The French Laundry 2001 - 2005

[lizziee]

"Saturday's lunch with Stone and two further meals at FL this weekend constituted a bona fide attempt to understand this restaurant."

Cabrales,

I am anxiously waiting for "the rest of the story."

[lizziee]

Based on this report and your previous posts, I'm going to blow a Border's gift certificate on the cookbook.

Dave,

As a further incentive to buy the cookbook, one of the best parts is Keller's descriptions of technique.

For example, in the sea bass dish that Stone and Cabrales described which is included in his cookbook, Thomas describes how he was able to get the skin crisp. "Skin will not crisp, obviously, if there's water in it. Skin that is too moist will take a long time to crisp, and you will overcook your fish."

The way that Thomas is able to achieve crispy skin is that he takes "the blade of the knife and drags it over the skin, pressing down gently but firmly to force the water to the surface, then pulling the knife back over the skin to squeegee off the water." He advises that you "repeat this pressing and scraping until you've gotten as much water out of the fish skin

as possible."

[Jinmyo]

lizziee, I almost jumped up and down when I first read that in the Cookbook. I did find my sous and show it to her immediately though. "Look at this! Look at this!" I love that book.

[MartyL]

I visited a local wine store recently and looked at the glass (in connection with purchasing some champagne -- Jacques Selosse -- the "Origine cuvee" NV of Blanc de Blancs was available!).

An intriguing parenthetical!

Pray tell, Cabrales, where you saw the Selosse. Also, I'd be interested to learn how the "Origine" cuvee differs from his regular Blanc de Blanc, if by any chance you know. Thanks.

[southern girl]

Carbrales....don't keep us in suspense...what about your other two meals at FL?!?!

[cabrales]

southern girl and lizziee -- Here's the menu on meal 2:

Carrot and orange soup, with blood orange morcels [not official name; this was a gift relative to the tasting menu to reflect my solo diner-automatic VIP treatment, presumably]

Cauliflower "Panna Cotta" with Malpeque Oyster Glaze and Osetra Caviar

Almond Panna Cotta with roasted pine nuts [another gift]

Beet salad -- full name n/a

Cod -- full name n/a

"Caesar Salad" -- Sweet Butter Poached Maine Lobster with Roasted Hearts of Romaine Lettcue, "Confit" of Sweet Garlic, Parmesan "Croutons" and "Bottarga Emulsion"

Pan Seared Wolf Ranch Quail with "Farce a Gratin", Garden Marche and Quail Vinaigrette

Herb Roasted Saddle of Elysian Fields Farm Lamb with Spice-Roasted Eggplant, Pickled Carrots and Sauce "Paloise"

"Maytag Blue", as before

Oregon Huckleberry Sorbet, as before

"Degustation d'Abricots Seches", Royal Blenhim Apricot "Chiboust" with Apricot CAke and Apricot Granite

Some other pot de creme

Billecart Salmon, by glass

1/2 bottle Chassagne-Montrachet "Les Vergers", Ramonet 1999, like the meal with Stone (also in a buttercup Reidel glass)

1/2 bottle Chateauneuf du Pape, Beaucastel 2000

Edited February 6, 2003 by cabrales (log)

[Schielke]

Was this meal a dinner or lunch? If you got the chance to experience both, do you think that there is much difference between the dinner treatment vs. the lunch?

Ben

[cabrales]

Meal 2 was Sunday lunch. I waited at the FL bar for two hours Saturday night, after the lunch with Stone and a nap. However, there were no cancellations. Meal 3 was Sunday dinner.

-- Dish offerings (quantity, general quality) appear to be comparable during lunch and dinner.

-- Pricing is the same.

-- At dinner, the restaurant is considerably darker. The lights are presumably deliberately dimmed.

[lizziee]

Cabrales,

You had mentioned that you stopped off at Domaine for oysters before lunch at FL. Did you find yourself hungry after lunch? after dinner?

Between the Oysters and Pearls and the Cauliflower "Panna Cotta" with Malpeque Oyster Glaze and Osetra Caviar, which preparation did you prefer?

Did you feel that you got "solo diner-automatic VIP treatment?" From your use of the word presumably, I gather that you questioned it.

From your menu of meal #2, I can't tell if you were impressed, disappointed, excited or.....

Obviously, awaiting for more and meal #3.

[cabrales]

You had mentioned that you stopped off at Domaine for oysters before lunch at FL.  Did you find yourself hungry after lunch? after dinner?

Between the Oysters and Pearls and the Cauliflower "Panna Cotta" with Malpeque Oyster Glaze and Osetra Caviar, which preparation did you prefer?

Did you feel that you got "solo diner-automatic VIP treatment?" From your use of the word presumably, I gather that you questioned it.

