French Laundry
6640 Washington St
Creek St.
Yountville, California 94599
USA
Phone: 707-944-2380
Creek St.
Yountville, California 94599
USA
Phone: 707-944-2380
| Food | 5 |
| Service | 5 |
| Ambiance | 5 |
| Overall: | 5 |
Location & Nearby Info
Mustard's Grill0.09 mi
Pancha's of Yountville0.17 mi
Hotel Luca0.18 mi
Napa Valley Grille0.19 mi
Gordon's Cafe and Wine Bar0.19 mi
Bouchon0.21 mi
Napa Valley Lodge0.22 mi
Cucina A La Carte0.22 mi
Vintage Inn0.23 mi
Cuisine:
French Laundry Description:
Thomas Keller's (chef/owner) French Laundry has been consistently rated in the three best restaurants in the country by Gourmet Magazine. Securing reservations is extremely difficult because of the small size of the restaurant.
There are few restaurants where dining inspires a pilgrimage. Since its opening in 1994, The French Laundry's vortex compels zealots from around the world. Many document their odyssey here be it by snapshot or blog, relaying every detail from the hard-to-score reservation, to the journey beyond the blue door. Each bite is recalled in slo-mo detail to those who live to hear about it and sigh, anticipating their own someday passage into culinary adulthood. The wizardry unfolds inside an understated French country sanctum where nine-course prix-fixe meals are executed in Harry Potter fashion---one wonders if the perfect execution isn't magic? A tour of the kitchen after service finds no evidence of the long hours spent toiling to create the experience---this engine is steamed clean. Timothy Hollingsworth is now the chef de cuisine. Behold the "oysters and pearls," sabayon of pearl tapioca with Island Creek oysters and white sturgeon caviar. Nantucket Bay scallops "poêlées" are complemented with sunchokes, Niçoise olives, apricots, broccolini and Piment d'Espelette essence. The Marcho Farms nature-fed veal pairs with baby beets, Brussels sprouts, La Ratte potato purée, horseradish crème fraîche and sauce borscht. Desserts have included the Dark & Stormy, pineapple sorbet, spiced gingerbread and Gros Michel bananas; and the opera cake, praline "namelaka," milk granité and coffee ice cream. The cheese cart makes a detour; instead, the cheese course is composed and presented in the same labor-intensive fashion as the rest of the meal. Servers have telepathic powers; they are intuitive, scrupulously precise and deliberately paced, allowing you to soak in the three or four hour experience that, alas, seems to vanish all too soon.
Reviews of French Laundry
French Laundry is SO not worth what they charge you. by aanraku
2008-09-17 01:41:57.0
2008-09-17 01:41:57.0
Overall
Food
Service
Ambiance
Review :
We dined with a party of ten in Sept. 2006 and 2007. At our 2007 seating they forgot the promised birthday cake and 5 of the 9 dishes were the same as the previous year. When we emailed and asked them to vary the menu, they called us personally and said, "If you don't like what I serve, don't come." We cancelled and will now dine at Gary Danko's in S.F., a much better restaurant. French Laundry is SO not worth what they charge you.
We dined with a party of ten in Sept. 2006 and 2007. At our 2007 seating they forgot the promised birthday cake and 5 of the 9 dishes were the same as the previous year. When we emailed and asked them to vary the menu, they called us personally and said, "If you don't like what I serve, don't come." We cancelled and will now dine at Gary Danko's in S.F., a much better restaurant. French Laundry is SO not worth what they charge you.