For our first anniversary, Hubby (aka "E.") and I have scored the culinary equivalent of front row seats to the World Series, the SuperBowl, the World Cup, the Stanley Cup, and the Masters, combined. I can't speak for him, but I'd pass on all five of those events for what we are about to do: eat at the French Laundry. It's easier to get seats to any of those events (provided the right dinero passed hands) than it is to get two seats at the French Laundry.
You think I'm joking. I am not. Consider: the French Laundry takes reservations two MONTHS to the day of when you wish to dine there. The phone lines are open daily from 10:00 to 1:00 PST and never once, in the past year of trying, have I reached a HUMAN voice in those three hours. And who can plan two months in advance to be at a RESTAURANT? The French Laundry, from what I can tell, is a destination date. You fly to Napa simply to eat there. Napa is peripheral to all else if your intent is to be at the French Laundry.
Which brings up a specific question: is it that good? Well, Thomas Keller, the chef/owner is widely acclaimed by his peers. Peggy tells me that the restaurant was named one of the best in the world.
Okay, so what does this mean? I've heard about amazing chefs who, when put to the test, aren't all that. Take Chez Panisse for instance. I have deep respect for Alice Waters and her accomplishments -- and maybe it was an off night, but when I ate there last year, it was fresh, it was good, but it certainly didn't blow my socks off. There's a marketing concept about meeting or exceeding a customer's expectations -- and then there's delighting them. My expectations were met -- but I wasn't delighted. This is not to say the food was bad -- it wasn't. It was quite solid, quite good. My sister Kaly said she had a great dinner there. So maybe Alice wasn't cooking that night or maybe I didn't order the right thing.
I wax idiotic. So our dinner is set for May 26...
(originally posted May 11, 2004)
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