My French Laundry Experience

We arrived early to walk the garden. The plots were labeled but most of the vegetables were harvested, except the big patch of rhubarb. Mmmm....I was thinking about the wonderful strawberry and rhubarb cheesecake I had at Bouchon Bakery at lunch.

As I approached the table I was greeted by the signature clothes pin on my napkin, which was immediately placed on my lap before I had an opportunity for a photo op. Our main server for the night introduced himself and went over the tasting menu in detail and explained our choices on four courses.

We had three runners for the night who served us for most of the evening. Our main server was much more attentive to the next table. He was around to closed the bill and escort us to the kitchen. He gave a fully guided tour and answered all my questions knowledgeably. He also walked us to the door to retrieved our jackets and a menu, which was a nice touch. The service was impeccable and very accommodating, I think Michael Mina's service wins by a nose.

One of our favorite runners of the night was an adorable young lady who had freckles, (we'll call her adorable) she had a slight nervousness in her voice when describing our dishes but made the service more personable. The other two runners were more robotic, barely cracking a smile, a little too serious for me.

'Adorable' set down the leaf shaped silver dish describing the Gougères canapè- Pâte à choux filled with a warm Gruyère mornay sauce and exclaimed, WELCOME!" Thus our evening was underway...

Canapè #2 is the signature Scottish Salmon Coronetsfilled in a sesame cone with creme fraiche at the bottom. The salmon was chopped to an almost pate consistency but the pieces were still distinctive upon biting. Rich, creamy sticky in texture with a surprise creme frachie finish at the bottom tip of the cone, kind of like the little bit of chocolate at the end of a Drumstick ice cream cone.

Oyster and Pearlsin a tapioca sabayon sauce - I've been anticipating this dish and the results were beyond my expectation. The sabayon richness was accentuated by the tapioca texture, giving it a more thicker coat on the mother of pearl spoon. The oysters, void of brininess with only the sweetness prevailing. The caviar quenelle was generous and added the saltiness and "pop" to the dish. Phenomenal. How some even compare Gary Danko's version to TFL is almost criminal.

We had a choice between the soup or the Moulard foie gras terrine with a $30 supplement. The Soup De Topinambourswas presented before pouring on the liquid which had the consistency of well beaten eggs (beaten by a stand mixer frothy.)

The Moulard Duck foie graswas served with a sweet balsamic glaze and textures (walnuts, celery and rhubard) to counteract the smooth and supplely potent foie gras. Warm brioche bread accompanied the dish but before we had a chance to tear into the bread, another hot brioche bread replaced the first slice. TFL wanted every bite of the foie gras to be eaten with warm bread. The plate of exquisite salts to be sprinkle upon desired - fluer de sel, a Colorado salt and I believe a Parisian Grey salt.

The bread service comes partway through the meal which is a good idea considering I usually like to fill my wait time with stuffing my face with bread. The bread is from Bouchon Bakery with a few choices, my personal favorite is the pretzel.

The butters deserve a full write up, two buttersare served - unsalted from Andante Diary from Petaluma, CA and the whipped salted butter is from Animal Farm in Middlebury, Vermont. The salted butter is churned by Diane St. Clair from the milk of her Jersey cows, one named Keller after Thomas Keller. (Watch a video of her here.) The unsalted was so creamy it was insane and without salt I was able to really taste the pinging milkiness. I could only imagine how divine the butters change in flavor during the seasons.

The fish choice was between a Atlantic Halibutand Anago, a eel from Japan.The Anago was sweet especially with the soy sauce broth. The eel's silver film under the skin was not remove so it was difficult to cut or chew. The fish was served with 2 dumplings which was undercooked, rendering a hard floury taste. When I looked at the cross section of the dumpling the middle wrappers were indeed raw and not throughly cooked.

The Halibut was slightly dry but the crust was very crispy giving a great off set to the flaky meat. When we were asked about the fish course and off hand mentioned the dryness and uncooked dumplings it was brushed off by the runner.

The butter poached lobstergreeted my nose before my eyes. I could smell the fragrant linger of butter before I could see it visually. Tender and Sweet. Need I say more? Anyone care for eau de butter poached lobster? I know I will be in first line for the launch.

The 5th course was choice between the rabbit and Veal Heart Confit which was described by our service "thinly sliced lengthwise, almost like a pastrami" I was sold. The dish did have pastrami qualities such as the cured toothy tear of the meat but it was much more intense in flavor.

When I go out for Prime Rib I always leave the "eye" of the rib for my doggy. I am upmost in love with the "ring of the eye" a.k.a calotteand TFL serves it breakfast style. The calotte cooked sous vide and then seared. I was in beef heaven.

The cheese courseincluded something a little unusual, a griddled cheese wrapped around Romaine lettuce. The bread service had a choice of walnut, raisin and country bread.

The 8th course, a palate cleanser before our desserts was a coconut milk sherbet. The roasted pineapple added some tartness and dark sugar quality, a really perfect way to began dessert. I couldn't help but notice every quenelle was beautifully proportionally shaped.

When the reservationist called three days before to confirm our reservations, I requested for the Coffee and Doughnuts, which is a signature dessert but no longer on the menu. She politely accepted the request but said there are no guarantees.

The coffee semifreddo was really the winner, one had to battle the dense layer of foam to reach the prize. The freddo was thick enough to scoop, just right in the middle of ice cream and a milkshake.

The dessert choices were a Savarin Au Citronand Peanut Butter "Barvarios."The Savarin au citron had flecks of olive oil with the citrus fruits. The savarin was so light and delicate it was almost floating. The variation on the sponge cake was so airy but smooth, without the crumbliness. Sublime.

Before our mignardises, we were brought a mini lemon chiffon tart. The tart entitled the adjective of chiffon, as it felt like the silkiness of the fabric.

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