Exactly one year after it opened with big promises and equally big statements, star chef Joël Robuchon's Tel Aviv restaurant closed and the Robuchon Group picked up its Michelin stars and left Israel.
"Our restaurant is currently closed, we are renewing the menu and the concept," is the answer the service representatives at the hotel are giving to customers trying to book a table at L’Epoque, the name of the Robuchon restaurant in Israel.
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L’Epoque restaurant in Tel Aviv, part of the prestigious Robuchon Group, has closed
(Photo: Sivan Askayo)
Currently, the Elkonin luxury hotel, which houses the restaurant, serves breakfast exclusively to its guests, and the restaurant is not open to diners.
The arrival of the esteemed Robuchon brand in Israel sparked significant excitement in the local culinary scene, with hopes it would earn a Michelin star like its global counterparts. The restaurant, known for its high prices and fine ingredients like caviar and quality seafood, set high expectations.
One of the most excessive items on the menu was an egg dish that was priced at 320 shekels. "An unbalanced dish, failed in terms of execution, greedy in vain. Not only is it not worth the money, this dish has nothing to do with the time and place in which it is served. As for eggs, it's better to eat shakshuka at Doctor Shakshuka's," Ynet's restaurant critic wrote about the expensive dish after his visit there.
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The head chef of the group (and Robuchon's successor) David Alves said in an interview with Ynet upon its opening, "We will bring the Michelin to Tel Aviv. It is true that in Israel Michelin is not yet relevant, but now there is a Michelin in Dubai as well, so maybe there is a way for it to come as well to Israel. When we arrived in Las Vegas, Robuchon was the first French chef there, and today all the important chefs have opened establishments there or are on the way to opening restaurants there."
Alves also said in the same interview, "This restaurant is an expensive restaurant because the quality of the raw materials is the most important thing to us. We choose the best shrimp and the best meat, this directly affects the price. If we want it to be a good restaurant, we have to invest in excellent raw materials, and this is first of all reflected in the price. I am sure that because this is a restaurant that aims for excellence, it will be full."
Three stars in three years
About five years ago, chef Joel Robuchon died of cancer at the age of 73. Robuchon was the chef who accumulated the most Michelin stars in the world - 31 stars in restaurants scattered in 15 countries around the world.
Robuchon began his culinary journey at the bottom of the ladder. At the age of 18, he washed floors and scrubbed pots and pans in restaurants, and then began working in Paris and abroad. In the late 1970s, he started working in a hotel in Paris, and in 1981 he opened the Jamin restaurant, for which he received three Michelin stars within three years of opening.
In 2003, Robuchon opened his most famous restaurant, the Atelier Joël Robuchon, which entered the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world. Its branches are located in Bangkok, Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, New York, Las Vegas and Paris. The name Atelier in French means workshop and it points to the design of the restaurant, which is built around an open kitchen as a kind of studio.
Robuchon's restaurant in Israel was located in the Elkonin Hotel, situated on a beautiful corner in Neve Tzedek, in a restored historical building that was the first hotel in Tel Aviv.
L’Epoque joins a long list of restaurants that have closed in Tel Aviv over the past few months, since the outbreak of the war, including Brut Restaurant, Topolopompo, Bar La Cita and Artel Formal, which also closed exactly one year after its opening.