French Laundry

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Exterior of The French Laundry

The French Laundry is a 62-person gourmet restaurant located in Yountville, California, in Napa Valley. The chef and owner of the French Laundry is Thomas Keller, who is also involved in the restaurants of Bouchon, in Napa Valley, and per se, in New York City. Notable alumni of the French Laundry's kitchen staff include Jonathan Benno (of per se), Grant Achatz (of Alinea), Ron Siegel (of Charles Nob Hill), and many others.

1 History of the building
2 Food
3 Reservations
4 Awards and accolades
5 External links

[edit] History of the building

The building was built as a saloon in the 1900s by a Scottish stonesman for Pierre Guillaume. A law was passed in 1906 prohibiting sale of alcohol within a mile of a veterans home. This caused Guillaume to sell the building.

In the 1920s the building was owned by John Lande who used it as a french steam laundry.

In 1978 the mayor of Yountville renovated the building into a restaurant. Don and Sally Schmidt owned the French Laundry for much of the 80s, and the early nineties. Even then it was the type of restaurant where reservations were difficult to get; and celebrities, and at least one president, had dinner.^{[citation needed]} In 1994 Keller bought the restaurant, and kept the name, the French Laundry.

[edit] Food

There are three menus daily. Each is $240 (as of 2007) including service. One is a prix fixe menu; the second is a tasting menu, and the third is a vegetable tasting menu. During the holiday season, the restaurant may offer special dishes that would not otherwise be on the menu.

Tasting menus consist of between five and eleven dishes, often with some optional courses (for example white truffles, foie gras or Wagyu beef or black truffles) for about $30 more to $60 - a "supplement." Unadvertised, but available by arrangement, is a special tasting menu with approximately twenty courses at about $400. Thomas Keller's per se in New York shares a similar menu and pricing structure.

The food is mainly contemporary American with French influences, often based upon American food concepts and phrases but prepared according to high French culinary preparations, but draws upon the entire planet for inspiration. Most of the dishes are culinarily extravagant and dramatically presented with a staff ready and willing to discuss each dish's ingredients. The staff moves in synchronization and throws in special touches like presenting various butters, noting various types of salts and bringing truffles out in special made boxes to add to the effect of the occasion.

The dishes are served in either seven or nine courses. While ingredients such as 100-year-old balsamic vinegar are sourced world wide, Thomas Keller is also a champion of local family owned producers of high-quality produce, meats and other ingredients, including produce from the French Laundry's garden across the street and breads from down the road. Thomas Keller's philosophy is a diversity and progression of small dishes with a variety of tastes and aesthetics (similar to kaiseki cuisine). An extended meal can stretch to as long as six hours, with a break suggested midway to relax in the French Laundry's garden weather allowing. An average meal takes 3.5 to four hours.

Dishes are typically innovative and laborious to prepare, with many bearing whimsical names. Signatures dishes include Oysters and Pearls (oyster and caviar served on warm savory pearl tapioca custard), Surf and Turf (lobster tail with sauteed foie gras), Peas and Carrots (lobster knuckle meat wrapped in a pancake with carrot and butter emulsion sauce and pea shoots), Coffee and Doughnuts (miniature fried doughnuts with a small demitasse of espresso), and Yabba-Dabba-Doo (bone-in beef ribeye with crispy potatoes and prunes).

[edit] Reservations

Reservations are accepted 2 months to the calendar date. The reservations line is open from 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m, Pacific Time, although reservations are normally full within a couple hours of opening. The reservations line does not take messages, and is almost always busy. The French Laundry also has a limited presence on OpenTable, making two tables available for 5:30 pm, and one at 9:15 pm.

The restaurant is also available for private parties of 8-10 guests, or the entire facility can be rented for up to 62 people.

[edit] Awards and accolades

This vegetable tasting menu was one of three menus available for Sunday December 4, 2005 (click to enlarge)

2007, Michelin Guide, Three Stars
2006, three stars in the Michelin guide's first-ever ranking of the SF Bay Area
2005-2006, "Best Restaurant in the Americas," Restaurant (Magazine) Top 50.
2005-1999, Five-Star Award, Mobil Travel Guide
2004-2003, "Best Restaurant in the World," Restaurant (Magazine) Top 50.
2003, "Outstanding Service Award," James Beard Foundation
2003-1998, Voted #1 - Top Food, Zagat Guide to the Bay Area
2002 Awarded the top honor of World Master of Culinary Arts 2001, a 1st annual award given by Wedgwood
2001, "America's Best Chef," Time Magazine
2001, Outstanding Wine Service Award, James Beard Foundation
2000, "Favorite Restaurant in the U.S.," Food & Wine Restaurant Experts' Poll
2000, Inducted into "Who's Who in Food & Beverage," James Beard Foundation