Fremch Laundry

Just got back from Napa, and of course, a blog about French Laundry is in order.

I had my expectations up really high, because it was such a bitch to get the reservation. Recap: I read on the website that they only take reservations 2 months in advance, no earlier than that. So I called on June 14th, at 10am, when they open their phonelines. Busy tone. Tried redialling till 11ish, till I got through, and it was fully booked! Booked TWO months in advance! I couldn't believe it! So the next day, I got Deron to try calling the same time I did, and he was also clicking opentable with his right hand, and redialling his phone with his left (which was kinda comical, but we were too annoyed to laugh about it). He got through at 1030, and it was BOOKED FULLY again!

Finally I called my Nordstrom Visa Signature concierge, and got them to take care of it. They said so many people called in, they dedicated a whole TEAM to doing that! Can you imagine working in somewhere as glamorous as Nordstrom, and your whole career is dedicated to calling in for reservations at French Laundry? Man, that would be sad. Not that I'm dissing them! I heart them cuz they got me that reservation!

So there was only one menu - the tasting menu which consists of nine courses. I was so stuffed at the end of the meal, I wanted to roll over and faint.

Did my hair 5 min before the meal. Ghetto style.
Calla lillies. My favorite!

Excited!

Le Menu!

Menu (according to me, if you want the precise description, look at the pic:
complimentary

1) small puff pastry with aged gyrere cheese
Kinda boring, but tastes good, sorta like a cheezit, hot.

2) salmon tartare with red onion marmalade and creme fraiche on a sesame wrap
Amazing, the flavors of the salmon blends right in with the sweetness of the marmalade, and buttered by the creme fraiche.

1st: Caviar with Pearls: sabayon of creek oysters and stuargon caviar with tapioca pearls in a butter chive sauce
Tastes straight from the ocean, but not overpowering, all thanks to the butter sauce

2nd: Foie gras terrine with white honey glaze and hazelnut puree in an aged balsamic with figs, served with a brioche and Jurassic salt
The hazelnut was amazing with the foie gras, the overall taste was great, but for 30 bucks more, I'd expected more foie gras. The taste of foie gras was very faint, and not very satisfying.

3rd: Cucumber-cured kanpachi belly
This was very refreshing, but

Deron's sauteed branzino fish was way better. It was just cooked to perfection.

4th: Sweet butter-poached maine lobster tail in a vanilla-saffron emulsion with wilted arrowleaf spinach. My fav! The tail was cooked to perfection, very tender and very sweet. It was heavenly. I thought this was the only dish worth of a three michelin star.

5th: Veal heart with swiss chard and comte cheese "pain perdu".
Meh. The veal heart tastes like gamey salami, but not as salty as salami. Meh.

Deron's white quail was awesome, but Whisk n ladle's quail was on par with that.

6th: Lamb chops with pearl barley, summer squash, marinated toybox tomatoes in a spanish caper sauce.
Good, cooked perfectly, but boring.

7th: Boho Bel cheese with griddled cornbread, with pickled blueberries and australian truffle.
Cheese was good, but not exceptional.

8th: Watermelon Sorbet with compressed summer melon and garden mint and persian lime.
Very refreshing, the compressed melon had a crisp juicy amazing texture.

9th: Peaches and Cream dessert: Very ripe peaches coated in a sponge like cake, served with vanilla bean basil ice cream.

Marshmallow brulee tart.

The peaches were AMAZING. Nice dessert.

I'm not saying that it's not high-quality food, just that Joel Robuchon was way more superior in the presentation, and the decor of the restaurant was so much prettier. The more important difference is that for Robuchon's food, you look at it, and you imagine how good it will taste, and it tastes far better than your wildest imagination. For French Laundry, the taste falls flat. There was no imagination nor surprise in the food. I loved the imagination and creativity in Joel Robuchon's foods. I will definitely bring my folks there when I graduate, that's daym certain!

P.S: Sorry some of the pics are so dark. My camera is dying. :(
Happy! :) It's not an engagement ring, if you're wondering. Just a lovely present from a lovely person. :)