dinner at the french laundry

the first time I heard there was a restaurant in napa valley called the french laundry, I had a bit of a laugh.  after all, I had never associated fine dining with dirty linens… 

 

but then, my friend told me that it was considered the best restaurant in the usa, if not the world and that it strictly accepted reservations 2 months ahead (and took a mere 15 minutes to become fully booked).  not surprisingly, right then and there i made it a personal priority to go as soon as I possibly could… in the end, thankfully a bit wiser, it took 4 years… and even then, it was jason who secured the reservations by some extraordinary stroke of fortune…

 

the french laundry is in a small, very humble-and-easy-to-miss 2-storey building in the now foodie capital of yountville, napa valley. 

 

in an excellent book by michael ruhlman, “the soul of a chef”, I learned that it was once a brothel like the ones you see in old western movies but that it did house a steam laundry maintained by french people.  in 1976, the building which had been vacant for years was purchased by a couple who decided to turn it into a restaurant and keep its nickname “the french laundry” and in 1992, thomas keller, unemployed and cash-strapped, found out it was for sale.  he was able to convince the owners to keep it for him until he was able to secure the funds and turn it into his dream restaurant. ruhlman devotes 1/3 of the book on thomas keller and his philosophy and it was well worth the read before going.

 

the french laundry is, unfortunately, for many people a thick mark on a list of things they want to do before they die.  thankfully for others though, it is the ultimate temple of food pilgrimage where food is elevated to a god-like status.  the whole dining experience is focused on the food, giving it full priority and deference.  in fact, keller’s philosophy is all about purity of and respect for the food.  nothing goes to waste and each ingredients are used to their pure and absolute maximum effect on combination and flavours all the while obsessively striving for perfection in order to, ultimately, make people happy.  simple enough?

 

two chef’s tasting menus were on offer: the meat menu and the vegetable menu.  of course, foodie as I now am, I had to have the fois gras (yes mom, foie gras..) and the pigeon. and the lamb. and the oysters…  for the wine, I let the somelier decide on pairings to each of my courses.

 

here is our menu – my mouth is watering as a write this:

 

oyster and pearls (a classic) - sabayon of pearl tapioca with island creek oysters and white surgeon caviar paired with 2001 scramsberg vineyards, j. schram, napa valley

 

moulard duck foie gras au torchon – belgian endive, green grapes, toasted oats and mustard-verjus emulsion paired with 2005 becker gewürztraminer estate auslese, pfalz

 

cuisses de grenouilles croquantes à l’aigre-doux – cauliflower fleurettes, crispy capers, red chili, cilantro shoots and marcona almonds paired with 2004 toni jost riesling bacharacher hahn, mittelrhein

 

sweet butter-poached maine lobster mitts – yukon gold potato purée, sugar snap peas, baby corn and black truffle sauce paired with 2004 patrick javillier les tillets meursault burgundy

 

scottish wood pigeon rôti en cocotte – k&j orchard chestnut purée, sunchokes, watercress and pomegranate jus paired with 2000 auguste clape cornas, rhône valley

 

ribeye of elysian fields farm lamb en persillade – petit salé, cassoulet of jacobsen’s farm beans, garlic chips and sauce d’agneau paired with 1998 azelia bricco fiasco barolo, piedmont

 

tomme brulée – fennel bulb, sweet peppers, niçoise olives and arugula paired with 2004 martinelli zinfandel jackass vineyard russian river valley, california

 

diane st-claire buttermilk sherbet – pain perdu and huckleberries

 

domori sambriano chocolate mille-feuille – tahini ganache, sesame seed cake and shiso sorbet paired with 1968 d’oliveira bual madeira, portugal

 

 

an amazing food and wine experience. supplemented by a superlative service and attention to details…

 

in fact, I had a buzz the whole night not unlike the buzz I get each time i see a cirque du soleil representation.  in those, acrobatics, colors, and sounds defies my imagination and awes me that the human body can achieve such feats.  at the french laundy, every bites, every sips awed me that human beings can create, from ingredients provided by mother nature, such sensations, such pleasure, and such feeling of well being.

 

bliss.

 

 

Published by jc on October 4, 2008

enoteca san marco - las vegas

a much better experience this time around at a mario batali's restaurant in las vegas.

last year at around the same time, some of you will remember that i was less than impressed with our visit to b&b ristorante in the venetian hotel.  even though, i decided to take the risk and invite bill, mike, and chris to another of batali's & bastianich restaurant in the venetian and i am glad i did.

the enoteca san marco is located right there in the "san marco" square of the hotel, in front of gondolas, opera singers, and the whole shebang.  the menu (food and wine) is a simpler version of b&b and the theme is enoteca - simple and earthy dishes.

the evening started a bit weird when the hostess did not want to sit us at our table "until all members of our party had arrived".  which was a bit annoying as we were all a bit tired after a whole day walking around the trade show we are now attending.

