All photos from the French Laundry trip.
NSDI 2006 was held in San Jose, CA this year. Since we published the DOT paper there, and I was on the program committee, it was a fairly easy decision to go. I figured that this represented a perfect chance to fill a big hole in my dining experiences: a visit to the famed French Laundry restaurant, in Yountville, CA (Napa).
Others have detailed the fun of getting reservations, but I got a bit lucky -- between two phones and a grad student speed dialing, I got a reservation for the Monday of the conference. Part one solved. Problem two was finding people to go with. Nick Feamster was in from the get-go, but our other two companions proved elusive. Matt Welsh quickly signed on, and we then played email tag for the next three weeks trying to find a fourth. At the last minute---the day of the dinner, in fact---Dejan Kostic agreed to join us and heroically ran to a nearby clothier to buy a jacket for the evening. Dinner was on.
Minced salmon in a wafer cone with little bits of chive on top of a creme fraiche filling. Heavenly good.
"Sabayon" of Pearl Tapioca with Beau Soleil Oysters and Russian Sevruga Caviar
By far one of the most amazing appetizers I've eaten. The salty caviar was the perfect complement to the oysters, and the tapioca and sabayon bound it together perfectly. Honestly, I'd eat at the French Laundry again just to have this dish.
Three of us opted for the Salad of Sacramento Delta Green Asparagus, Pearl Onion "Croquant", Hen Egg Emulsion and Garden "Mache". The salad was gorgeous and perfectly executed, but not the most exciting. The pearl onions were outstanding, however. Nick, on the other hand, went for the Moulard Duck "Foie Gras En Terrine", with pickled Ramp-Hayden Mango Relish, Young Cilantro, Balsamic Vinegar Reduction and Toasted "Brioche". The latter was outstanding. The brioche alone were incredible.
Three of us opted for the "Boudin de Brochet Poche": Lake Erie Walleye Pike "Mousse", English Peas, Applewood Smoked Bacon "Lardons" and Lolla Rossa. The pike mousse was good but not mind-blowing. The applewood lardons were the highlight of this dish. Matt opted instead for the Sauteed Fillet of Japanese Kanpachi, which was delicious.
The lobster tail was cooked Sous Vide, with a "Ragout" of truffled new-crop potatoes, Yukon gold pommes puree, pommes maxim's, and herb salad. The lobster tail itself was merely good, but the pommes puree and the ragout of truffled potatoes were, by a wide margin, the best potatoes I've eaten in my life.
Served with glazed Tokyo turnips, braised collard greens, and Blis maple syrup. The collard greens and turnips stole the show from the quite good quail.
A delicious style Kobe-style beef. I must confess that the Kobe beef I ate at Morimoto was slightly better than this, but this was a close second for the best beef I've had. It was served with globe artichokes, French Laundry's garden-grown baby carrots, and a piece of crispy (deep-fried?) bone marrow. The bone marrow was incredible. Crispy on the outside, melted on your tongue in a trickle of delicious fat. Wow. It may have taken years off of my arteries, but it was amazing.
Served with Marshall farms honey-mead poached fuji apples, country bread melba, and cutting celery. The cheese was an excellent small-batch washed-rind raw milk cheese from Wisconsin. Somewhat like Gruyere, slightly cheddar-ish, very tasty.
Yum. It was served with a nifty little pine-nut tart. I didn't snap a photo of it, but someone else did.
A Valrhona chocolate shell filled with butterscotch, caramel mousse, and mild-chocolate-praline. By far, the best dessert I've eaten in my life. Ties with oysters and pearls for the most incredible part of the meal. I wish I could have made this incredible dessert last for hours.
A fairly traditional, but perfectly done, creme brulee, and another custard.
An assortment of hand-made chocolates from the French Laundry's kitchen. The most notable was finished with a gold-based, edible paint. Very good, though they didn't compare to the Feuillentine.
This was followed by a very, very tasty espresso (and this from someone who doesn't drink coffee) and we took home the traditional French Laundry cookies.
Eating at the French Laundry was a great experience, which I'd repeat in a heartbeat. Everything was perfect: the food, the service, the atmosphere. While not every dish knocked my socks off, every dish was the perfect execution of what it was supposed to be. Very impressive. One surprising result from this trip was that the veggies were often then unexpected stars of dinner. The FL offers a vegetarian menu for the same price as their normal 9-course tasting menu, and I'll go out on a limb to predict that it's as good or perhaps even better than the meat-containing menu.
After dinner, our waiter invited us on a quick visit to the kitchen, which we accepted with jaw-on-the-floor gratitude. Seeing the French Laundry's kitchen in action was revelatory. It was busy but well-orchestrated, which is impressive given that the menu is redesigned each night. The amount of care given to each plate was truly outstanding: At one point, we witnessed a waiter accidentally pick up a plate too quickly, jostling some of the herbs out of position. The expediter put the plate back down, and spent a good 45 seconds carefully re-arranging the food to its original condition.
A movie of the French Laundry's Kitchen in Action (21MB).
Last updated: Sun May 21 04:17:25 GMT 2006 [validate xhtml]
