The French Laundry

On Sunday, August 26th, we had the great fortune of dining at The French Laundry.  At the suggestion of Peter and Rose who traveled from far and wide to visit us, after making over 97 phone calls and 3 days of clicking "find a table", I secured an 11:00am reservation for our gastronomic ride of a lifetime.

We decided to spend the weekend in Napa, and getting ready at our hotel that morning felt a bit like Christmas....or preparing for a competitive sporting event...or prom. (maybe with less jitters)  

We were greeted at the door and shown to our table upstairs, at which point I think we all began to feel a little fidgety and nervous.  Where do I put my hands?  Are there things we shouldn't talk about here? How am I going to stop looking like a googley-eyed bobble-head and pull it together?  Gosh I hope I don't spill anything.  So, I decided we should take a photo.  Say "cheese"...

I digress.
There were two main options presented: the Chef's Tasting Menu, or the Vegetarian Tasting Menu.  We all chose the Chef's menu, and for the most part, when given the option between two items, we generally chose two of each so we could taste everything. 

We decided to celebrate and take the edge off with a glass of bubbles from Schramsberg, made especially for the French Laundry.  It was just what we needed...and shortly thereafter arrived our first bite of the day to begin our culinary journey....  

Smoked salmon and creme fraiche cone

Oysters and Pearls-
"Sabayon" of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and White Sturgeon Caviar

Salad of French Laundry Garden Cucumber-
Yellow Peach, Candied Peanuts, Lemon Verbena, Espelette, Mizuna and Garden Blossoms

A variety of lovely mini-breads from Bouchon Bakery, also a Thomas Keller creation, and also in Yountville

Eggs Benedict-
Guanicale, "Thomas" English Muffin, "Sauce Hollandaise, Red Ribbon Sorrel...(pictured here before the addition of)...

...Shaved Australian Black Truffle.  (The truffles had their own security guard!)

"Pave" of Mediterranean Turbot-
"Byaldi", Cherry Tomatoes, Petite Squash, Greek Basil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Emulsion

Sweet Butter-Poached Maine Lobster Tail-
Black Eyed Peas, Ground Cherry, Frisee and Brentwood Corn Consomme

At this point we kindly asked our server if we could take a short intermission, which he graciously allowed us, so we walked around their garden across the street for a bit.  It's a lovely garden, with happy chickens, and beautiful fruits and vegetables.  Approximately 80% of the produce served in the restaurant is straight from that garden.  Love it!

Feeling re-energized from the fresh air and moving around, we continued on.  I should note that there are approximately 2 staff members to each guest in the restaurant.  With each course, our dishes arrived being carried by 4 different people, placed before us in unison, as if choreographed.  Side note: I'm not going to describe how delicious or amazing each dish was, because honestly I could be writing this blog post forever (you can already see how long it has taken me).  Just know, it was pretty much all 'melt-your-face-off' good. 

Four Story Hill Farm "Cuisse De Poularde"-
Hobbs' Bacon, Filet Beans, Black Mission Figs and Sylvetta Arugula

49 Day Dry-Aged Snake River Farms Beef-
La Ratte Potatoes, Sweet Peppers, Nantes Carrots and Padron Pepper Aioli

Elysian Fields Lamb Rib-Eye-
"Ricotta Gnudi", Globe Artichokes, Tardivo Racicchio, Parsley and Moroccan Olive

Andante Diary "Acapella"-
Fennel Pollen Madeleine, Baby Beets, Nectarine, "Ficoide Glaciale" (ice lettuce) and Pine Nuts

"Champagne Grapes"-
Purple Champagne "Granite", Anise Soda and Concord Grape Sorbet

Clockwise, from left: Gelato, "Chocolate Pudding Pie", Strawberries and Custard, Blueberry "Cheesecake". (Just to clarify, we did not each get all of these desserts.  There were two options on the Chef's tasting menu, and two options on the vegetarian tasting menu, so we ordered one of each.  Why not, right?)

And just when we thought it was over...out came a box of fantastic, gorgeous, shiny little chocolate truffles of various flavors for us to choose from!  

From the left: Mint Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Hazelnut, Peanut Butter and Jelly....and... our minds were so blown by the PB&J truffle, that I don't even remember what flavors the last two were!

 ....And somehow the surprise desserts still kept coming....

"Coffee and Donuts"-
(The espresso cup actually contained a velvety smooth mousse-like custard)

We volunteered Rose to ask for a tour of the kitchen in her most posh British accent, and they graciously obliged.  Brian (our stellar server) escorted us to the kitchen, where we gaped at the efficiency, cleanliness and silence around us.  It was seriously spotless, and their copper pots & pans look like they get polished with love on a daily basis (I can not tell you the last time I polished our copper pots).  There were numerous people busy at work, and it was shockingly quiet.  Then we had the pleasure of meeting the Chef de Cuisine, Tim, who was also very gracious to chat with us as if he had nowhere else to be.  

Needless to say, we had an experience of a lifetime.  It was such a gorgeous day, and so fun to share this with some of our most favorite people, who also happen to be our family.  We left giddy, happy, a little buzzed from a sugar high, full, but (shockingly) not stuffed, and so thankful that we had the opportunity to do this.  And to cap it off in style, we left our 5-hour lunch with souvenirs in hand, excited for one last photo-op, when Brian (server extraordinaire) jogged out of the restaurant to find us, calming stating "hey guys, I'm sorry to say we actually need to keep the pens.  If I don't get them back, I get charged $40 per pen."  (Awesome. We're a classy bunch.)