You never know when you will find your new favorite.Since 1994, the old stone cottage in the heart of wine country that houses the French Laundry has stood among the holiest of holy grails not only for destination diners, but aspiring industry pros around the world. Remember smell, taste and try everything, eat and drink what you like but try everything. It was well worth the expense and know Lisa and I have a lifelong memory. If you ever get the chance to eat at the French Laundry jump at it. When we returned home we had some of the keepsakes of the meal framed and they hang in our dining room this is how it turned out Lisa and I have been fortunate to have a few wonderful dining experiences this one ranks right at the top a true meal of a lifetime. The wine improved the food and the food improved the wine. The meal was mind blowing, each course leading to the next, from the simple to the sublime, everything was fantastic. The pasta was very fun because at the table the server took out what looked like a baseball sized black truffle and shaved about a two inch high mound of it on top of the pasta. I added the charcoal grilled Japanese wagyu, and Lisa added the hand cut Tagliatelle pasta with black truffle. We chose the full tasting menu with sommelier matched wine pairing. There was a larger table in the room with us that was seating 8-10 people, It was fun to watch how well each course was orchestrated with each plate being placed in front of each diner at the exact same time. The service form the time that we were greeted until the time we walked out the door was impeccable. We were escorted to a private table on the second floor by a window. We did not run out of gas and we arrived for our reservation at 1225, right on time. We were both feeling bit stressed but also very excited. Besides the time crunch, our rental car was very low on gas so we were not sure if we could make the trip with out stopping. The were very gracious and told us to go and that they would call Twomey for us and cancel. I first called the staff at Silver Oak and told them our dilemma. So we decided to cancel the rest of our day and the race was on. “Should we do it?” I asked, she said “I don’t think we have enough time” to which I said I think we can make it.” I looked a Lisa and said “Holy shit! I can get us reservations at the French Laundry!” I think she thought I was kidding so I handed her my phone. To my surprise it was, so I looked to see if there were any available reservations. The entire time we were in Napa I was dreaming about the possibility of eating at the French Laundry so while we were waiting for our tour I decided just for fun open up my open table app on my phone and see if the French Laundry was on it. Our first tour was Silver Oak and we were scheduled for an 11 am tour we were there a little bit early. We had a contact set us up with private tours and tastings at Silver Oak and Twomey wineries. On our third day in Napa, Lisa and I had a full day of winery tours ahead of us. I thought lets just drive by and get a photo. On our first morning we got up early and drove to Yountville to go to the Bouchon Bakery which is also run by Thomas Keller, We purchased some lovely croissants and macarons for breakfast. The restaurant is consistently on most top 50 restaurants in the world list and The chef owner Thomas Keller is world renown.īefore our last trip to Napa, Lisa and I had tried to get reservations with no luck, It seemed like a pipe dream. For those of you who don’t know the French Laundry is one of the most difficult reservations to get in the world.
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