From your menu of meal #2, I can't tell if you were impressed, disappointed, excited or.....

Obviously, awaiting for more and meal #3.

lizziee --

I did stop off at Domaine Chandon for a light appetizer dish and champagne (Etoile NV) before Sunday lunch at FL. There were only six oysters served to me, although some were in batter or otherwise enlarged in general volume. I definitely had capacity during lunch. Towards the end of dinner, I started not being able to finish dishes, but that was not necessarily as a result of the DC excursion.

Before Saturday's lunch with Stone, I attended an Opus One tour. Interesting discussions included: (1) vines are planted more closely together than the typical CA style because vines that have to struggle have lower amounts of higher quality grapes and the close planting is a superficially-induced challenge for the wines, (2) the winery uses gravity flow, (3) the huge steel containers holding the fermenting grapes were custom-made for Opus One, (4) it took a long time for Mondavi and Rothschild to decide on the name; originally Mondavi had rejected "Opus" (having musical connotations), and (5) while Opus One is primarily Cab Sauvignon, there are potentially 3 other grapes utilized for blending.

I liked the "Oysters and Pearls" better than the Panna Cotta. The panna cotta had a layer of Malpeque oyster gelee-like substance (perhaps the glaze) and was very good too. I liked the consistency of the saucing of the Oyster and Pearl dish, and its buttery connotations.

I don't question the automatic VIP treatment of solo diners. I merely note that I got not much more than I did when dining with Stone. I received an extra soup (the carrot/orange) and an extra almond custard. I had expected, for some reason, more. Meal #3 brought forth considerably more special treatment.

[Stone]

Did you feel that you got "solo diner-automatic VIP treatment?" From your use of the word presumably, I gather that you questioned it.

Does VIP treatment mean that they bring you little surprises between the courses so that the diner is not sitting there with nothing to do? Anything else?

[lizziee]

"Meal #3 brought forth considerably more special treatment." (Cabrales)

"Does VIP treatment mean that they bring you little surprises between the courses so that the diner is not sitting there with nothing to do? Anything else?" (Stone)

Stone,

That is why I asked Cabrales.

[southern girl]

Cabrales...for your second and third meals...did you have a previously made reservation, or did you wait for no shows...

[cabrales]

southern girl -- I waited for last-minute-cancelled reservations and no-shows. As of about five days before the Saturday in question, I had no reservations at all.

[Stone]

"Does VIP treatment mean that they bring you little surprises between the courses so that the diner is not sitting there with nothing to do? Anything else?" (Stone)

Stone,

That is why I asked Cabrales.

I got the impression from Cabby and your posts that a certain type of VIP treatment for an individual diner was commonplace in high-end joints.

[cabrales]

Did you feel that you got "solo diner-automatic VIP treatment?" From your use of the word presumably, I gather that you questioned it.

Does VIP treatment mean that they bring you little surprises between the courses so that the diner is not sitting there with nothing to do? Anything else?

Stone -- Apologies for not having seen that sooner. Not necessarily is the short answer to your question. The longer answer is that special treatment for solo diners is a recognized practice at FL.

-- On Michael Ruhlman's "Soul of a Chef: The Journey Towards Perfection", about 1/3 of the book is on FL. There is recognition of the fact that, at FL, solo diners are immediately VIP'd to some extent.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...141001895&itm=1

I read that book some time ago, but made a special note to myself to explore the parameters of the VIP treatment for solo diners at FL.

-- In my dialogue with chefg in the attached thread, this was also confirmed.

chefg -- It's wonderful solo diners are always VIP'd at FL. Are you aware of what might have been the thinking behind that? Also, do all VIPs on a given night tend to get the same lengthier tasting?

Thomas assumes solo diners are there to dine. Alot of people frequent high end restaurants. Some are there because their dinning partner wanted to go, some because it is the "in place", some because it adds a level of prestige, and others because they like to dine. If you go alone chances are you are in to it. From a chef's perspective there is no one I would rather cook for. Not all vips get the same menu, depends on your vip-ness.

Edited February 6, 2003 by cabrales (log)

[lizziee]

Cabrales,

I am eagerly awaiting full descriptions of meal #2 and #3. How was the cod prepared? Did the beet dish work at this point in the meal? Would you consider your last meal the best given special considerations?

[southern girl]

Cabrales- I too would like to hear about meal # 3 as I will be having dinner there this Sunday and will be curious to see how similar the menus are...although I will be with a group...so, I guess I won't get the vip solo diner treatment.

