French Laundry
6640 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599
707.944.2380
frenchlaundry.com
The first time I dined at French Laundry, it was not a pleasant experience. I had just returned from Europe, had terrible jetlag and started popping caffeine pills at about 3 in the afternoon in hopes I would be awake through what promised to be a marvelous dinner.
By the time arrived at the restaurant about 7 p.m., I had the equivalent of 12 or so cups of coffee's worth of caffeine. The room was spinning and the last thing on my mind was food. Thank goodness my companion had a healthy appetite as he ended up eating his tasting menu and mine too.
So I had to return for a "real" French Laundry experience.
French Laundry offers two nine-course menus per evening - a vegetable tasting menu and the chef's tasting menu. Each is the same price - $270 per person including gratuity. Wine pairings are not offered, which is something that's bothered me about this restaurant, but there is an extensive wine list, and a decent selection of bottles under $150. I ordered the vegetable tasting, but substituted one course from the chef's menu that was vegetarian. The bill for two came to $845. Overall, the food had good flavors, but the balance was off - some courses were very light, other courses the parts didn't work together, and one course was so heavy it was difficult to consider moving on to dessert.
A substitution from the chef's tasting menu - a salad of Fuyu persimmon with salt-baked turnip, five-spice "pearls", and a sesame crisp.
Salad of roasted salsify with quail egg, pain de champagne, black trumpet mushrooms, tardivo radicchio and oxalis.
Butternut squash porridge with parmesan, Sicilian pistachios and black truffle. Sadly, the truffle flavor was lost.
This dish - Hawaiian hearts of palm - contained so many different parts it appeared it was three dishes in one, with neither meant to complement the other. There were cranberry beans, kale, peppers, Meyer lemon, thyme oil and sauce "Pimenton".
This mascarpone-enriched chestnut agnolotti had lovely flavors with the pomegranate seeds, but it was extremely heavy and seemed out of balance with the rest of the meal.
The desserts were lovely. I substituted a chocolate torte off of the chef's menu and that was followed up by a selection of chocolate truffles. There was also a little gift bag of shortbread cookies to take home.
Service here is relaxed - perhaps overly so. My server spent a lengthy time talking about her upcoming holiday trip with the couple at the next table over. Her voice carried through the restaurant. This is also not a restaurant you are likely to find satisfying for the money if you have experience with dining at a Pierre Gagnaire or an Alain Passard restaurant or even in lesser-hyped restaurants in California. I prefer Manresa over French Laundry in a heartbeat.
6640 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599
707.944.2380
frenchlaundry.com
The first time I dined at French Laundry, it was not a pleasant experience. I had just returned from Europe, had terrible jetlag and started popping caffeine pills at about 3 in the afternoon in hopes I would be awake through what promised to be a marvelous dinner.
By the time arrived at the restaurant about 7 p.m., I had the equivalent of 12 or so cups of coffee's worth of caffeine. The room was spinning and the last thing on my mind was food. Thank goodness my companion had a healthy appetite as he ended up eating his tasting menu and mine too.
French Laundry offers two nine-course menus per evening - a vegetable tasting menu and the chef's tasting menu. Each is the same price - $270 per person including gratuity. Wine pairings are not offered, which is something that's bothered me about this restaurant, but there is an extensive wine list, and a decent selection of bottles under $150. I ordered the vegetable tasting, but substituted one course from the chef's menu that was vegetarian. The bill for two came to $845. Overall, the food had good flavors, but the balance was off - some courses were very light, other courses the parts didn't work together, and one course was so heavy it was difficult to consider moving on to dessert.
Salad of roasted salsify with quail egg, pain de champagne, black trumpet mushrooms, tardivo radicchio and oxalis.
This dish - Hawaiian hearts of palm - contained so many different parts it appeared it was three dishes in one, with neither meant to complement the other. There were cranberry beans, kale, peppers, Meyer lemon, thyme oil and sauce "Pimenton".
The desserts were lovely. I substituted a chocolate torte off of the chef's menu and that was followed up by a selection of chocolate truffles. There was also a little gift bag of shortbread cookies to take home.
Service here is relaxed - perhaps overly so. My server spent a lengthy time talking about her upcoming holiday trip with the couple at the next table over. Her voice carried through the restaurant. This is also not a restaurant you are likely to find satisfying for the money if you have experience with dining at a Pierre Gagnaire or an Alain Passard restaurant or even in lesser-hyped restaurants in California. I prefer Manresa over French Laundry in a heartbeat.
