The French Laundry

Our last night in California, we headed out to The French Laundry. This restaurant is rated #2 in the US and #12 in the World. I am totally in awe that we came to eat here. It is the fanciest place I have ever eaten and we were one of the youngest groups there.

We were early for our seating so we took our time wandering around and not once did I see anyone go into or come out of this building. Even when we left at the end of the night, we were the only ones outside. I guess since most of the people who would be doing this type of trip are a little bit older than us, I am betting that they were all tucked nicely into bed:)
There is a courtyard off to the side of the restaurant and two floors for dining. To get in here, you must make a reservation which opens two months to the day you would like to come. They also only take two seatings of 6 or more a night. Joel tried to get us in here Sunday but the only seating was at 8:30 which would have gotten us out around midnight. We ended up here Monday at a reasonable 6:30.

Across the road is the garden that supplies the fresh veggies and herbs to the restaurant (the bread is made fresh just down the street at Bouchon Bakery). I would love to have something like this garden as we would be eating so much fresh food. Oh well, the best we can do is the garden at the cabin...

It all looked so tasty...

...and what beautiful colors!

When you arrive, your napkin is help together with an old fashioned clothes pin (which we all took home). Dinner is a 9 course tasting menu, with a few extras thrown in (salmon sashimi, sorbets, bread and chocolates) to make it almost a 15 course meal. Since the cuisine is mostly French, the portion sizes were small but satisfying. I would just be getting hungry and the next course would suddenly arrive. The service was amazing. You just had to think about something and it appeared.

Joel and Nadia visited the 'sister' restaurant in NYC, Per Se, a year ago and were given a tour of the kitchen (I guess the restaurant is about 14,000 sq ft and the kitchen is 10,000 of that). So with a smile and a nod, we were given a tour of the kitchen before we left. It was really neat and way smaller than I expected. My favorite course (and Joel's too) was lamb. We asked the head chef which kid made it (and yes they seemed really young, even to me). He was grinning from ear to ear and even blushed a little but it was awesome to give credit where it was due as I am sure they don't often get diners waltzing into the kitchen to thank them.

I am pretty sure this is a once in a lifetime event (or maybe more often if I win the lottery). It was quite the experience and we enjoyed every minute!!!