French Laundry
We went to French Laundry for lunch on Saturday. It's the best meal I have ever had, at least that I can remember. Of course, I haven't been to many fancy set menu places. The first one was when I graduated from college and my family and I went to Acadia National Park in Maine. We were looking for a place to eat and stumbled upon a restaurant recommended by AAA. It was $50/person, which we thought was expensive but we decided to go try it anyway. It was fabulous!
But back to French Laundry... The fun of the lunch was the detail in the service and small things. Like the water was super nice, refreshing and clean tasting. Apparently they filter local water with a system they imported from Sweden. They had a salt tasting tray where you could try salts from all over. They had two kinds of butter available, and brought bread baskets by frequently. (In fact, a few minutes after serving the foie gras with brioche, they returned with fresh from the oven brioche and replaced the barely touched brioche.) I accidentally spilled my glass of water. It was full and I tipped it over with my plate while trying to better position the plate in the light (yes, I know, how embarrassing). The waiter came just as I was righting the glass. In response to my profuse apologies, he reassured me that the glasses have a tendency to tip. Charity burst that bubble by declaring he was obviously lying. The service was professional without being stuffy. We didn't ever feel we weren't being proper enough and the waiter was always there when we needed him, but it didn't feel like anyone hovered over us. The food, of course, was delicious. Probably the best tasting meal overall. The cobia with clams, fava beans, potatoes, and some amazingly good sauce might be the best thing I have ever tasted. It was just a perfect combination of flavors and textures. The lobster was pretty yummy too. The meal ended with a lot of candy and chocolate. I think my favorite was a blood orange jelly. People ask if the French Laundry is worth the price. If you go just based on the food, the answer is probably no. It's definitely better than food I've had elsewhere, but it's really more the service and small things that make it a worthwhile experience. I'm curious if a second trip will be quite as fabulous as the first, as the novelty of dining there will be gone. Of course having everything be just right and feeling totally spoiled during a meal is terrific. In fact, after leaving it was a little weird that things wouldn't magically appear in front of you whenever you wanted them to.
But back to French Laundry... The fun of the lunch was the detail in the service and small things. Like the water was super nice, refreshing and clean tasting. Apparently they filter local water with a system they imported from Sweden. They had a salt tasting tray where you could try salts from all over. They had two kinds of butter available, and brought bread baskets by frequently. (In fact, a few minutes after serving the foie gras with brioche, they returned with fresh from the oven brioche and replaced the barely touched brioche.) I accidentally spilled my glass of water. It was full and I tipped it over with my plate while trying to better position the plate in the light (yes, I know, how embarrassing). The waiter came just as I was righting the glass. In response to my profuse apologies, he reassured me that the glasses have a tendency to tip. Charity burst that bubble by declaring he was obviously lying. The service was professional without being stuffy. We didn't ever feel we weren't being proper enough and the waiter was always there when we needed him, but it didn't feel like anyone hovered over us. The food, of course, was delicious. Probably the best tasting meal overall. The cobia with clams, fava beans, potatoes, and some amazingly good sauce might be the best thing I have ever tasted. It was just a perfect combination of flavors and textures. The lobster was pretty yummy too. The meal ended with a lot of candy and chocolate. I think my favorite was a blood orange jelly. People ask if the French Laundry is worth the price. If you go just based on the food, the answer is probably no. It's definitely better than food I've had elsewhere, but it's really more the service and small things that make it a worthwhile experience. I'm curious if a second trip will be quite as fabulous as the first, as the novelty of dining there will be gone. Of course having everything be just right and feeling totally spoiled during a meal is terrific. In fact, after leaving it was a little weird that things wouldn't magically appear in front of you whenever you wanted them to.
posted by wchien at 6:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home