The last culinary discovery of this trip to Gothenburg is the Atelier restaurant. This is the restaurant of the Pigalle Hotel, a boutique hotel whose name already suggests the tone of the restaurant.
As a reminder: articles related to this trip :
- Hilton Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport – Executive Room
- Paris-Frankfurt, Lufthansa Business Class
- Frankfurt-Gothenburg, Lufthansa Business Class
- Restaurant VRÅ, Gothenburg
- Clarion Hotel Post, Standard Double Room
- Restaurant Koka, Gothenburg
- Radisson Blue Scandinavia – Junior Suite
- Restaurant Natur, Gothenburg
- Upper House Gothenburg – Deluxe Suite
- Restaurant Atelier Gothenburg (Here)
- Gothenburg-Frankfurt, Lufthansa Business Class
- Frankfurt-Paris, Lufthansa Business Class
Atelier: the concept
As its name suggests, as much as the hotel it’s housed in, Atelier is a restaurant that boasts a French style and inspiration, and more specifically is inspired by the world of bistros.
While it has the convivial atmosphere you’d expect from a bistro, the slightly more elaborate style and simple yet sophisticated menu make it not a traditional bistro as we understand it in France, but a slightly more upmarket property.
We can’t help thinking that its name also refers to Joël Robuchon’s almost eponymous chain, with which it shares, in our opinion, only one resemblance, which we’ll talk about later.
The setting
Banquettes that you sink into but not too much, wood, floral fabrics, frames all over the walls…it’s a far cry from the simplicity of a bistro. It’s warm, but very heavy!
Si Atelier est un bistroc’is a bistro from another era, another century, born in my opinion from the desire (legitimate for a French restaurant abroad) to reflect a somewhat fantasized image of our capital. I call it the Amélie Poulain effect.
The fact that the restaurant, located on the 4th floor, has low ceilings adds to the sense of being crammed in.
We were talking about Joël Robuchon’s Atelier. While the Gotembourg restaurant doesn’t share the same style, it does share two things: the open kitchen and the possibility of eating or drinking at the bar located at the entrance to the room.
The menu
Here’s the menu as it looked at the time of my dinner.
It cannot deny its French inspiration and slight creativity. As in most of the restaurants I discovered in Gothenburg, it’s quite short, which is generally a guarantee of fresh food!
The meal and the dishes
Dining for two offers the advantage of seeing different dishes, but also means that you’re more caught up in the conversation and can forget to “document” your dinner a bit.
Let’s start with the creamy mushrooms.
The presentation is very well done, but the only regret is that the main material is so hidden under the decoration that I had to look at the photo for a while to be sure it was the right one.
Apart from this detail, it was both simple and tasty, even if a little limited in quantity.
For the main course, I opted for the duck confit with orange.
There’s nothing wrong with the visual. I hadn’t eaten duck à l’orange for a long time, and this one was melting. At most, I might have regretted that the orange was a little too discreet for my taste.
The absence of side dishes is also noteworthy, but these are offered separately. It’s good because you have a choice, and you can even make do with the main course if you don’t have enough appetite. Those with a grudge will point out that this increases the bill for a restaurant that isn’t necessarily cheap for what is supposed to be “simple” cuisine.
In front of me, roasted cauliflower.
I won’t be tasting them, but I’ll be hearing great things about them, and although I’m not a fan of veggie dishes, this one looks very appetizing.
I was talking about side dishes. Well, I had the fried potatoes with parmesan.
Yes, it was good, but far too hearty. Even with just the two of us, we didn’t manage to get to the end.
What can we learn from all this? Good French-inspired cuisine with a touch of creativity brought to a very simple base. It’s good, well presented, nothing to complain about.
The service
Due to the COVID effect, there weren’t many people in the restaurant when we visited. What’s more, with my habit of eating at “Parisian” times (i.e. 8.30-9 p.m.), especially on weekdays, we arrived just as the property’s few customers were leaving or finishing their meal.
So we had the staff pretty much to ourselves, which is usually a guarantee of attentive service. Add to this the friendliness and simplicity of the Swedish people and you have a very good service.
The atmosphere
For the reasons given above, I really couldn’t judge the atmosphere of the property.
On the other hand, I’ve been back several times, not for dinner but for a drink at aperitif time. While the Pigalle hotel has a wine bar on the ground floor, the “real” bar for cocktail lovers is the restaurant bar.
The menu features signature cocktails, but I’ve been told they’re reworking it to make it even better.
Some of the runways were interesting, but it was a far cry from the sophistication you’d find in a real cocktail bar. On the other hand, the classics (Negroni, Dirty Martini) were well done, if a little light.
On the other hand, and this is what kept me coming back in addition to the menu, the staff were very friendly, we talked a lot, and the barman was very attentive and gave good advice. In short, what you’d expect from a bar.
Bottom line
The Atelier restaurant in Gothenburg is a very good bistro-inspired restaurant offering traditional French cuisine with a touch of tasteful creativity.
The place is warm, the staff friendly…the only regret is that the prices are a bit high, but when you want to eat abroad, especially in a normally expensive country, you shouldn’t be surprised.
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