The French Laundry

We went to The French Laundry a couple of years ago. It was a friend's birthday and his wife wanted to take him somewhere special. She organized a group of 6 of us and was able to get a reservation for lunch relatively easily. We had our own room, and a special menu. Since I hate seafood, I asked for a seafood-free menu and was offered different food than my friends often (better food, I think, at least a more interesting presentation). The service is amazing and it is a really nice experience. I wouldn't go often or anything, but it's a really nice experience to try. http://frenchlaundry.com/ more

Following these instructions I was able to get reservations at French Laundry. http://www.thesandersens.com/res/french.laundry.reservations.html The food and wine was definitely good, but just like other 'nice' restaurants. I didn't grab a copy of the menu. From my fuzzy memory, we had caviar with oysters (surprisingly good), endive, fois gras, steak, mackeral, deep fried marrow, cheese plate with figs, chocolate bar with mint in between, creme brulee, lots of chocolate and other dessert treats. My favorite was the steak, perfect rareness. I didn't even try the bone marrow. I've had it before and just taste like oil to me. Part of the price of going to a nice restaurant is the service. It was great. We learn that they get their bakery from Bouchon. The owner has a home behind French Laundry. The French Laundry used to be a laundromat years ago, hence the name. Since we were the last people out, they also gave us a tour of the kitchen. The whole dinner took about 4 hours. I wouldn't recommend going w/o good company :) more