Each night, two well-dressed staff members from the restaurant lower the American flag and fold in an almost military and immaculate fashion. So after all the hype and history, we arrived at a stunning location with a huge open garden area over the road from the French Laundry, owned by the restaurant. Hence, this is a very difficult place to get a space, let alone near when you want it, unless you live in the area and are a regular, according to our Uber driver. After refreshing and checking soon after for any other tables at random on any day in Jul, I could not find any other available. Payment was made with pre-loaded details within seconds thereafter and $700 dollars was paid in full with the table for 2 booked. SH******T!!! Ok, emergency measures, lunch on 2 Jul anytime (probably no more than 3 more seconds), one table remaining – “I will TAKE IT!!” was the overriding out-loud shout. Dinner, same day (3 seconds later) – no spaces, all taken. This is how that went:ġ7:59 and 58 seconds, 17:59 and 59 seconds and 18:00 precisely, I refreshed the booking page, selected lunch on 1 July within 3 seconds – no spaces. ![]() I needed a table on 1 Jul and could only book this at the stroke of 6pm (GMT) on 1 May 18 for which I had already created a Tock account (required), credit card details for the non-refundable payment in full already uploaded and made sure I was in an environment with a minimum of 60 MB per second internet strength (very fast). To explain, the online reservation calendars go live for fresh reservations at the start of each month up to a maximum of 2 months ahead (although this seems to have now changed to 4 months ahead). It always was one of the most difficult restaurants to gain access to and its new look has only made this process seemingly more difficult than ever. ![]() The building is actually a stone cottage built in 1900 prior to being an actual steam laundry and residence, hence its name. In March 2018 it had a 10 million-dollar refurbishment for the kitchen, garden and private dining area and is undeniably beautiful. The fact that Per Se (Thomas Keller’s New York based restaurant) was awarded 3 Michelin stars a year prior in 2006 will no doubt have turned Michelin’s attention very much to this restaurant having been owned by Thomas Keller since 1994. When Michelin first came to San Francisco and the Bay area in 2007 it awarded The French Laundry 3 Michelin stars and these have been retained ever since. The French Laundry sits in the absolutely gorgeous and chocolate box setting of Yountville, one of Napa Valley’s 7 main towns and perhaps the most alluring. I would also say if you are wanting to propose to someone and want way better odds for a good result, no matter what the cost, this would be the perfect venue for you. if you want to bypass the history, booking process, scenery details and wine list and head straight to the menu run down). Dishes wise I would put this just straying in to ‘true’ 2 Michelin starred meal territory for reasons at the expansion button (friendly warning: this is a lengthy review, please scroll to the 7th Para. I will elaborate on all in the full review as usual but essentially, I walked away having had a lovely time from some of the best people in the industry, but feeling overly bloated and out of pocket for a meal as a result.Īs a summary I do now believe you are paying for where you are rather than the food as the primary and that the price tag was basically close to elitist and unnecessary in parts. Those are my abiding memories of this visit to one of America’s cherished venues from arguably their most celebrated chef, Thomas Keller. ![]() Incredibly difficult to get in to, a gorgeous setting, wonderful hospitality, extremely rich, French cuisine and officially the most expensive meal I have ever had in my life at just under $1,300 for dinner for two (this is with a very moderate wine selection). 3 Michelin starred modern French cuisine from Thomas Keller set in picturesque Napa Valley
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