Atelier Culinaire

Fantastic food. Service could be better.

This place was a great find in Little Italy. the staff are all very attentive and pleasant, and the restaurant itself is lovely - glad to have tried it!

Five stars last week; 3 to 4 this week, probably the travails of a cooking school.

Excellent food and service! The options were delicious and well prepared and the staff were accommodating. Highly recommend.

The restaurant week menu was very good. The food tasted delicious, and the service was great. We will definitely go back.

Excellent food! Our meals were cooked to perfection. Have to mention the home made olive bread which was the best we had ever tasted. The chef came to our table and was very pleasant to chat with. The service was good without being stuffy. Had a wonderful experience here and will return!

The food was excellent, and the staff were all very friendly. The kitchen seemed to be stretched and the food was not quick to come out. it was, however, well worth waiting for, very tasty. The wine was good and the prices were quite reasonable. we enjoyed our dinner!

Great value. A good opportunity for both the diner and the restaurant!

Great Hidden Gem. Daily rotating menu. My new favorite place.

Just excellent all the way around!! Great great great

My guests steak was ordered med. rare and came out rare. Creme brulee was not set, it was runny like a sauce. However, my rack of lamb was served as ordered.

Excellent meal at Atelier--sampled around and there were no misses. Very nice atmosphere. Highlights were the fresh bread, the great seafood soup, the excellent steak--lump crab cake duo and the Rockfish covered in crab sauce. This is a gourmet culinary school with an excellent chef/teacher. The food is subsidized and so the food quality and value is very high. The staff are charming--there were minor glitches in remembering who got what--but they were very earnest and attentive. As in many restaurants, I would stick to the less famous, high value areas on the wine list.

To kick off Restaurant Week, we chose to come to Atelier, and what a great choice it was! Our hidden gem is finally being discovered by other diners, and we are thrilled for the restaurant. (It was fully booked for the evening.) We were warmly greeted and seated. Their restaurant menu showcased some of their best menu choices. Their wine and spirits offering are really well-priced with bottles of wine starting at $24.00, wines by the glass at $6.00, mixed drinks and beers starting at $4.00.

The ladies started off with the Seafood Chowder – a broth-based soup filled with tons of seafood and flavor. The guys went for the Potato Latkes with Vodka, arugula salad, and lemon dill cured wild Salmon with a honey mustard sauce, pickled onion, and capers. For our second course, three of knew we wanted the roast rack of lamb "Memphisto Style" with a Merlot-infused demi glaze, crusted with whole grain mustard, mango chutney, dried figs and apricots with crushed peanuts, pistachios and garlic flavored bread crumbs. The two double size lamb chops were scrumptious! The lamb was accompanied by ratatouille vegetables and green asparagus. One of our party of 4 enjoyed “The Marylander's Best Duet” - 6 oz. center cut grilled Angus Filet steak with a 4 oz. jumbo lump crab cake accompanied by asparagus.

To finish, we enjoyed the Raisin Cinnamon Bread Pudding - freshly baked bread pudding with homemade vanilla ice cream topped with a Brandy Foster Sauce and a traditional Crème Brulee. Thank you for giving us such a delicious start to Restaurant Week!

Atelier Culinaire offers a creative and delicious culinary experience. They have a delicately curated selection of starters and entrees, and a good list of wines. I recommend this place for a mindful dining experience.

our party of 4 arrived at 5:45 for a 6:00 reservation. Even with fairly noisy children running around, the atmosphere was conducive to conversation. However, we were informed that there were no early bird specials left, so ordered from the main menu. The soup du jour (spicy seafood) was excellent and the mussels with a touch of anise were divine. We had to ask 3 times for a second serving of bread for the soup, but never got any till way into the mussels. Our 3rd time there and first with any problems.

This was our first time at this restaurant and we really liked it! The staff was very professional but also very friendly and concerned re our enjoying our food and the ambiance.
The food was delicious and presented beautifully on the place. I had the lamb chops, my husband had the scallops and our friends had the pork chop. All were perfectly prepared. The ambiance is very attractive and on the evening we were there, it was quiet.
All four of us would strongly recommend this lovely restaurant and plan to return.

Do we like this place? The answer is a resounding, “Yes.” So much so, we went two nights in a row with different friends. Tonight , we were surprised with a change in the Early Bird Special Menu and what a nice surprise we had. Our friend ordered an appetizer of Beef Carpaccio, which he loved. My husband and I started with a fresh, crisp mixed green salad with a balsamic dressing. Our friends had the Beef Barley soup, which they said was really robust and filling. The main course was Beef Bourguignon surrounded with mashed potatoes. It was all superb. The staff presented me a Raisin Cinnamon Bread Pudding dessert to celebrate my birthday. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening.

