For Adina’s graduation, we gave her some money for buying clothes and such and Kim went shopping with her on her mother-daughter day. We also took her and Zeke, her boyfriend, to the French Laundry, the famous Yountville restaurant whose chef Thomas Keller, has become a legend in the culinary field. Chef and restaurateur. Yountville is in the Napa Valley.

Kim and I have eaten there 3 other times. Each time was magic. Well, almost each time. One time we went, the service was very slow. So slow that we should have been given free drinks or something. What would normally be a 5 minute or 10 minute wait between courses became a 30 minute or 45 minute wait. It was long ago but one waiter said that Chef Keller had been absent from the kitchen, vacation?, and was taking control of the kitchen back again, from his sous chef?, not sure. The service was terrible that time, the second time, we went. The third time we ate there by ourselves. Service was back to normal.

This was the fourth time. And what a different experience. First of all, they have added plenty of small touches to the decor. The linen is better. The tableware, dishes and cutlery is way better. Rather than one waiter and a runner, we had, I estimate, 4 or 5 waiters and two busboys plus a sommelier, who I think is new. And by new I mean, after our time. We last ate there 8 or so years ago. And if my memory serves, their wine list has expanded. Quite a big one though not the biggest I’ve seen it is focused on quality wines. The place is more elegant, more formal and not as relaxed and casual. And it is definitely more Laundry-esque. Our check was on a laundry ticket and the lamps had old laundry signals on them. Nice touch. Adina marveled. I thought it a little much.

There are only two tasting menus now, no a la carte, and Clair Clark is the pastry chef since 2005. Before Chef Clark went to the French Laundry, we had to suffer with Coffee and Donuts, yum. Kim and I had wanted to get the Coffee and Donuts. No longer on the menu. Oh, and the price, only $240 a person for either of the tasting menus. Ouch. It used to be $90 per person for the tasting menu. There is no wine pairings offered. Oh, and the tasting menu now only has nine courses.

Let’s see, what else? Hmmm. What did I miss? Oh, yeah, I almost forgot the food. When we used to go, we could count on a chefgasm each and every course. Is it us? I didn’t have a single chefgasm. Not a one. The food was perfectly prepared and also beautifully presented. Kim and I discussed our disappointment in the car coming home. Kim volunteered a few suggestions and a few opinions, and normally, those that know her know that she doesn’t do this that often. Basically, we discussed whether it was us or the restaurant. Have we, who have dined both in the US and abroad at some of the top restaurants and who now own our own restaurant and inn and chocolate shop, become jaded? Or, on the other hand, has the French Laundry switched its reference, its energy, if you will, from the food to the decor, wait staff, the ambiance?

Don’t get me wrong. Yes the food was good, yes the food was cooked perfectly and yes the presentation stunning. But there was no wow. Kim thinks that we remember the wow factor, the OHMYGODICAN’TBELIEVEIATESOMETHINGTHATGOOD factor. The first time you eat great beluga caviar and think you are eating fall but the second time you are eating great beluga caviar. And she also thinks it IS the French Laundry. To sum it up, and this is what I think, there was less of Thomas Keller in the food than before. There was less risk in the food. Personally, I would rather have eaten at Perilla 10 times than the French Laundry once. I’d would have rather eaten at our local restaurant, the Mountain View Brassery 20 times then the French Laundry once. The telling moment came when Kim said she enjoyed the lunch we had at Bistro Jeanty better than the dinner at the French Laundry. Unheard of! But I agree. I’m glad we went but I don’t think we’ll be going back unless we come into some money. The experience was fantastic but I think our memory of how it used to be clouds our perception of how it is.

I loved my Lamb’s Tongue Salad, at Jeanty, even if the dressing was a little too vinegary and I absolutely loved the toast points and marrow, even if the points weren’t really points. I loved the meal I had at Bistro Jeanty and it didn’t even cost 1/10th of the price at French Laundry.

On the other hand, Adina and Zeke marvelled over the food. They didn’t like everything or think that everything was mana from heaven but they had their one or two or three favorites that they absolutely loved. Adina, especially loved the French Laundry, exclusively made for them, butter and she loved the Jurassic salt. (I quipped that I prefered Pliocene salt for its freshness. I probably should have said Cretaceous, it would have been funnier because they are both from the Mesozoic! Indeed, the Phanerozoic was a good eon. Then you could have quipped, “I much prefer the more mature Triassic salt.” I thought it was funny because the Pliocene is right before the Pleistocene, the rise of modern humans. Ah, forget it.) Gotta get me some of that Jurassic salt. It had a sweet taste with a little metallic aftertaste.

Zeke and I had the chef’s tasting menu and Kim and Adina had the vegetable (not vegetarian) tasting menu. I wont comment too much on the Tastings of Vegetables though I’ll tell you Kim felt the same way I did, maybe more so.

I started us with Gaston Huet’s wonderful, beautiful, Vouvray. A treasure. Then we had a fantastic Gevrey-Chambertin 1994 and then we finished with their Volnay, 1995. Very nice. We had only 1/2 bottles because I didn’t think Kim was going to drink a lot and Adina had no wine. I can’t remember the producers but the wines were good. From the Gevrey-Chambertin I remember overriding vanilla and then it calmed down. The Volnay was grapy and very bright. I’m sorry I didn’t write down the producers now. Ooops. But it was a dinner for Adina, not for drinking wine.

