We got into town a little later than we had expected and we were starving. Hoping to find a nice meal after checking in to our hotel we ran to l'atelier de jean-luc rabanel in hopes of having a lovely dinner. We entered at about 8:15 knowing that they close at 9:30. They only had a few diners and we asked for a table. The maitre d ran his eyes from my shoes to my sweater and asked if we had reservations. I replied no as I looked around the practically empty restaurant. He then told us that they were closed....huh....the hours on the door and online said 9:30 over an hour away. I guess he either didn't like our look or he wanted to get out of work early. A place with these prices should have gone the extra mile and at least offered to make reservations for us tomorrow. read more

This is one of Provence's most highly regarded restaurants. There is no menu - each meal is whatever the chef assembles for that day. Lunch is either 7 courses or 11. We went for the seven course lunch. It was preceded by five courses of amuses. The decor was fabulous, both the rooms and the furnishings. Very modern yet comfortable. The service for the first half hour was below horrible. Once they moved you into the second room, the dining room, they got into their stride and service was ok. I'm comfortable with paced French service. This was never paced - it was simply erratic and unprofessional. But the food was remarkable. Each dish combined way too many favors and did them to perfection. Each flavor came through yet none dominated. Serving sizes were large enough to allow one to enjoy the dish fully. Every dish was presented picture perfect, looking like a magazine cover. I've never seen seven courses so well presented. So it was a remarkable meal, one I really enjoyed, yet I have absolutely no desire to ever return. read more

Eating here is like reading a novel where the author makes an allusion to some well-known other work, or listening to a symphony that borrows a melody from a folk tradition. The food is contemporary French with an emphasis on seasonal and locally sourced produce but with nods and allusions to other cuisines and food traditions where appropriate: here a hint of Japanese, there a nod to Thai. Some of the courses I had tonight were truly some of the best food I've ever tasted. Particularly memorable was the John Dory with mashed potato, courgettes, cockles and lemongrass; also of the highest standard was my wife's favourite, a "kilometre" of haricot with eel and a cumin creme and a licorice stick. If I don't quite award five stars, it's because the "main" of monkfish, beans and vegetables with two jus, balsamic vinegar and chocolare, didn't match the stellar heights of some if the preceding courses. We couldn't quite make it to the end of the twelve-course menu and bailed after just a couple of the four (plus cheese, which we skipped) dessert courses, full of awe at some of our fellow diners who despite being much thinner than us, seemed to have no trouble putting it all away. You really should eat here, but if you go for dinner have a very light lunch and maybe try not to eat every bite of every course, if you can! read more

First let me say, we are From Chicago and consider ourselves foodies, due to the variety and quality of food offered in the City and suburbs of Chicago! Chef Rabanel has teo Michelin Stars for a reason: Excellent service, it felt special from the moment we arrived. We decided to go for broke and try the 13-course meal. We were seated in an Asian, relaxed spa armosphere area for appetizers and our first wine pairing. Chef Rabanel prepared inventive, seductive starters imfusing vegetables with various glaces (ice cream) and citrus sauces. The meal is primarily exotic arrangements of root vegetables, fruit, herbs and greens with fish entrées. There was one meat appetizer (similar to a steak tartare in a citrus sauce that my husband said he could have eaten four servings of! My husband and I Went for our 25th anniversary and would highly recommend it for a special occassion. They also offer a 10-course meal which would have been sufficient as well. Chef Rabanel came out to greet all guests which was a nice touch. We thorougjly enjoyed our meal and appreciated all of the special extra touches. The maitre d' who also served some of the courses was bery knowledgeable and spoke French to me and English to my husband when explaining each course. The wine pairings went perfectly and you have a choice of 3-5 pairings. Well worth the time and money, fabulous!!! read more

Jean-Luc Rabanel - French Near Me - Arles, 13

Excellent service. Farm to table fresh ingredients. My first Michelin dining experience in Arles Provence France. Thank you Jean-Luc. Hope to visit another location. read more

Fantastic. Best meal of the trip and the year maybe my life. DO NOT MISS THE CHEESE COURSE. Unreal fresh goat cheese mixed at the table with a range of peppers and spices. Accompanied by delicious greens and sauce. Finally a tasting menu where I don't feel ripped off at the end. 95 Euro and well worth it. Jean-Luc explained everything in French in great detail to the other diners. Since we couldn't speak well, we got much more brief descriptions. The man loves his craft. The addition of a second michelin star was well deserved. read more

