The French Laundry
aka The culinary experience of a lifetime
6/15/03
Daria and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary wtih a special treat
today -- dinner at the French Laundry.
In case you don't know about this place (surprisingly I hadn't heard of
it till Daria mentioned it -- a sin for a Foodie like me), it is one of
the most famous restaurants in the US and throughout the world (do a
Google search to see some of the hype). I also didn't realize what an
amazing feat it was to get reservations at this place (all credit to
Daria's persistent calling) until much later. The way it works: the
restaurant starts taking reservations 2 MONTHS in advance of the day
you want to eat, with phone lines opening at 9:30 and generally all
spots (62?) are gone in an hour or so. Oh, and their phone is nearly
always busy! Supposedly it helps to be a VIP of sorts or have
connections, but Daria managed just fine --> she's a VIP in my book
=)
Before going on with my thoughts on the experience, I wanted to share a
little bit about us. Daria and I are defintely what I would call
"Foodies" or food people. A little exchange will help explain things.
The following is a tidbit from a conversation between two of my friends
and former colleagues, Tony Givargis and Victor Hill:
Tony: Victor, you may live to eat, but I eat to live.
As food people, we are more like Victor in his outlook on life than
Tony. We take great pleasure in a well-prepared meal, and
have a very high regard for the culinary arts. I'm a definite foodie: I
watch the food network, I have Iron Chef gear, I've read food books
(books about Chefs/Cooking schools) and cook books for fun, and I'd
attend the CIA (Culinary
Institute of America, not the other CIA) in a heartbeat if it
was economically viable.
Now that we've got that out of the way, on to the experience. The only
other "Haute Cusine" I've been privy to is Chez Panisse at Berkeley,
and
I must admit that the French Laundry was more impressive. We had the
Chef's Tasting Menu which consisted of 9 plates (small portions, but
still incredibly filling in the end), all of which were fantastic
(though the Maine Lobster was the best, IMHO). Daria: Well, that's just because Puneet
did not dare have foie gras, which was the be-all and end-all of my
food experiences! I believe foie gras is liver of a goose raised on
special diet with daily massage, for exquisite tenderness of the
meat... Only a few farms in the world go to the trouble of doing all
this, hence foie gras is among the most expensive edible things out
there, by weight. (The most expensive one must be saffron...) Puneet
also missed out on the poached oyster with a side of caviar, owing to
his highly erroneous opinion of caviar. Unfortunately, he happens to
agree with the description of caviar solicited by an ex-coworker of
mine: "Little fishy balls that explode disturbingly in your mouth"... I
guess some things you just have to grow up on in order to appreciate.
Like black salt (but that's another story altogether). We also
had Champagne, a
half-bottle of some white (Daria:
not "some white" but Viognier, a very nice aromatic concoction; you'd
think they make it from herbs, not grapes) along with the
opening plates, and a
half-bottle of Barolo with the later-half of the meal. (Daria: Ahh.. Barolo... If only it
wasn't $80 for half-bottle!) The service was
impeccable, and I don't think I've ever had a waiter at a restaurant
tell me the plate being served (along w/ all ingredients -- "A
medium-rare burger, with grilled onions, Hickory BBQ sauce and onion
rings on the side"). I could go on about the food, but I'll let Daria
fill in that part in her blog... (Done!
All the stuff in blue was indeed my blog.) This was one of the
most memorable
(and most expensive) meals I have ever had -- I joked with Daria that
we'd have to eat Ramen for the next several months to make up for the
costs. =)
Pictures
Since we dressed up for the
experience (dress code: jackets required, ties optional for men...
nothing specific for women, probably assuming they'd use their chance
to dress to impress anyway), here's your opportunity to see us looking
nice. When we hit the road, jeans, hiking boots and unisex t-shirts are
more likely to be in vogue.
