Eating Napa Valley: The French Laundry

I think my heart was beating at 300bpm here; I was so excited!

The tasting menu for March 11, 2014

There are two versions of the tasting menu, one traditional and one with a heavy focus on vegetables. Both options are prix fixe $295, service included. A and I both chose the traditional tasting menu. I wish their famous Foie Gras was still on the menu, but they had to remove it due to California law. 

Amuse Bouche: Salmon Cornets and Gruyère Gougères

This was the first taste of a perfectly executed memorable meal. The Gruyère Gougères are basically melted cheese balls on crack. They were tiny, but bursting with warm, cheesy goodness. The outside was a light and airy pâte à choux shell. The inside was incredibly creamy gruyère cheese that had a sauce-like consistency. I wanted a hundred more of these balls. The Salmon Cornet was described as an "ice cream cone", best eaten in one or two bites in order to taste all the complementary flavors. It was amazing. When you reach the bottom of the cone, you will taste the creme fraiche which is kind of like the little chocolate bit you find at the end of a drumstick ice cream cone. 

Oysters and Pearls

Saboyon of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and White Sturgeon Caviar

This dish was my favorite course in the meal! Gary Danko has a version of this dish on his menu as well, which I had tried the previous night. At that time, I thought I had reached the pinnacle of oyster and caviar, but oh how wrong I was. I felt like I was about to shed tears when I tasted the first spoon full of The French Laundry version. I resisted bringing the plate right up to my face and licking every last drop, but I did use the beautiful mother of pearl spoon to scrape all I could get. The base was creamy and not too salty, which paired perfectly with the flavor and saltiness of the caviar. It was a nice balance, and the oysters were succulent. After my two caviar experiences, A is sweating bullets and worried that I have developed a taste for caviar. 

House Bread with Salted Butter and Sweet Butter

If all bread tasted like this and came with two choices of high quality butter, I would be 400 pounds. The bread was served warm with a hint of sweetness to it. When I ripped it in half, I felt like I was in a bread commercial. It was perfection. This is embarrassing and I don't know why I thought this at the time, but I originally thought that this was all the bread that was going to be served. Believing this, I had an excuse for spreading huge globs of butter onto the bread--I had to make sure I kept up with the ratio of bread and butter that was presented. The butter deserves a paragraph all to itself, but I will resist. I liked the sweet version more, while A preferred the salty version. This worked out well, as I easily could have finished off the sweet version all by myself. 

Salade de Topinambour

Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, Garden Turnips, Compressed Asian Pears and Sunflower Sprouts

As with all the dishes we ate at The French Laundry, each bite was bursting with flavor and all my senses awoke when the dish was presented. The pears were delightful. Tiny morsels that added a nice juicy crunch.

Mini Sourdough and Pretzel Bread

A server comes around with a basket full of four kinds of mini bread rolls about 3-4 times during the meal. The choices are sourdough, pretzel, multigrain, and if my memory serves me right, a rye. Although it takes every muscle in one's body to shake your head no when the server comes around for the 3rd time, it is key to do so if you wish to have the stomach capacity to enjoy the rest of the meal.

Sautéed Fillet of Pacific Yellowtail

Globe Artichokes, Picholine Olives, Saffron-Pickled Garlic, Italian Parsley and Spicy Tomato Broth

Tomato sauce done right. I found the yellowtail to be a bit dry, so I dipped it generously in the tomato broth. If the tomato broth was not there, I don't think I could have gotten past the roughness of the yellowtail.

Sweet Butter-Poached Alaskan King Crab

Creamed Arrowleaf Spinach, Cornbread Croutons, Braised Hobbs' Bacon and Pickled Pearl Onions

Surprisingly, the onions were more memorable than the crab. The texture and flavor of these small layers of onion were unlike any other onion I have ever tasted. If I was on a first date, I would have still eaten a bowl of these and not given a single care about the appalling onion breath that would follow. The cornbread crouton made me confused because it was so amazing. It almost tasted like a fatty meat, like I was biting into a pork belly. The bacon was also mouthwatering, but lets be honest, since when have I ever had any less than positive feelings towards bacon.

Charcoal-Grilled Elysian Fields Farm Suckling Lamb Leg

English Pea Purée, Garden Carrots, Cipollini Onions, Swiss Chard Leaves and Béarnaise Mousseline

The lamb was so delicious tender, it melted in my mouth. The lamb leaned towards the saltier side, but the portion size made it manageable. Pea purée reminded me of what an overly healthy mom would serve her baby, but I enjoyed it fully. 

Marcho Farms Nature-Fed Veal Saddle

Garden Radishes, Egg Mousse, Sacramento Delta Asparagus and Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

This was the only course I didn't finish. Now I should say that if I'm given a choice of veal and another meat, I will always choose the other meat. The $100 supplement for herb-roasted Japanese wagyu seemed excessive though, so I stuck with the veal. It tasted very gamey to me and unpalatable. Furthermore, the meat was too firm and seemed overcooked. Wish I could have ended the savory portion of the tasting menu in a better way. 