[russ parsons]

what fun to read someone's first experience with the french laundry. almost like enjoying it again (6 or 7 years ago, snuck a last-minute reservation, sat on the patio in late september, watched the sun set over the garden, had one of the most remarkable meals of my life).

i've been back over and over, thanks to a professional relationship with thomas that has become friendship. i don't have cabrales' depth of experience with three-stars, but i have to say that the fl is for me the most inspirational restaurant in america, the one that buoys me when i'm feeling cynical about the whole thing. you simply cannot believe the amount of effort and concentration that goes into making this restaurant work (which is not to say it is perfect ... there is no such thing and the more perfect you become as a restaurant, the more perfection people expect from you). I remember helping a galley slave prepare the red pepper powder one evening: start by slicing sheer slabs from red peppers ... honestly, 8 or 9 to the section ... then drying them on a silpat, then powdering them. all for a whimsical garnish.

a couple of notes: as has been pointed out, the oysters and pearls is based on a sabayon, not on butter (one critique i've heard--and understand--is that the predominant flavor at FL is butter and cream ... "not that that's a bad thing" in my opinion.

Personally, my all-time favorite dish at FL is probably the one cabrales didn't like as well--the cauliflower panna cotta with caviar. it's just a brilliant matching of unexpected flavors (i know, i should have eaten it at robuchon). the first time i tasted it, i immediately started laughing out loud. so delicious, so weird, so thomas.

in my experience, the best way to eat at FL is in a large party. TK really responds. I remember one dinner for five where each of us got a different lobster course, each one pointing up a different aspect of lobster's flavor or texture. it was like a graduate course in lobster-ology.

Jacques Selosse--bobby turned me on to this and it's the champagne i always start with. perfectly steely and minerally.

meat courses--i, too, frequently feel let down by them, but i wonder how they would be if they came earlier in the meal? by the time the main meats roll around, i'm usually in for 10-12 courses and my concentration is flagging. i still think the worst job in cooking has to be pastry chef at the FL.

I understand people's cynicism about the place, it has been hyped beyond any possible hint of reality. but i have to say that i have never been disappointed by it and the closer i get to it and the more often i eat there the more amazed i am by the consistency and the effort that goes into getting even the smallest things right.

[Steve Plotnicki]

I have to agree with everything else that has been said to Stone so far, it was great to see him react this way. May he have many more meals in his lifetime that move him this way.

[cabrales]

Does VIP treatment mean that they bring you little surprises between the courses so that the diner is not sitting there with nothing to do?  Anything else?

Stone -- Apologies for having missed this part of the question before. In meal #2, I believe I received the VIP treatment accorded to a solo diner. It consisted of two "extra" dishes:

-- Carrot and orange soup, with blood orange morcels, served before the oyster/caviar dish (i.e., the soup was the first dish); and

-- Almond Panna Cotta with roasted pine nuts, served immediately after the oyster/caviar dish.

[cabrales]

a couple of notes: as has been pointed out, the oysters and pearls is based on a sabayon, not on butter

The oysters and pearl dish has egg in the sabayon, but could a member with the book verify that there is no butter? If that's the case, the dish has a very deceptively buttery taste.

[Stone]

I believe it's true that sabayon has no butter. However, the FL cookbook (p. 135) describes the sauce for oysters as peals as basically a scoop of buerre monte with flavorings. (I'm paraphrasing only slightly.) I assume that means butter, flavored by tapioca sabayon.

(three edits, and I think it's close to English.)

Edited February 10, 2003 by Stone (log)

[Schielke]

Yes, the recipe in the back of "The soul of a chef" includes a significant portion of butter for the sauce. The sabayon does not include any butter though.

Ben

p.s. I also recall reading that Thomas Keller is all about butter and he uses a ton of the stuff. For instance they keep cooked meat warm in a bath of butter while it rests. I guess that this is not really "added" into the final dish, but it does have an effect.

Edited February 10, 2003 by Schielke (log)

[cabrales]

a couple of notes: as has been pointed out, the oysters and pearls is based on a sabayon, not on butter

The oysters and pearl dish has egg in the sabayon, but could a member with the book verify that there is no butter? If that's the case, the dish has a very deceptively buttery taste.

I now have a copy of the French Laundry Cookbook. As Schielke noted, butter is in the "Oysters and Pearls" dish, althogh not technically in the sabayon portion of the dish. However, the sabayon was indistinguishable from the sauce when I sampled the dish.

There is not only the butter reference noted by Stone, but also the recipe for "Oysters and Pearls" (p. 23). The ingredients list includes, for the sauce "8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces". This is for 8 servings, so it is approx. 1 tablespoon of butter per serving. The butter is whisked into the sauce piece by piece, with the reference to buerre monte noted by Stone being made in the recipe.

Edited February 11, 2003 by cabrales (log)