We so enjoyed another delicious dinner at Atelier. We started with cream of asparagus soup. The soup was rich and creamy. The special for the evening was Seafood. We had a pan-seared salmon, rice pilaf and asparagus. The restaurant is so cozy. It is so nice to be able to dine and have conversation. We had a new server, Kathleen, and she was so attentive and friendly.

We were very pleased with our meal and are looking forward to dining here for their early bird special of $9.95 for a two course meal in the near future. The food we ate was delicious and attractively served and the ambiance was attractive and comfortable.

We found this restaurant by searching for a quiet place to have a good meal and conversation with our son who was in town for the evening. They had a quiet table for us all ready, and we were not disappointed. The food was delicious, even though at 7:30 on a Sat. they were out of the halibut AND scallops, leaving musssels (appetizer) and salmon as the only fish options. The servers were exceedingly friendly and attentive. They offer several parking options: paid garage right next door, free lot at the university a 5 minute walk away, or on-street. Excellent value, delicious food, nice people. We’ll return!

We went for the special, knowing that we would each get an appetizer and entree for $10. A nice deal!
The space is just lovely, and the service was attentive and good. The salad and potato leek soup were both good. The entree, a ground chicken thing, was simply inedible. It was lightly seasoned with no browning or signs of sautee (in fact it could have been sliced like a meatloaf), served with good mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes and what tasted like canned gravy. The opera cake we had for dessert was also inedible - a too-thick chocolate icing over dry pastry. This place is such a nice idea - I hope this was just a bad night for the kitchen. Sadly, it was bad enough for us that we won't return.

Excellent meal that was served in a very nice atmosphere. Rack of lamb was great, as were the soup and salads served to our table. I would have given the food 5 stars, except that someone at our table reported that the chicken dish was dry. Our server did an adequate job but it took a long time for our entrees to arrive.
We really like this new restaurant and hope it does well in this Little Italy location.

Great time! Food delicious. Only complaint was that timing of food was too quick. Overall great meal!

specials are a bargain. priced right! small place so make reservations. parking can be a problem, but stratford university has free parking near by and walking distance.

A dining experience not to be missed!

The staff is very attentive and worked to keep us on schedule. The food was excellent and the variety of choices left everyone satisfied. A couple of the people ordered the Early Bird special, which looked very tasty and was a great deal. I had the Persian Minestrone Soup, followed by Pork Chops over Lentils and Lemon Sorbet all was excellent. The rest of our party had fish or Scallops and were equally happy. The bull was exceeding reasonable. All and all a Great Experience.

It was a wonderful evening. We enjoyed the early bird special. It was very very good and an excellent value.

Food was very good. Excellent cocktail. Server was Ernest but clearly inexperienced. For example had to ask for a menu she came to table and said” so we are having the special? “. She tried but could use training

Food was very good and special was great value. The desert was horrible. Had the opera cake. Came to table frozen like a brick. Hard to cut and so cold tasted bland and stale. Understand they make on campus and truck over but it should still by properly thawed and not taste like an old hostess cake. Terriblle for $8

But desert was only downside Would go again and will recommend.

What a lovely evening we had at Atelier….they never disappoint. The staff is always so welcoming. When they introduced the $9.95 two-course dinners with different entrees on each night, we decided we would like to try them all. Wednesday is pasta night, Thursday is chicken night, Friday is fish and Saturday is beef. Each week the entrée changes; and you always have a choice of soup or salad as your first course. So, over the last several weeks, we have tried the entrees offered on each designated night.

Friday was the fish night. The first course was either seafood chowder or a salad. Three of us were completely blown away with the Seafood Chowder. It was loaded with seafood in a delicate cream sauce. The main course was a pan seared salmon, asparagus and rice pilaf. We all agreed it was the best salmon we have ever tasted – it just melted in your mouth. It was so moist and rich in flavor. We were also pleased when Chef Tom came by our table to say hello – a very nice touch. Well, we have to say, it does not matter which night you pick, if they are offering the special, you are in for a treat. Enjoy - we certainly did!

Smiles everywhere, beautiful room, delightful menu and exquisite presentation of delicious food. What more can I say?

After reading the wonderful review in the Sun and on the website we looked forward to going to dinner. The menu was wonderful. There were at least five entrees that I would have liked to have. The students are obviously learning very well Everyone enjoyed each of the dishes he/she ordered. We look forward to going back.

