On a drizzly day, towards evening, I drove 9 miles to Yountville, home of expensive Inns and expensive restaurants. My goal was to find what Anthony Bourdain calls "the best restaurant in the world": The French Laundry.
A walk down Washington Street and sure enough, there it is! A very small brass sign identifies the place. Peeking in through the windows (and feeling a bit like a stalker), I see Chefs working furiously. Walking around back a Chef comes out to dispose of refuse. I think a little about dumpster diving at the best restaurant in the world--but stop myself. I'll just make a reservation someday (the waiting list is only three months long).
Yountville has the best of the best in the Napa Valley. The best Inns. The best restaurants. Jaguars abound. Celebrities abound. The entrance to The French Laundry has a nice little discreet place where the Will Smiths and other Hollywood celebrities can discreetly disembark and partake in Thomas Keller's food.
I halfways think about dropping into the French Laundry to see if I could get a table for one, but then I quickly decide: No. If on the off chance I did get a table, I would never be able to explain to Joni how I managed to eat at this prestige restaurant by myself--on her birthday! I get a little more tactful as I age.
Yountville itself is a make believe small town. Fake. I much prefer Calistoga--heck even hoity-toity St. Helena-- to Yountville. This isn't the real world. It is like a plastic copy of what a small French town should look like. A Disneyesque Replica.
I walk the town. I think about the Four Families of Food in the Napa Valley (an exaggeration). Most of the best restaurants are owned by four families that reign like Kings in their own turf. Two Families in Calistoga. One family in St. Helena (Mustards, Becky's Backstreet Kitchen and GoFish). And Thomas Keller in Yountville (The French Laundry, Bouchon and Bistro Jeanty). It's like the twelve families that used to control (and still do?) El Salvador back in the 80's. More on that another time...
A walk down Washington Street and sure enough, there it is! A very small brass sign identifies the place. Peeking in through the windows (and feeling a bit like a stalker), I see Chefs working furiously. Walking around back a Chef comes out to dispose of refuse. I think a little about dumpster diving at the best restaurant in the world--but stop myself. I'll just make a reservation someday (the waiting list is only three months long).
Yountville has the best of the best in the Napa Valley. The best Inns. The best restaurants. Jaguars abound. Celebrities abound. The entrance to The French Laundry has a nice little discreet place where the Will Smiths and other Hollywood celebrities can discreetly disembark and partake in Thomas Keller's food.
I halfways think about dropping into the French Laundry to see if I could get a table for one, but then I quickly decide: No. If on the off chance I did get a table, I would never be able to explain to Joni how I managed to eat at this prestige restaurant by myself--on her birthday! I get a little more tactful as I age.
Yountville itself is a make believe small town. Fake. I much prefer Calistoga--heck even hoity-toity St. Helena-- to Yountville. This isn't the real world. It is like a plastic copy of what a small French town should look like. A Disneyesque Replica.
I walk the town. I think about the Four Families of Food in the Napa Valley (an exaggeration). Most of the best restaurants are owned by four families that reign like Kings in their own turf. Two Families in Calistoga. One family in St. Helena (Mustards, Becky's Backstreet Kitchen and GoFish). And Thomas Keller in Yountville (The French Laundry, Bouchon and Bistro Jeanty). It's like the twelve families that used to control (and still do?) El Salvador back in the 80's. More on that another time...
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