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Chef's
Table
| Chef's
Profile
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Cappuccino
Semifreddo
| Thomas
Keller's Strawberry Shortcakes
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 If
you've ever been to The French Laundry, you'll know to make a reservation
3-4 months in advance and expect to wait a few hours for a table.
The reason for this isn't only due to the limited seating. It's the
food, which one critic bravely announced in 1997 "The French Laundry
is the best restaurant in America."
Those who enjoy good food and a true dining experience should make
it their mission to experience this culinary enigma. But finding The
French Laundry may be a mission itself. There are no signs. Even the
street name is covered by overgrown ivy. So, if it's so hard to find,
how has it gained so much notoriety? It's the chef, Thomas Keller,
who critics repeatedly and unabashedly call not only "the best chef
in America," but also "the best French chef in America," even though
Thomas is American.
The
French Laundry was reopened as a restaurant by Thomas in 1994 as a
small country French establishment whose signature dessert was simply
coffee and doughnuts, otherwise known as Cappuccino Semifreddo with
Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts. The setting is a California vineyard with
garden patio and rose arbor. As you walk through the 1900 river-stone
and timber-framed restaurant, imagine that it was once a home, a steam
laundry, a saloon, and then a brothel. Next, sit down in one of the
intimate dining rooms, and the mystery of why it has been hailed as
"the most exciting place to eat in America" will unfold before your
eyes.
Espresso cups brimming with a number of soups such as sorrel, tomato
consommé, or English pea laced with white truffle oil may be
the start to a most memorable meal. The doting wait staff continues
the culinary journey with several tiny amuse-bouches or taste teasers,
then a main course of pan-roasted squab with seared foie gras over
sweet white corn or Pecorino Toscano, a roasted sweet pepper salad
with a garden arugula puree is presented.
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If
you can't make it to the restaurant, look for Thomas' cookbook,
The French Laundry. From garden canapés to sweet coronets and
infused oils, his cookbook is a masterpiece that will inspire any
individual who enjoys eating and cooking.
The chef/author stresses that his recipes are not blueprints, but
rather tools to help draw out your own passions, "guidelines, as
you are not going to be able to duplicate the dish that I made.
You may be able to create something in composition that resembles
what I made. But more importantly, and this is my greatest hope,
you are going to create something more satisfying... than anything
I could ever make for you."
"Our hunger for the twenty-minute gourmet meal, for one-pot ease
and pre-washed and precut ingredients has severed our lifeline to
the satisfactions of cooking. Take your time. Take a long time.
Move slowly and deliberately and with great attention when cooking,"
Thomas advises.
With reservations so hard to come by, and as many as 65 people nightly
being turned away, Thomas opened Bouchon, a bustling and casual
French bistro nearby to accommodate the overflow. So, the next time
you're traveling through the Napa Valley, make sure you get a taste
of Keller's cuisine, as it's "well worth the wait, the trouble,
and the trip," a food critic once boldly stated.
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