Service was excellent-all the staff were pleasant and we enjoyed speaking with them

Inventive food, beautifully presented. Chef and staff collaborated on a great plate for a friend who must avoid gluten. Extensive wine list for such a small venue, but we were surprised to see a 6-year old Chardonnay. Upon opening, it was quite as frumpy as we’d feared and the server quickly recommended an excellent alternative based upon her experiences with other diners’ tastes, though she said she had little knowledge of wine. Those 2 things indicated to me that more focus on wine is needed. The reason for the loss of a star was that we waited about 45 minutes between starters and main, so couldn’t stay into the 3rd hour for dessert. Good news for next patrons is that I’m quite sure that pacing will be the subject of a lesson very soon. The students are so enthusiastic and made it a great value.

Another perfect evening! Exceptional service, food & atmosphere. We enjoyed appetizers and entrees and topped it off with the outstanding coffee! The consistency of our dining experiences is incredible. Always stellar.

One of Little Italy’s hidden gems is wrapped simply and just off the beaten path, and it is Atelier. This restaurant is is unpretentious and its food genuine. They offer an Early Bird Special – 2 courses - $9.95 – Wednesday thru Saturday from 5:00 to 6:30 PM, and we are working our way thru it.

On Thursday, we met a friend and enjoyed the Thursday Special. They started us off with hot rolls. We had a choice of soup or salad for the first course, and we all chose the most savoury seafood chowder to start – it was loaded with all types of seafood in a delicate broth. Our second course was roasted chicken (2 pieces), served with fresh green beans and mashed potatoes. All served piping hot and delicious. We had a wonderful meal with super service. You really should treat yourself to dinner or brunch at Atelier. It is that good!

My 2nd time dining here and it was almost perfect. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the service was a little slow on this occasion. But otherwise... perfect.

We had the most delightful Wednesday evening at Atelier. This is definitely a hidden gem in Little Italy. Dan, the manager, Chef Tom, and Jenny, our server, were friendly, knowledgeable and professional.

Last night we had the Early Bird Special for Wednesday which was a potato leek soup or a house salad and a pasta course. How lucky were we that they decided to offer two pasta dishes! Our friends choose the house salad which they enjoyed, but did ask for more balsamic dressing. My husband and I both had the potato leek soup – it was velvety and bursting with flavor. For our pasta dishes, each couple had the same - creamy chicken Alfredo over bucatini pasta and the rolled beef braciole stuffed with carrots and cabbage over bucatini pasta. Both dishes were simply delectable and hearty. It was an added bonus when Chef Raimund Hofmeister stopped by our table to greet us. Everything was just perfect.

We had dinner here last Saturday night. It was a little hard to find since they don’t have a real sign out front. We got a table upstairs overlooking the main dining room which was nice and quiet. The service was great and the manager and chef came to our table to talk to us. We started with drinks my wife had a martini and I have an orange crush which was not very good. We shared the Potato Latkes with Vodka and Lemon Dill Cured Wild Salmon and Mussels Mariniere both were great. And for dinner my wife had Roasted Halibut Wrapped in Prosciutto with Stewed Leeks very good. And I had The Marylander's Best Duet the Angus Filet was very good but the Crab cake was just ok not much taste.

food and service where excellent and well executed. thoughtful wine list with sensible pricing and generous pours.

We were delighted to see that the Atelier was offering an Early Bird 2 Course Dinner Special for $9.95. So, we made a reservation on Open Table. We were warmly welcomed by Dan, the general manager, and Jenny who has been our server on other visits. We were completely blown away by what we were offered for the small price of $9.95 each. The first course was either soup (tomato/fennel) or salad. We both chose the house salad. It was a crisp and fresh salad of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onions, fresh croutons; with very light balsamic vinaigrette. The main course was way over the top, it was Beef Bourguignon surrounded by mashed potatoes. The beef was so tender, and the flavor exploded on our palates. We wondered if Chef Tom Pons had Julia Childs in the kitchen with him? Their prices for mixed drinks, beer and wine are very reasonable.

The restaurant will be offering the Early Bird 2 Course Dinners for $9.95 from Wednesday to Saturday from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. On Wednesday, they will serve a pasta dish, Thursday will be Chicken dish, Friday will be a fish dish, and Saturday will be a beef dish.

Now, I ask you, where can you eat in such an elegant setting, with scrumptious food and service for $9.95? You must try this new restaurant out. Their regular menu is so inviting as well. They also offer a Sunday Brunch for $15.00 from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. We highly recommend you treat yourself to a dinner or brunch at Atelier. You will not be disappointed.

Amazing as usual. One of many dinners we’ve had and the consistency in service and quality of food is amazing. Tonight we had an early bird special $9.95 a person, just incredible. The asparagus was amazing and the chicken was fabulous. The presentation of the meal is just so perfect. The asparagus soup was to die for and the coffee is always amazing. Had a cocktail that was made to perfection as well. As usual, the chef visited our table which is always a pleasure. Another perfect evening.