french laundry restaurant napa valley reservations

One of the butters was called ‘Animal Farm’. It was time then to consume some of the exceptional bread, which was served with a choice of butters. The gougeres, in particular, tasted so much better than at Per Se we greedily gulped them down with the first sips of champagne. Settling in with a bottle of 2004 Champagne Henri Goutorbe from Ay (apparently it was a champagne that required agreement from 26 different French champagne producers to see the light) we snacked on the same amuse bouches as Per Se, the smoked salmon and creme fraiche ‘ice cream cones’ (the cone is a black sesame tuille) and the cheese gougeres.

The peg motif (laundry … get it?) is featured everywhere (see the picture, above). The room in which Greedy Girl and gluttonous husband very excitedly sat down for lunch still has part of the original stone wall built in 1893. The restaurant stands on the site of one of the earliest buildings in the area. The menus are very similar to Per Se and include a host of Keller’s signature dishes. It’s not the biggest restaurant (and that explains why it’s so hard to get a table) and there’s almost as many staff as patrons. While Per Se, at NYC’s Columbus Circle has taken the gastronomic honours (in terms of world rankings) in recent years, The French Laundry has remained a foodie mecca. Keller also has a number of other outlets in the town – Ad Hoc, Bouchon and the Bouchon Bakery where gluttonous husband queued up on another occasion to get the chance to purchase a croissant and a pain aux raisins, but I digress. In the last San Pellegrino list, it was still ranked in the world’s top 50, coming in at #44 – rising three places from the year before.

At one point it was the top-rated restaurant in the world. Helmed by chef Thomas Keller, who has a significant influence on the town of Yountville, just north of ‘downtown’ Napa, The French Laundry is about to celebrate 20 years of operation. Greedy Girl and gluttonous husband were delighted, thanks to the relentless efforts on speed dial of a San Francisco-based friend, to get a lunchtime table at The French Laundry, a temple of gastronomy.

It’s one of the toughest reservations in the foodie world to get. Reviews The French Laundry, Napa, California – destination fine dining

French laundry restaurant napa valley reservations