After a busy day of wine tasting at Beringer and Sterling vineyards, our appetites were primed and ready for the main event of our trip, The French Laundry. Funny story about getting a reservation here… months in advance, I had booked a table after hearing how difficult it was to make a reservation. Upon talking to our group and looking at the price of the menu, we decided not to go. About a month before our trip, we began talking to others who had gone to Napa and they were incredulous that foodies such as us were going to skip the mecca of gastronomy. Feeling foolish about our decision, I frantically attempted to re-acquire my reservation to no avail. The restaurant was solidly booked and I felt like a fool. The host then offered to take down my name and number on a waiting list in case a cancellation occurred. It turned out that I had stupidly forgot to cancel! I guess my mouth out-thought my brain on this one and so voila, we made it to The French Laundry after all.
For me, the biggest challenge was to forget about the price and judge the food upon taste itself. The first thing that separates this restaurant from others is that the service is top notch. I must say that both The French Laundry and their eastern counterpart, PerSe, have efficient service but west coast wins for warmth and sincerity without the distinct snobby air that we felt at PerSe. From the moment we sat down, it was like a choreographed dance as the servers came in pairs and laid the plates on the table in perfect synchronicity. The one qualm I had with dinner was that it took a super long time (around 4 hours). There was a bit too much lag time between each course but when the food came out, it was delicious. Unfortunately, nothing was out-of-this-world and I didn’t have any “magical moments” like tasting the Panna Cotta at Ad Hoc or the Live Scallops at the Slanted Door.
Each day there are two unique menus to choose from: tasting of vegetables and the chef’s tasting menu (both the same price), obvious for those who know J, we had the latter!
The evening kicked off with their signature amuse bouche (pictured top left corner) and bread from Bouchon Bakery, yum! Then the first course was Royal Ossetra Caviar (with soft-scrambled Jidori Hen Egg) or you could opt for Oysters and Pearls which was my preference (not pictured). Below is the different salts you can use to season your butter or oil. I myself used the Jurassic Salt (named Jurassic as it is over a million years old)…
The Foie Gras w/ Brioche was very good BUT, I wish that it was actual foie gras rather than cold paté. Ironically, the brioche stole the spotlight for me while the paté, albeit good, played the roll of butter. Ouch! Also pictured above: Salad of Hawaiian Hearts of Palm and Robiola Tre Latti (bacon-caramelized onion ravioli)
Every dish was delicious and I was very impressed by the Duck which was tender and flavorful. They managed to cook it without having it smell like every other duck I’ve had in my life. However, my favorite dish was the flat iron steak which was so tender, it melted in my mouth. The surf was oddly nothing extraordinary despite sounding mouth-watering on paper (e.g. “sweet butter-poached main lobster mitts”)… sigh, sometimes imagination out-tastes reality!
One of the things that I loved about this restaurant was that the staff was not snooty at all. To be honest, I get a bit apprehensive whenever I go to a nice restaurant and it was refreshing to see that while quality and standards were high, the people were still very friendly. From the manager of the restaurant to our server, they were all very pleasant. Desert below: Champagne Sorbet, Lemongrass Crémeux and Mousse au Chocolat Blanc
Our dinner started at 7:45 but we were still there at 11:30. The overly long time spent in the restaurant killed our energy a bit and my one recommendation would be to have less time between courses. At the end of the dinner, the manager of the restaurant, a fellow Canadian, gave us a tour of the kitchen and explained how the service worked, etc. It was interesting to hear that at the end of the night, the staff gathers together and creates a menu for the next night’s service before going home. I would be too exhausted to even think about doing something like that but it shows how hard these guys work to produce great food. The kitchen also had a monitor that showed a live feed of PerSe in New York but the kitchen was empty as it was 2:30 AM eastern time.
Overall, the service was excellent and the food was very good but not exceptional. I went in hoping for something extraordinary where I would remember a specific dish for the rest of my life but that did not happen. Perhaps we were too tired from the day of wine tasting as well as the 4 hour dinner. I honestly have nothing bad to say about The French Laundry but nothing praiseworthy to say either besides the great people that work there. I think the main reason I dined here was to have tried the best of Napa but now, I probably would not go back. I know I said I would judge on taste alone and ignore price but in reality, that’s easier said than done. I honestly felt like the food at Ad Hoc or Babbo (although can we really compare apples to oranges? Generally speaking I guess…) is just as good if not better yet costs only a fraction of The French Laundry therefore, they would most likely get my frequent return business where as The French Laundry was more like a one time trial. My school of thought does not prioritize cost as much as my partner in crime, but I must say that I whole-heartedly agree; my attitude is that I’ve “been there, done that” and now it’s on to the next…I still had a great experience there and I would recommend it to anyone that is thinking about checking it out.
The French Laundry: 707.944.2380
6640 Washington St. Yountville, CA
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