![]() If you get a continuous busy signal past 11 a.m., you’ll probably need to try again the next day, and maybe the day after that. ![]() Between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m., program their number on your speeddial and begin calling continue calling until you get an answer. The French Laundry starts taking phone reservations at 9 a.m. Budget $500 pp for your meal if you plan to drink wine, and $300– 350 if you don’t. It’s easier to get a table for lunch than for dinner both take 2.5–4 hours. Diners can choose between lunch and dinner seatings that offer the same menu. Reservations are accepted for parties of two, four, or six only. The bare facts: The French Laundry takes reservations precisely two months in advance by phone, online, and via local concierges. Rather than expecting to dine at the French Laundry during a planned trip to the Wine Country, savvy travelers expect to plan their whole trip around whatever French Laundry reservation they manage to get. The difficulty in getting reservations to the French Laundry is almost as legendary as the French Laundry itself. It may sound like a foodie paradise, but there’s just one problem: getting a table. The restaurant is in a charming vintage house, and the kitchen garden is right across the street, where you can walk among the rows of vegetables and herbs. Thomas Keller’s culinary haven in tiny Yountville was the only restaurant in the greater Bay Area to earn the coveted three-star Michelin Guide rating in 2007. Most people familiar with the world of high-end food know that the best restaurant in California, and possibly in the United States, is the French Laundry. Afterward, you might not eat normally for a couple of days, and you’ll have spent a good deal of money on a single meal, but it will seem worth it. All together, a meal at the French Laundry can run up to 13 courses and take four hours to eat. After the fourth separate dessert course, you may want to ask for a white flag to signal your surrender. ![]() Finally, the desserts come, and come, and come. ![]() From the start, waiters and footmen ply you with extras-an amuse-bouche here, an extra middle course there-and if you mention that someone else has something on their plate that you’d like to try, it appears in front of you as if by magic. The sommelier is at your beck and call to assist with a wine list that weighs several pounds. The waitstaff can help you identify anything you don’t recognize or if you’re having trouble making a decision. Most people familiar with the world of high-end food know that the best restaurant in California, and possibly in the United States, is the French Laundry.You’ll have a few either-or choices as you run down each list-usually you’ll see two options for the fish course and two options for the entrée. The menu, which changes often, offers two main selections: the regular nine-course tasting menu and the vegetarian nine-course tasting menu. Even if you’re new to this level of dining-and most people are-you’ll be made to feel more than welcome. You’ll be led to your seat in one of the small dining rooms by one of the many immaculate black-and-white-clad staff. From the moment you walk in the door of the rambling Victorian, you’re treated like royalty. Once you’ve obtained that all-important reservation, the fun begins. The reason for this reputation starts and ends with restaurateur Thomas Keller’s indisputably amazing French Laundry (6640 Washington St., 707/944-2380, dinner daily 5:30–9 p.m., lunch 11 a.m.–1 p.m. The tiny town of Yountville boasts perhaps the biggest reputation for culinary excellence in California-a big deal when you consider the offerings of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
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