Randy’s Second “Restaurant d’Elegance” Review

Robuchon a Galera

Hotel Lisboa Macau

Article: Article: Randy Lee Svendsen    Photos: by Hotel Lisboa Macau

Dear Cherry,

I have a designation for restaurants so classically elegant that they nearly take my breath away, and this is “Restaurant d’Elegance”.  The first one being a year ago, I hereby declare Robuchon a Galera my second “Restaurant d’Elegance”!  As stated on the Hotel Lisboa Macau website:  “Brought to the Hotel Lisboa in 2001, Robuchon a Galera is described by many as Asia's finest French restaurant and stands as a commitment by the Lisboa Hotels Group to offer its customers only the best.  Each dish in the superb menu of French haute cuisine reflects the Joël Robuchon philosophy of respect for the original flavor of the ingredients using a classic cooking style.  The chef, acclaimed as the ‘Chef of the Century’ by Gault-Millau, flies to Macau four times a year to supervise the change of the seasonal menu.  The restaurant's lush blue and gold interior is both opulent and intimate at the same time, enhancing the experience of the diner whose palate is taken to new heights by Joël Robuchon's culinary creations. This experience is further enhanced by the restaurant's extensive wine collection with over 4,400 classic French, Italian, American, Australian, Spanish, Hungarian, German and Portuguese labels.  This extensive wine collection allows Hotel Lisboa to be the first establishment in China to receive the Wine Spectator's ‘Grand Award’.  An exclusive private dining room complete with a bar is also available for special occasions and business meetings.  Robuchon a Galera is also the only western restaurant to be awarded the esteemed three Michelin stars in the MICHELIN Guide for Hong Kong and Macau.”  And from the website Restaurants Joël Robuchon:  “The elegant setting is a magnificent frame for the gastronomic cuisine elaborated by Joël Robuchon and directed by his pupil Francky Semblat and his team.  You will find here his most famous dishes, as well as many innovations adapted to the flavors and traditions of China.”

My first visit to a Robuchon establishment, it is with great anticipation that I approached the entrance to Robuchon a Galera.  For years I have heard about Joël Robuchon and his culinary creations and I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered he had a restaurant in Macau.  I have wanted to go to Macau for years as well, so I decided to combine a long weekend with a review of this special restaurant.

