you remind me of a tv show: The French Laundry, 1/23/2014

My wife and I took a trip to San Francisco/Wine Country in January, joined by her parents, sister and brother-in-law on the Wine Country portion. It was highlighted by multiple activities (running the Golden Gate Bridge on a gorgeous, fogless day, visiting Muir Woods), visits to wineries/labels/brew pubs (Sojourn Cellars, Silver Oak, Schramsberg, Stags' Leap Wineries, Frog's Leap, Russian River Brewing, Mikkeller Bar), fantastic lodging (Argonaut Hotel, the Chauvet) and, especially and most importantly, food. There were multiple great experiences ... Boulevard, Tartine Bakery and Gary Danko in San Franciso, the Rutherford Grill and Mustards Grill in Napa, the Sunflower Caffe in Sonoma (where the smoked duck breast sandwich is possibly the greatest sandwich I have ever eaten in my life).

Nothing, though, could quite compare in terms of overall experience and sensory overload to the French Laundry. We have by now done a few Michelin rated, tasting menu-centered places and kind of get the gist of it. The French Laundry, though, has a reputation that surpasses even the other great restaurants we have tried.

In preparation, I had called 2 months to the date (11/23/2013) in advance to make a reservation. Right at 10 AM PST, I started dialing. I got through on my 70th attempt. They were very nice and polite and had seatings for 6 available at 5:30, 7:30 and 9:30. We went with 7:30 and e-mailed out the good news that we were even able to get a reservation at all.

We spent the day of 23rd tasting at Silver Oak and Frog's Leap. After freshening up, we headed to Yountville with some time to spare. The French Laundry is a very unassuming, two story cottage-style building in Yountville. We almost drove right past it, honestly. I dropped everyone off and drove off to park, as there's no parking lot or valet. It's very low key.

On entering, we were warmly greeted and taken upstairs to a table for six. Our server (who was impeccable) was very professional and, honestly, a bit off-puttingly formal at first. We were a bit nervous just being there, and he wasn't helping. We started the evening with a bottle of the Schramsberg Cuvee French Laundry Blanc de Blancs, and things loosed up nicely. He warmed up and really helped guide some decisions, including wine selection, as their wine list is a bit intimidating.

We had two menus from which to choose:

Meat Eater's version

Veggie option

My wife and mother-in-law went veggie; the rest of us went meat. It was a four hour affair, with unreal service and one dish after another. Unlike our visit to Alinea, which I photographed and noted in detail, I let this one wash over me. We enjoyed all this with a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir (Evesham Wood) and then a (reasonably priced) Bordeaux from the late 1990's. A few highlights below ...

"Oysters and Pearls" - Pearl tapioca with oysters and caviar

"Carnaroli Risotto Biologico" - a risotto doused with freshly shaved black truffles - unreal

Scallop

"Candies" being offered to my sister- and mother-in-law

I will add that the beef dish toward the end of the main lineup was the single best piece of meat I've ever tasted in my life. The whole thing was a knockout, worth every penny and all the effort to make it happen and simply unforgettable. It was not far out or crazy like Alinea, just superb and often almost simple or rustic.

A few other highlights from the trip ...