The most famous restaurant in California is undeniably The French Laundry1. Located in the town of Yountville, Napa Valley, ‘The French Laundry’ is a three-Michelin-star French and Californian cuisine restaurant. Its menu starts at the minimum of $350 and easily gets to over $500 per head with drinks and tips. We have failed many times to get a reservation to experience the refined menu of Chef Thomas Keller. When a friend volunteered to organize a group dinner there, no-one in our party of nine needed a second thought. Foodie or not, the French Laundry dining experience is not to be missed.
The Napa Valley hotels were all overpriced. Just a few months ago, we stayed in a hotel at close to $500 a night with an outdoor swimming pool that you didn’t want to swim in. It was an average hotel in an expensive location. Petaluma, within driving distance to Napa Valley wine country, has newer and cheaper hotels. Nestled on the Petaluma river between rolling vineyards and rugged coast, Petaluma of Sonoma County is a picturesque town producing world-class beers and artisan cheeses served in some of the finest restaurants. It would have made a tourist town on its own, if it were not that close to the world renowned Napa Valley wine country.
We arrived in Petaluma in broad daylight with a couple of hours to spare before the French Laundry dinner. There was a Goodwill store, just minutes from our hotel. We went in and it did not take long to conclude there was no good deal. We don’t chase after brand names but there is a special satisfaction to get good deals of brand names at a deep discount in these thrift stores. In the short distance between the Goodwill store and our hotel, I saw the tents. My alert heightened as we saw a couple of homeless men who could jump out onto the road. They did not. They were telling signs of the hopeless homeless problems across the nation. Our hotel is a very new business boutique hotel. Our room was spacious with a stylish sofa, and comfy bedding. It was a warm day and the hotel room was more comfortable than the outside heat. After some rest, we changed outfits to get ready for the French Laundry experience.
Yountville, Napa Valley, is an easy forty minutes drive with little traffic. We strolled in the upscale neighborhood of the French Laundry and checked out the farm of the restaurant. The French Laundry is in a historic stone farmhouse. From the outside, the sign of “The French Laundry” is quite hidden, just like a celebrity who does not want to be discovered. Once discovered, we took tons of pictures before gathering ourselves to enter the restaurant.
Like many Bay Area friend groups, our group is tied to high tech companies in the Bay Area. These high tech companies hire college graduates in batches and then the batches stay in touch to become friend groups which get together occasionally. In gatherings, we make small talks about families, travel, work, property market, home improvement, and share good deals or good connections. We are mostly at peace with our job. No one is forced to work to bring food to the table. I always wonder how lucky we are to have graduated with a Computer Science or equivalent degree, landed a tech job in the prestigious Silicon Valley.
Soon we settled comfortably in our cool and private dining room. True to its class, the hundreds of wine choices were among the most complete and authoritative, if not the most, I have seen in any restaurant. We were not much of a drinker and ordered a bottle for the party of nine. The wine was very good. Our servers were well-groomed, attentive, and they came in groups to ensure that everyone was served at the same time for every dish. It is the small thing that differentiates a top restaurant. For each dish, one of the servers would meticulously explain the ingredients, the unique sauce and sometimes the story. They were the A team made up of a mix of gender, and races. I particularly remembered a tall black guy, a white guy with broad shoulders and the female servers were petite in comparison. Every time the group of servers came in, there was a tiny air of intrusion. The service was as flawless as the restaurant’s reputation, but could have a bit more personal touch.
The fixed menu followed a traditional tasting menu of appetizers, fish and meat, desserts plus a few special of the day chef special to surprise us. There was a Mac-and-Cheese upgrade option that would make it arguably the most expensive Mac & Cheese. There was the Japanese Wagyu upgrade which made it more expensive than a fine steakhouse.
The Oysters and Pearls was a beauty where pearls, made from tapioca and caviar, paired perfectly with twin oysters were served in pale gold creamy sauce. It was arguably the most memorable appetizer on the menu. The Garden Lettuce Salad, made with a variety of fresh ingredients, had an eye-catching biscuit in a curly shape of “W”, and was served on a charcoal-colored plate with subtle gold lines. The artistry made it an elegant dish. The other two appetizers were of high quality too.
The Atlantic halibut, served in a colorful mix of shapely ingredients, had just that fishy smell that mildly showed when the fish was not a fresh catch. We were far from the Atlantic and it made me wonder where there was a miss in the many steps between the sea and the table. The Calotte de boeuf (beef with carrots) was perfectly fine but was missing something special. I wonder if the chef may have put more creativity on the $135 Japanese Wagyu upgrade. The applewood smoked quail was perfectly matched with its double serving plates, both with bird images in green bushes. Served with red rhubarb and carmelized onions, the quail dish was my favorite. Overall, the fish and meat portion in the menu was either a slight disappointment or missing something to write home about.
The array of delicious desserts was a joy to the eyes, and to my sweet tooth. There could not be a better ending until the servers packed us a bag of sweets to take home with. A week after the fine dining, I was still able to entertain my guilty pleasure with a small bite of the chocolate desserts.
The kitchen tour after the dinner was so quick that we just had time for a couple of pictures. The heat in the kitchen did not make it a good place to stay, but maybe we could still linger a bit longer. We did not meet Chef Keller, nor had time to thank the hard-working crews serving the many amazing dishes. Compared to the Noma2 restaurant experience in Copenhagen years ago, the French Laundry crew displayed a sense of pride but not quite the passion and joy that was naturally exhibited by the Noma crew.
When we got out of the kitchen with our take-home treats, the afternoon heat was gone. There was the shining full moon.
On our way back, it was dark. We got busied discussing how well the French Launch has lived up to the Michelin’s three star ratings. We forgot the Goodwill thrift store, and no longer noticed the homeless’ tents just a few minutes’ away from the hotel.
We checked off the French Laundry on our bucket list.
1. The French laundry has been a three-star Michelin restaurant since 2007, for over 15 years? One star: A very good restaurant in its category. Two stars: Excellent cooking, worth a detour. Three stars: Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey
2. Noma is a three-Michelin-star restaurant run by chef René Redzepi. In 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014, it was ranked as the Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant magazine. In 2021 it won the first spot in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards.[8]
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