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My wife and i traveled through a lovely town of Arles all the way from Paris. We followed Rick Steve books on Paris and Provence to the tee. Paris's restaurants, cafes rather, were great! When the time came for the country side, Provence, things got a bit complicated, to say the least. The first restaurant we researched was the all- famous Atelier De Jean Luc Rabanel. And let me tell you...this is a no-go place. The appetizers were blent to say the least. Ingredients mixed, were out of place by any stretch of the most ingenious palate. The hot dishes were over-salted(probably to counter the blend appetizers), the rest of the dinner was plainly intolerable!!!! The well-dressed french speaking waiter did inspired hope, but to no avail!!!! The main course as well as 5- course desert.....sucked BIG TIMES!!! As the saying goes in my home town of NEW-YORK. You keep your money where your mouth is!!!! read more

Magical experience !! Having eaten in many Michelin starred restaurants the refreshing thing is that Jean Luc Rabanel finds his own direction delivering very quirky but exquisitely assembled dishes. Each one has a fascination read more

I've eaten here twice. Summer is best because he's a master of vegetables. Will return here next summer if at all possible.

This is a difficult restaurant to review for a variety of reasons. For one, you will likely either love or absolutely hate L'Atelier. It is not a place for lukewarm experiences. My wife and I loved our meal at L'Atelier and found it to be a very unique and wonderful experience. It was not the perfect meal and it was not the best restaurant or best food we have ever eaten. There are definitely areas where the restaurant could improve. I will start off with those: 1. Hire a dessert/pastry chef. The dessert portion of the meal consisted of 3 separate offerings and none of them were truly enjoyable. I would not classify any of them as real desserts actually. They were creative, they showed the chef's ability to use ingredients in new ways and they were flavor profiles I have never seen before...but all 3 fell flat. 2. Too much sea foam. Almost every non-dessert course used sea foam as part of the plating/visual technique and it simply became tiresome towards the 7th or 8th course. It did not add any flavor and it ended up taking away from the visual affect of the complex plating as the meal dragged on. That said, these are minor complaints/critiques for an otherwise wonderful meal. For positives, I will list the following: 1. A Simply Phenomenal Sommelier: You can choose to buy your wine by the bottle, by the glass or just to trust the sommelier (likely the most expensive option) to pick the right wine for each course. I highly recommend you go with the 3rd option at L'Atalier. You are already looking at a meal that will be in the 150-200 Euro per person level anyway so you might as well go all in. We trusted our Sommelier and we were not disappointed. He chose each wine specifically for the course at hand and specifically based on our reactions to his previous selections. All were locally sourced wines from either Provence or nearby Languedoc and all were perfect compliments to the plates they went with. 2. Sheer Creativity: The Chef combines contemporary French cooking with the flavors of East Asia (specifically Chinese, Thai and Japanese) and he does so as only a genius in the kitchen can do. Each entree and then plate is perfection magnified. Leave your preconceptions at the door and allow the Chef to take you on a tour of his sheer abilities in the kitchen. Enjoy eating flowers and locally-grown greenbeans in his tempura batter (one of our entrees to start the night). Provence is the epicenter of some of the finest cooking on the planet and Chef Rabanel expertly combines those wonderful local ingredients with hints of East Asia and the very finest in contemporary French cooking. Savor each offering and take your time to appreciate the very complex flavors present in the dish. If you do not care for the first bite, take a second as sometimes the very strong flavors on each plate need to be combined to balance out one's palate. 3. Locale: L'Atelier is located in the heart of historic Arles, a lovely city on the banks of the Rhone in southern France. Arles is the perfect jumping off point for any exploration of the region and L'Atelier's location at the heart of its old city is simply perfect. The restaurant's decor is very modern/contemporary inside which creates quite the juxtaposition with the old city. Patio seating is also available for a more informal feel but I would recommend sitting inside rather than out for this experience. Go sit outside for every other meal in Arles as all of this city's restaurants enjoy wonderful outdoor seating. Overall, L'Atelier is well worth a stop for a special experience. Understand the cost of this meal going in and accept it as the cost of enjoying 2 Michelin Stars in such a wonderful location. Also accept that you will be there all night as you are committing yourself to at least 3 hours of dining and likely close to 14 individual plates as the entree (appetizers) and desserts each count as 1 of the 10 courses but you will get at least 2-3 of each. Each plate is small but you will be full by the end even if you are a big eater. The only thing preventing me from giving the restaurant 5 stars out of 5 is the lack of good desserts as they were simply disappointing after the wonderful courses we had for the entree and plates portion of the meal. We ended up walking over to the Forum and getting a gelato after our meal as a result of this whiff by Chef Rabanel. read more