The French Laundry

If y'all don't know of this restaurant, it's one of the best around. It's often talked about in food circles and is pricy. We went to the one in Yountville, up in the Napa area, last night. Lemme just say that it was soooooo freakin' good. Awesome! After a weekend of eating, it was "the icing on the cake."

(by the way, this'll be a long-ass entry about food)

We went for Fred's birthday, and none of us were disappointed or went home hungry. The deceptive little plates really start to add up! The cast: me, Phillip, Fred, Rouja, Tony, Patricia. We got all dressed up; guys in suits and ties, gals lookin' fabulous in dresses and slacks. Rouja had gotten an 8 PM reservation over a month ago, so we all were happy to begin eating. There was a vegetarian menu (at the same price) that looked good as well, but if Phillip was going to pay for a expensive meal, I was going to at least order all the animals. There ended up being 9 plates of food, plus extra:

** The 2 appitizers were a huge hit. We all loved them and wanted more. They weren't on the menu and wondered just what we were eating. Cheesy goodness. ONe was a puff pastry with cheese and I don't-know-what, but you couldn't really see its insides. It looked like air! The second appitizer was an "ice cream cone". The top was raw salmon, and the cone insides had a cheese.

1. I discovered that I really don't like oysters. It's official; I've had them 2-3 times now. I ate all of mine that were in the "soup", but that was just because it made the oysters tolerable.

2. The potato raviolli were yummy. I loved everything on my dish and even used some bread to get the rest of the sauce. I was glad I didn't choose the foie gras for this course as I sampled Phillip's and I didn't really care for it. It was OK, but I wouldn't eat a lot of it. That one bite was enough.

3. Just like the oysters, I had a similar situation with the bass. It was my first time eating this fish, and I didn't care for the flavor. The other ingredients made the fish tolerable, but I left this dish half eaten b/ we were only at plate #3 and I was starting to not feel hungry.

4. I liked the lobster. It was kinda tough to cut, but it was really flavorful. I liked it best w/o the other "toppings", but as everyone agreed, the Black Trumpet mushrooms were wonderful.

5. It was my second time eating duck. I loved it! It wasn't greasy or undercooked. It was flavorful and had the texture of a steak. mmm.

6. The beef was to die for. It was so tender we really didn't need the knives. If fact, the knife would have been better used to eat the lobster tail! Appearently, the beef was from Snake River Farms and is a cross-breed of a Japanese cow and an Angus cow. So tender, so tastey! Even though I was pretty full at this point, I wanted more.

7. The cheese dish was clearly something that had to be eaten with all ingredients on the plate. I thought the cheese was really sour, but the tomato compote and the selection of bread was a must! I didn't finnish this plate either as I was wanting to have room for dessert.

8. The sherbet tingled my tongue. I was probably (annoyingly) smacking my lips/tongue as I ate it. The sherbet was refreshing and cleared room for dessert. It was a buttermilk sherbet with a rhubarb sauce. Go figure.

9. Chocolate for dessert, of course was supremely yummy. Dark chocolate sauce, a chocolate/hazelnut cream thing, white choc solid thing with dehydrated honey, walnut/mead ice cream....mmmmmmm. It was good. I'm not sure what family of alcohol mead comes from, but the ice cream base was good and different. Fred's plate came with a little Happy Birthday sign. Very nice. No singing, but acknowledement, again.

** Our second set of bonus food came after dessert. We gals got a creme brule, the guys got a Meyer lemon something (panna cotta, I believe). Both were yummy and so light and "fluffy".

After we paid our bill, we all got a baggie of cookies from their bakery down the street. Rouja thinks the cookies are for the larger tables b/ the table of 5 by the stairs got some, too. I haven't tried them yet, but they are bound to be good. All the bread that was served throughout dinner was from the same bakery. So, so good. Plus, all the fresh butter. Even that was good! There were two types made from different types of cows that are on "reserve" for the restaurant. Both are made at the cow place, but then are rechurned at the restaurant...

The service was beyond awesome. Everyone was so friendly and nice. It wasn't at all snooty. When they heard it was Fred's birthday, every single one of our waitstaff wished him a happy birthday. The waitstaff changed as the night wore on, but we had our main waiter, our cheerful water gal and the wine guy (who picked out a wine that we all liked). There were a few other people as well to help serve. When they served us, it was in unison - every time. And, another touch of class was how the women were always asked to order first and served first. Every single employeed knew the menu and could give out little "trivia". The atmosphere was calm and quiet. There wasn't any music to talk over and it was just peaceful. I think we all felt like we were in a library at first, but as the night wore on, that feeling disapated.

Oh, and did I mention that we ate for about 5 hours (plus a smoke break outside)? YES! Not only was everyone served in a synchronized fashion, but all the food was warm and perfect. It came out after some time had passed after the previous course. Fred and Rouja noticed that as the waiters came up the stairs, that they didn't always give us our food right away. If we were talking, they'd take it to the staging area and then watch our table. Once there was a lull in conversation, they'd bring us the next plate. I hadn't noticed that, but then again, I wasn't facing the stairs.

The last thing I wanted to mention was the attention to detail. This restaurant rocked! The decor wasn't gaudy, but simple and beautiful. I'd noticed that the wall sconces had symbols on the shades, but it was Phillip that figured out that the symbols were the laundry symbols you see on your clothing tags. If you left the table to use the bathroom (or to smoke outside), the waitstaff either replaced your dirty napkin with a new one, or simply folded your current napkin in to the pretty design. The napkin clips were clothespins that we all kept. The cookie bag has a ribbon with a clothespin design. The napkin matched the plates for our first course! And, when we asked for a menu to take home, we all got fresh, clean ones in a nice folder. The bill came on a cute laundry tag...

This dinner was the longest I've ever eaten with the most food. It was definitely an experience I am glad to have had, and I'm sure I won't forget about it for a long, long time. I am happy I was included.