but the wait was well worth it.  once they brought the wine and the antipasti, the delights could be heard and felt all around the table.  delicious, mouth watering and tongue melting prosciuto & salami and beautifully fresh cheezes which merited their own separate service of "cheeze condiments".  these were super delicious black truffle honey (great with the gorgonzola and the pecorino), maraschino cherry in its sauce (beautiful with the goat cheeze) , and surprising candied apricot with a slight sparkle of chillis which was super tasty with the goat cheeze and the gorgonzola.

my main dish, veal and ricotta meat balls served on  a bed of polenta were to die for.  it seems that my 3 other guests had the same delight at their dishes: duck confit with grape & arugula, marinated chicken, and one pasta dish: bucatini all'amatriciana which was as good as the one i had in frascati just 4 days ago.

seriously.  this was beyond my expectations and, after our meal at another of batali's restaurant last night (carnovino in the palazzo), i have completely changed my mind about mario batali's food.

too bad the obnoxious music is still playing in the background though...

 

Published by jc on September 26, 2008

taking a flight at jfk airport

the thing i love about traveling is the discovery of new things.  to see how people of all kinds of background and culture go about being passionate about the same things i am passionate about.

while waiting for my connection at jfk on my way to paris, i had a flight at vinovolo, a nice little wine bar.  a flight is a series of wine glasses that contain just enough to taste each one and get an appreciation of each at the same price of ordering 1 full glass of 1 type of wine.

this flight was about wines from new york state:

- millbrook chardonnay 2005

- bedell cellars merlot 2005

- hermann j. wiemer riesling 2005

the experience was quite interesting and i loved it.  i wish we can have a place in hong kong that can do this kind of thing.

 

Published by jc on September 29, 2007

las vegas - bouchon vs b&b

as i mentionned previously, on my 1st night in vegas, i visted BOUCHON which was in itself a fantastic experience.  the restaurant is such a faithfull reproduction of a paris bistro that being in paris here now, i am amazed at how much being there made me feel being here....

the food was fantastic, i had a starter of oyster paired with laurent-perrier champagne (brut) which was fresh, typical, and a very delicious accompaniment to my oysters. 

i then had their special of the evening which was a beautiful beef bavette served on a bed of red cabbage and bacon sauce.  the first bit was incredible, an explosion of flavours, i closed my eyes and felts nirvana...  this was pared with a very tasty syrah TOR CARNEROS DURELL '03 specially selected by mr keller.  it was what can one expect of a high qualoity shiraz with an additional complexity of savoury spices (cardamon, white pepper, black pepper).

on the 2nd night, i invited friends to try MARIO BATALI'S B&B RESTAURANTE.  i was excited.  i was looking forward to something that i had booked 1 month piror.  i read HEAT which talks about him so much and i wanted to experience first hand what ''molto mario'' is all about.

my verdict: i will go back to BOUCHON for sure on my next trip to vegas, but will try other restaurants before i return to B&B.

jim asked me why on FACEBOOK (jc viens).  simple, the music was so obnoxious, i could not hear myself talk, let alone taste the food in my mouth.  secondly, the snotty door girl, whatever her title is was so arogant, she made me cringe (in asia we say lose face).  i mean, it is batali who is famous, NOT HER.  then our waiter asked me if i wanted to hear the sommelier's recommendation.  i said yes as i had heard their wine expertise is very good.  well she came to our table without knowing what we were eating and only suggested that we drink the wine from joe bastianich's winery (who is also owner of b&b).  she did not suggest anything else and was so busy generally that in fact seemed that she could not careless about giving us advice on this matter.  either by the look of us, she thought we knew nothing about wine, or this was a crass way too go for more margin. come to think of it, she was perhaps there for show, isn't it what las veags is about?

talking of which.  3 weeks ago at la ciau de tornavento in piedmonted, we had a gaja sori di lorenzo 1990 which we paid in the restaurant euro 420 for it.  i wondered why the 1989 of the same wine was offered usd 1300 in b&b.  really...

mind you, the pasta was very very good.  1000% what i was expecting.  but the rest was ordinary.  i ordered the rabbit which was prepared in 4 different ways (meaning the same rabbit was served in 4 pieces and each piece beingprepared differently)  that, although an interesting culinary experience, was quite an anti-climax because each piece were absolutely not as good as the other one.  a matter of personal taste you will say.  well, yes, but why serve such a dish in that case?  my guest also thought there main were a let down for various reasons and everyone agreed that the pasta and the desserts were the best dishes of the evening.  to wash down this food, we had a LORENZO BEGALI AMARONE 1999 which we paid 3 times the listed price in wine searcher and was actually not very good and felt a little bit acetic on the palate.  what made me cringe here what that prices on the wine that list started at about usd 150 except for those from joe bastianich's winery.

celebrity has a premium you will say?  well, this is indeed a learning experience for me and i will stay away from those overexposed celebrities from now on.  OVER-EXPOSED AND OVERRATED, that is what i think and all my guests including myself felt let down in some ways.  were our expectations too high?  it was ordinary, period. we indeed had a las vegas experience: the house always win...

Published by jc on September 29, 2007