Ossau-Iraty

Royal Blenheim Apricots, Toasted Marcona Almonds and Shaved Fennel

This was the cheese dish for the night. A rectangular cube of slightly nutty cheese with a complex, yet delicately smooth flavor. The crackers didn't add anything for me, but I enjoyed the apricots and the toasted almonds.

Lemon Cheesecake Tart

With this refreshing dish, we were signaled into the sweeter side of the meal. The lemon cheesecake was light and the tartness was just right. 

Brown Butter Ice Cream

So simple but so good. I have a natural affinity for any dessert that has the words brown butter, caramel, or praline associated with it, so I knew I would swoon over this when I overheard the waiter presenting it to the table next to us. It did not disappoint! I thought the portion size was just right, and the creaminess of the ice cream made my eyes roll back in my head.

Chocolate Pudding with Foam

I'm not a huge fan of chocolate flavored desserts, so I left about half of this in the bowl. The chocolate was so rich that it would have satiated all one's chocolate cravings in one bite. I finished and enjoyed the foam, which had a light citrus taste to it.

Assortment of Chocolate Truffles

I've had a lot of truffles (thank you Godiva and your chocolate of the month club), and these blew all other truffles I've had out of the water. My favorites were the white chocolate lime, the peanut butter and jelly, and the hazelnut praline. I was most excited to try the salted caramel, but they used dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate which made me sad.

Mignardises: Coffee and Doughnuts, Macarons, Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts

I could barely eat another bite at this point, but I told myself to finish strong. The first thing I reached for were the delightfully plump doughnut holes. Perfectly round and lightly dusted with fine sugar. The temperature at which they were served is the ideal warmth one dreams of when biting into the perfect doughnut. Slightly crispy on the outside, and soft and fluffy on the inside. Also fun to squeeze with fingers. The "coffee" was my favorite out of the mignardise selection. When I first saw it, I thought 'oh, what a cute miniature cappuccino' and brought the cup to my mouth and took a sip. Surprise, it's actually a cappuccino semifreddo: a frozen mousse with warm frothy foam on top i.e. use spoon to eat. I grimace at the taste of coffee (we actually skipped coffee service during the meal), but this was delicious! The interesting textures made it fun to eat as well. I think I have eaten such an abundance of macarons that I have actually become desensitized to all macarons so I do not have much to say about the macarons. The chocolate covered macadamia nuts were great, but I could only eat one because the chocolate was so rich. I applaud anyone who is able to eat the whole pot of them after their meal. I'm a major sweets freak, but even I was shocked at the amount of dessert courses. We were basically showered for an hour with desserts. I imagine this to be what heaven is like.

Shortbread Cookies 

I think these were meant to be takeaway day after treats, but I dove right in as we walked to the car. Such butter. Much sugar. Very crumble. I held on to the collectible metal tin box which I may or may not occasionally open up and deeply inhale what is left of the buttery shortbread smell.

10 courses later; stomachs and taste buds about to explode from all of the delicious food

BCBG 'Marissa' Dress

Ladies, it is very important to not wear a tight or restricting dress to The French Laundry. In hindsight, I would have chosen to dine in a muumuu if they were deemed socially acceptable.

Dining at The French Laundry is like being in a carefully choreographed performance. The waiters gracefully weave in and out between tables, only drawing attention to themselves when necessary. Service is spectacular, the timing and presentation of each course is brilliant.

Reservations are notorious for being difficult to obtain. I called exactly 2 months in advance (the earliest one can make a reservation), right when the phone lines opened up. I made at least 80 calls, only to be greeted with the busy tone for the first hour and a half. When I finally got through, I felt like I had just won the lottery. I was able to get the last table they had for the night, a seating at 9 PM. 

The atmosphere is stuffy and uptight. At times, I swear I could have heard a pin drop. When we first arrived, people were whispering quietly amongst themselves or not making any noise at all. However, as more alcohol flowed through their bodies, the looser and more comfortable people got. I didn't find the waitstaff to be pretentious or snooty at all. They were all very accommodating and nice. I was definitely the youngest in the room, but everyone was friendly to me and made me feel special like they do to all the guests that enter the restaurant.

I hope to get the chance to dine at The French Laundry's sister restaurant, Per Se, in the future. I'm not sure that it would top my experience here; it's hard to imagine the food and service getting any better than this. Most importantly, when choosing to dine at a restaurant that is famous for its long meals, make sure to bring someone who you get along with and can hold a conversation with for three hours. I had a great time with A and spent the entire meal laughing and enjoying ourselves.