Restaurant Design:  In a gorgeous location in the building, I stepped off the elevator on the third floor and entered a foyer dedicated to the restaurant.  On the back white marble wall of this foyer there is a beautiful sign of hand laid mosaic with a black granite frame around it.  The background is made of small blue mosaic tiles, and in gold tiles are the words “Robuchon a Galera”.  Inside the black granite frame is an inner border of matching gold tiles that follow the shape of the frame.  The floor of the foyer is black granite with shiny little details with an intricate 2 feet wide mosaic rectangular mosaic design of blue, gold, and silver tiles to match the sign.  In the center of this is a diamond shaped mosaic design that matches the border.  Leaving the foyer and turning left, the white marble walls and black granite floor continues, with the diamond shaped designs repeated every 10 feet.  Alone in this hallway is a glass wine case about 3 feet wide and 10 feet long with 8 shelves on each side containing bottles of fabulous wines many of us only dream of being able to drink, such as Petrus, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Chateau Ch Blanc, and how about some Chateau Latour?  This mentally sets the stage for what lies around the next corner.  Turning left, the elaborate entrance to the restaurant invited me to come in.  On the right is a glass display case on a dark wood base with a beige inlaid marble diamond.  In the case is a single hand cut red crystal glass about 3 feet high and where the cuts have been made the crystal is clear.  In the back of the case on the right is a regular wine glass with blue water to show the scale of the piece.  On the wall left of the entrance to the restaurant is a gold-framed sign with the name of the restaurant and the hours of operation.  The entrance is framed in a black granite archway matching the floor with bronze metal light sconces on each side of the door with crystal accents and 2 candle style light bulbs.  The doorframe and 2 arched doors are of matching, highly grained dark wood with frosted glass panels.  Inlaid in the glass in each door is a tall silver sailing ship and these pictures are reversed so both lean towards the center when the doors are closed.  Proceeding into the restaurant area on the same granite floors with gold diamonds, the dark wood wine cellar with 4 doors with glass panels is on the left, followed by the door to the kitchen, the doors to the bathrooms which open automatically as you approach, and the restaurant is on the right.  I was able to persuade the delightful young hostess Denny Liao to allow me to come in early so I could take some pictures and some notes about the interior design before any guests arrived.  Trying not to disturb the busy housekeeping staff, and carefully stepping over the cords for the vacuum cleaners I took a series of photographs to help me remember the details of the elegant restaurant design.  I had a nice talk with Jessie Rui, a senior waitress, who was setting up the tables. She brought me a cool glass of sparkling water to sip on as I unfolded and recorded the many beautiful elements designed into the décor of Robuchon a Galera.  Jessie and Denny helped me a lot with information about the furnishings and tableware.  Upon entering the restaurant, the carpet is a really dark blue color with a gold repeated flower pattern every couple of feet and big 8-foot gold vases with flowers that repeat every 10 feet throughout the restaurant.  This unique and beautiful floor covering is one continuous piece of carpet and it was custom designed for this restaurant.  In the back left corner there is a dark red mahogany Yamaha grand piano on a raised platform.  There are 2 matching seating areas each with 2 facing stuffed chairs and 2 facing settees around a round wood coffee table.  Wood accents on the chairs match the tables.  Upholstered in gold with a pattern of flower vases resembling those in the carpet, this seating is very comfortable and was my base of operation while I took my notes on the interior design.   On the back wall next to the first seating area is a display case atop a yellow backlit marble base.  Glass shelves hold beautiful examples of large Chinese jade carvings on the left and right of the center display of an original Galle lamp of orange and red floral patterned frosted glass from the Art Nouveau period.  A gorgeous piece, I’m sure it is worth a fortune.  This marble base matches the enclosures for the ceiling support pillars located throughout the restaurant, which are all 6 feet high, backlit yellow marble that, as the sun set, cast a soft golden glow into the room.  They are tapered slightly to the bottom and the curved arches coming out the top give the feeling of a wine cave.  The layout of the restaurant is long and segmented between the 4 sets of pillars encased in the yellow marble by 3 dark wood cabinets, about 9 feet long and 3 feet wide with beige marble tops that can be used as workstations and display matching vases.  There are tables for 2 next to the 7 large windows on the left, 4 tables for 4 in the center, and tables for 4 in 3 little enclaves on the right, with 2 of the 4 seats enclosed in these dark wood enclaves.  They are inset and surrounded back and sides by the same highly figured wood found throughout the restaurant.  As found in a living room, these soft upholstered chairs in the enclaves are blue with the same vases and flowers as on the gold chairs at the entrance and in the carpet, and small gold pillows are covered in the same fabric as the chairs at the entrance. The room ends in a private dining room in the back, with sliding doors for privacy, containing a round table for 10 or 12, a bar, 2 more windows, and another wine cellar, all of which are consistent with the overall restaurant designs.  Also in the private dining room are some display cases with objects of antique Chinese art.  Curtains along the windowed wall are all beautiful gold fabric with blue fringe and tiebacks with huge blue tassels with gold trim.  All armchairs are upholstered in blue on the seats and fronts, and gold on the backs.  This theme of blue and gold is consistent everywhere in the restaurant and adds to the coordinated and comfortable feeling and absolute elegance that permeates the entire environment.  The ceiling is very interesting in it’s design as well.  Lower than found in most restaurants, it adds to the cozy feeling here.  There are 4 recessed sections of the ceiling with smoothly curved corners that match the curves of the support pillars supporting the ceiling.  These are about 1 foot deep and 3 are over the main floor, separated by about 2 feet of ceiling, and one is in the private dining room in the back end of the restaurant.  A most startling aspect in each of these recessed sections is a glittering star pattern in the ceiling made from specially commissioned Swarovski crystals, custom made for this restaurant.  The 8-point star pattern of crystals, from center, consists of alternating 4-foot and 2-foot points that glitter and twinkle as a repeating electrical program lights the crystals of varying lengths from behind.  Very unique, it is a beautiful design and adds a lot of class to the restaurant.  Taken with all the other details of the design, Robuchon a Galera is truly elegant.