The entrance to L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in the Landmark is accessed through the private lift and past millions of dollars’ worth of wine. Enter the dining room with a U-shaped counter in red and black surrounding the busy open kitchen, where you could take a seat and watch the chefs at work. For more formal haute cuisine there is a more conventional dining room at the back.

Joël Robuchon is a living legend and few, if any of his restaurants will not let you down and L’Atelier is no exception. For first-time diners, the eleven-course menu découverte is an apt introduction and it is available at lunch and dinner. Small, light portions allow appreciation of the culinary creations, which are imaginative and modern. The menu changes quarterly in order to take advantage of seasonal products. However L’Atelier offers small tasting portions of haute cuisine tapas as an alternative. Each plate is a work of art. Both amuse-bouche and le crabe, which feature the best seasonal French tomatoes in a crab meat mille-feiuille. Course after course continues to delight: the warm duck foie gras comes with sour cherries and fresh almonds is a perfect combination while the sea urchin “royale” is in a delicious fennel emulsion. Pan-seared M12 wagyu beef has a crispy exterior and tender interior and is accompanied by Robuchon’s signature dish of mashed potatoes with black truffle. Cheeses are in perfect condition including a ripe Epoisses, and the meal is best concluded with a cup of the restaurant’s strong coffee.

Over 3,100 superbly chosen wines are on the list, which is also available on iPad. Wines by the glass include some of the great names such as Chateau d’Yquem but are priced accordingly. The least expensive white wine (140ml) is HK$300. Better to choose a bottle and search for some outstanding wines well below HK$1,000. The iPad’s useful search criteria should speed this up. The sommelier and assistant sommelier both offer excellent recommendations.

Impeccable. Staff are all experienced, pleasant and knowledgeable. Service is unobtrusive whilst each dish is explained in detail. Both the staff and kitchen welcome requests and consider them a challenge to be met.

The eleven-course menu découverte is HK$1,850 per person, while a three-course dinner would be about HK$1,300. Considerably good value is the six-course set lunch, which is priced at HK$680 per person. Wine would add considerably to the bill.