacted by the restaurant to ask about food restrictions and I mentioned that I didn't like spicy food, so they made appropriate substitutions. Even though the plates were very elaborate, the waitress explained them in a very casual manner that felt like a conversation between friends. This attempt to make this high end cuisine approachable was also seen in the creative names of the plates. The restaurant is a bit small, but very comfortable. My only complain about the service is that a few times the plate wasn't very centered when placed on the table and I had to adjust it. All in all, this was the best meal that I have ever had. If you are in Ontario, you definitely don't need to go look for good food down the border, this is a great option and at a fair price ($115 for the tasting menu, which I accompanied with a regular glass of juice, that wasn't on the menu, that...