The maître d’, Anton, greeted us with open arms (literally), as he showed us to our table. Isn’t the cooler approach to act unaffected by this once-in-a-lifetime experience? I think we were both taken aback when our lovely greeter suggested a better place to take photos around the corner by the legendary blue door, helped us pose, and snapped the photo before we made our entrance. My first instinct was to pretend like we weren’t taking photos, because…how gauche. Upon arrival, we were greeted outside while taking photos, bummed that the sun was still so high at 5:15pm (the time of our reservation). Yes, it is a lot of things.īut to my surprise and delight, what it is not, is stuffy. It is an interactive art installation, where your table is the canvas, and the staff moves around you at perfect tempo like a well-rehearsed orchestra. It is long considered one of the world’s best restaurants. It is a Three-Michelin-Star dining experience. And let’s be clear: The French Laundry is not simply a restaurant. Until she casually drops in, “Do you want me to text my friend, the maître d’ at the French Laundry, to see if I can get you a reservation next weekend when you’re in San Francisco.” Um, yes?! There was simply no other answer.Īs my mom always says, “If you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it.” Well, I didn’t care how much it cost (a minor exaggeration!), and I would find a way to afford it- likely with savings we had put aside for travels. Case in point: It was an average workday, I was rushing to meet my friend Christi for lunch, annoyed that I couldn’t find parking-it was a usual catch-up, you see.

Sometimes opportunities arise and you can’t-or shouldn’t-say no.

I did not seek out the French Laundry, it sought me. “When you acknowledge, as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving toward perfection becomes clear: to make people happy, that is what cooking is all about.” – Thomas Keller

French laundry michelin