Napa Valley + French Laundry = Oh My!

I am not a restaurant reviewer but I am a pretty experienced diner. I am guessing most of you are too. But, this isn’t a restaurant review. It’s more, well, sharing my personal and professional impressions about dining at one America’s finest restaurants located in one of the world’s most beautiful areas.

Chef Thomas Keller’s French Laundry is a French restaurant located in Yountville, California, in Napa Valley. Chef Keller purchased the building and opened French Laundry in 1992. The rest is history, or legend, depending on how you view culinary wizardry; and because the restaurant has consistently earned three stars since 2006 from the Michelin Guide. Not an easy task.

While I have known of the French Laundry for years, I have never had the pleasure of dining there. It’s one of those items on my restaurant bucket list. This all started when friends asked if I knew how to “get a coveted reservation” without waiting six months. It’s really not that long, but that’s part of the legend. So, sure, if I was going to ask a favor, I was coming too. Not to mention, my wife would leave me if I went without her. That’s a “party of six please”.

How we lost four of our original six just two weeks before the reservation is an entirely different story. Suffice it to say, we had little difficulty replacing them and ended up with a nice manageable four-top at the French Laundry, Monday, March 22nd, 7:30 PM.

Environment
In my opinion Napa Valley is the most beautiful part of California, so it’s hard not to have fun. There’s wine there! The whole concept of drinking shots of wine, getting in your car, then drinking shots of wine, getting in your car, then drinking shots of wine is insane. But, we all do it, very happily. Napa Valley was meant for food + wine.

Food
French Laundry offers a nine course tasting menu, as well as a nine course vegetarian option, which is a nice touch. It’s prix fixe at $250 per person, plus wine and tax. That's not a surprise, but expectations were high, as they should be. $250 does include service, however.

Chef Keller’s food was truly amazing and beautifully presented over 3 ½ hours. All 9 courses met our expectations, were delicious and in one teary-eyed moment, it exceeded them. Can you say Pork Belly! I could go on but you get the picture. It's a lovely, well conceived, fresh, artfully arranged menu and after 9 courses, I fully expected the fine dining food hangover. But, not here, thankfully. This screams quality, balance, talent and thoughtfulness. Service ended with a tray of chocolate treats. Appreciated, but left on the table. Nine is enough.

Service
I’m a service hound so this is generally where I tend to find cracks in perfection. While I appreciate the notion of service personnel being invisible, attentive, knowledgeable and efficient, I was underwhelmed. The French Laundry seemed to operate on cruise control; meaning it is smooth and seamless to the guest but rather mechanical. While the dining room was beautiful and all French-country, it was the coolness of the servers that concerned me. Beginning with the lack of appropriate greeting by the hostess to the delivery of the check, I experienced very little personality and almost no engagement. Maybe it’s Keller’s service philosophy at work here, that being in the background and not being part of the dinner party rules - be the server, not a fifth to a four-top. But, personally I appreciate engagement and warmth, even in fine dining restaurants. The service team was efficient and proficient, attentive and mechanical. So, while they did their jobs efficiently, service lacked the welcoming and warmth I expected, one that I feel is indicative of a French family home in the country.

Ambiance
It’s perfect - nothing out of place. Imagine your perfect fantasy retirement restaurant, where you are the owner and host; weekend nights mostly. It’s the culmination of your 30 years in the business, so you know what you really hate about restaurants by now and here, it just doesn’t exit. In this shared fantasy, it’s a small 80-seat restaurant in the middle of a garden with fresh herbs, annuals, perennials, aromatic blossoms and green grass in a courtyard so neatly trimmed it looks fake. It's not. Nothing is out of place. Not a chip of paint, blade of grass or tree is out of order.

It's Perfect…at $100 an hour, per person. :-))

Tags: French Laundry, French laundry review, Napa Valley

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Comment by John Paul Khoury,ACF/CCC on March 31, 2010 at 11:04pm: It's really a matter of going beyond expectation to create a sense of satisfaction and contentment. I got the same feeling as I got at the Laundry coming out of a pizza parlor where the beer was cold, the friends were fun, and the pizza was really good- $25. Not to say it was at the same level, it was the same FEELING. It met and exceeded my expectations for what it was supposed to be. This I feel is the keywhether a burger is being flipped or a tourchon is being made.

Comment by John Paul Khoury,ACF/CCC on March 31, 2010 at 11:02pm: It's really a matter of going beyond expectation to create a sense of satisfaction and contentment. I got the same feeling coming out of a pizza parlor where the beer was cold, the friends were fun, and the pizza was really good- $25. I met and exceeded my expectations for what it was supposed to be. This I feel is the keywhether a burger is being flipped or a tourchon is being made.

Comment by P. Tsaldari on March 31, 2010 at 10:50pm: Such a well written piece, enjoyed it so much. Chef Keller is such an amazing person and it resonates throughout the FL as well as Per Se. He has raised the bar and will continue to be a tremendous influence on both diners as well as those who aspire! Wonderful article, Many thanks,
Penelope

Comment by Nate Bagley on March 30, 2010 at 2:14pm: I guess the real question is how to recreate an experience like this in any establishment. Obviously, you have to work with what you've got... but creating an unforgettable experience for customers is something every business should be focused on.

Comment by Michael L. Atkinson on March 26, 2010 at 8:22am: Well, that's the restaurant business isn't it. While we all strive for consistency and flawless execution, we miss from time to time. And Chef Bronson is right, it is the experience and what one makes of it.

Comment by Ken Monnens on March 25, 2010 at 8:32pm: The French Laundry is an amazing experience that I've enjoyed a couple of times each year since Chef Keller bought the place. I've always found the staff to be professional, gracious and friendly. And, I'd say the same for Per Se.

Comment by John Paul Khoury,ACF/CCC on March 25, 2010 at 1:53pm: My disgreement was not with Chef Bronson, it was on the initial service experience in the body.

Comment by John Paul Khoury,ACF/CCC on March 25, 2010 at 1:51pm: Now I disagree a bit. Although not every course blew me away -in fact one just did not work for me, we found the servers to be chamellions(sp?) We were actually in a jockular mood and we got that back from the waiter and the sommelier. I even tongue and cheeked our waiter on why they needed to go to NY to get their foie when the superior product was being produced right up the road! -of course we bantered. I found the service really the highlight when we were there and found it professional, engaging, and hospitible at the same time.

Comment by Henry Bronson on March 25, 2010 at 12:01pm: The place is great. I like Bouchon better because I like to laugh, put my elbows on the table etc.
Chef Keller's French Laundry is the epitome of grand luxe restaurant. The depth of training, respect for ingredients and the consistent outstanding quality are all legendary.
I found the servers a bit stiff, but when they presented the 2 butters (one salted from Napa- Straus? , the other unsalted from Diane St. Clair's Animal Farm in Orwell, VT) and I asked the names of the cows from VT (Lulu & Pansy...) 'cause I am a pain like that, the server found out. After that, it was all jokes. Hey it is just dinner, after all. Even at $100/hour.
I remember a 5 hour lunch at Roger Verge's where the ending was a champagne tour of the kitchen & garden with the Chef himself.
The experience is what you make of it.

Comment by Phyllis Ann Marshall on March 25, 2010 at 6:52am: Making the guest connection is vital to the value perception and effects the total experience more than any other factor. The sense that the staff is on "cruise control" often comes with a set menu, a sense of repetition where staff goes on automatic. A good manager can sense when service staff and dining room energy is low and help shift gears and create the connection.