The Chef’s menu started with Oysters and Pearls. I love this dish. When I had it last, there was twice, or three times, more in the dish. This allows one to fully appreciate this dish. Rather than give me a good dose of my favorite food, I got an alabaster spoon. Though, I must say, there was more than enough caviar. Personally, I would have preferred less caviar, I know, I know, and more of the dish. This was yummer. The best dish for me. I’m still in love with this dish. Though, after eating at Perilla, the farro “risotto” is more than just a close second. It’s now even with this dish. Sorry Thomas, all of his wait staff called him Thomas rather than Chef Keller or Chef Thomas, but I need it the way you used to do it with 4 or 5 oysters not two. (Boohoo. Whine, whine.)

Look, before I go on, if any of you are lucky enough to eat at the French Laundry once, rather than say four times, it will be the best culinary experience of your life. Go eat there and then comment on this post.

I had the Foie Gras en Terrine and Zeke had the Bluefoot Mushrooms. The Fois Gras was great. I added the Jurassic salt as well as the grey sea salt and the extra white Belgium salt, each salt on a differnt section of the mini-terrine. Yummer. This was great. The toast points were exquisite. This was brioche at its best. They even replaced the toast points as I was eating to make sure that I had the warm points at their freshest. (See what I mean. Great service. Take note, John. 😉 Though, the points weren’t the classic points of my youth. I marveled at the bread. Crispy crust and soft crumb. Good on you, Clair. Zeke said the mushrooms were good.

Kim had the Valley Oak Acorn Flan, which she said was great. Adina liked it too. I tasted a little and thought, not bad. This is a very Thomas Keller type dish. Good on you. (Yes, Randy lives in Australia and has picked this expression up. I rather like it.)

Kim had heirloom beets “Cuites sous vide”. Beets sous vide. Who would’a thunk it? Thomas Keller, that’s who. Adina had to have a special dish because this dish had Juniper Berries. Kim loved this dish but, and this went for the whole meal, the Juniper Berry “Aigre-Doux“, which is like a gastrique and is found in French Cuisine while an Agrodocle is found in Italian cuisine, was more decoration than culinary. Basically, we felt that all the gastriques, agrodocles and sauces were artistically presented but there was not enough of said applications to really taste them. Kim was majorly disappointed because she wanted a nice juniper berry flavor with her beets. Beets are her fav.

Then, Zeke and I had the eel. I LOVE eel. Zeke was bowled over by this dish and thought it the best dish until he had the lobster and then the steak. I love eel and I like the way this was cooked but found the whole plate a little dry. This could be good and reminiscent of Japanese food but I missed having a little juiciness to this dish. Zeke marvelled that he was eating 100-Year-Aged Balsamic Vinegar. (This is what I’m talking about. Sure 100 year old balsamic is great, I use a 25 year old in my ganache and some of my plated ice cream desserts, but it isn’t anything particularly new for me or Kim. Though, it is yummy and expensive.)

Kim had the Jidori Hen Egg Omlette. (Thankfully it wasn’t a Roster Egg Omlete. 😉 She loved it. Not much to say here.

Then Zeke and I had the Beets and Leeks, this is the Maine lobster dish. I enjoyed this and liked the Pommes Maxim’s though they were a little tough. (See, I should never say anything like that at the French Laundry.)

Kim got the Chestnut “Bread Pudding”. She loved this though personally, I found it dry. (A theme is developing here.) I forget what Adina had. I couldn’t see what she was eating. But she liked it.

Zeke and I had the lapin (rabbit) rather than the canard (duck). Funny, they write duck but use lapin. I just wish I had pictures of the rabbit. Pictures will be coming soon.

Kim and Adina had the Potatoes Gratinees. No comment. Didn’t try them.

The beef was good. Zeke liked it quite a bit.

I am not sure what Kim and Adina had but I think Kim said something about not enough Tomato Compote. I forget.

In short succession, the Dome St. Estephe was good and the pear sorbet very good. I also loved the Vol Au Vent and the Shiso Sorbet was great. I’ll have to make it. It was the best part of the meal. I am not sure what Kim and Adina had. I forget.

We also had a Meyer Lemon Posset or Pot au Crème, Kim got a nice crème brûlée. See this website for some nice pictures. Mine are coming. Oh, we didn’t get any tuile that I remember, not like this. Our tuile came in cones as a second, yes I said, second amuse buse. Indeed, I felt that I was bombarded with dessert, a lot like Tru Restaurant. In other words, we all loved it.

The chocolates were good and Adina liked the pastacio caramel crème so much that I’ll have to make my own version just for her. It tasted like she added chocolate to the caramel crème. Nice touch. I didn’t like it as much as Adina but we’ll see if she’ll like my version. I want to add more pistacio and I also want to lighten up the chocolate in the crème. It might have been cocoa powder. Not sure.

The chocolates, btw, were perfectly made, beautiful and subtle. I prefer my chocolates and left some for Chef Keller and his kitchen staff, though the box was slightly beaten up, I’m afraid, with all the travel. I also left some for the wait staff and gave the sommelier some of my toffee. I hope they like it. I should have added more cherry cordials. Those are everyone’s favorites. And yes, I left a big tip.

So, in the end, you just can’t go home again. This includes the Laundry. It just isn’t the same. It’s grown in some ways and in others it has diminished. But then again, I’m just a poor innkeeper. (And a lot more poor after eating at the French Laundry. 😉