Foreward
Umami has several friends that have talked about starting food blogs for some time now and Umami himself had been posting random food pictures on Facebook (which he still does). But he decided that Facebook posting was too disorganized and lacking in context to be meaningful.
But perhaps the tipping point came when his friend, Chuck, posted a Facebook photo album of his (Chuck's, that is) lunch at The French Laundry (Thomas Keller's restaurant in Yountville, California). Besides making him hungry, it inspired Umami to start this blog.
So, with Chuck's permission, and a tip of Umami's proverbial hat, here are the posts that set Umami on his way a little over year ago. Enjoy.
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We knew we were going to Sonoma, so I tried to get reservations. You have to call exactly two months ahead to the day, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. So on April 22, I woke up early and started calling. I had heard that it is next to impossible to get through, so I was happily surprised to get through after only 18 minutes of busy signals, and actually get a reservation. |
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The table settings were simple. All white, with their signature wooden laundry pin napkin holder to take home as a souvenir. |
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Canape. First, some starters. We were served a gruyere cheese puff and their signature salmon “ice cream cones”. Inspired by a visit to Baskin Robbins, the “cone” is a sesame flavored pastry shaped as a cone. It is topped with smoked salmon and filled with crème friache. Both were incredibly flavorful and good. |
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Cauliflower “panna cotta” with Island Creek Oyster glaze and California White Sturgeon caviar. The panna cotta was a cauliflower-flavored custard. It complemented the saltiness of the caviar well. Served with a mother of pearl spoon. (Apparently, eating caviar with a metal utensil affects the taste or something). |
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First bread course. The first of three bread courses. A brioche style roll, baked at the Bouchon bakery down the street. Served with two butters, one salted and one unsalted, both made by local farmers. |
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Moulard Duck “Foie Gras en Terrine” Sour Cherries, Piedmont Hazelnuts and celery branch. Our next course was a choice between this (30.00 supplement) and a Hearts of Palm salad. I had this and Lani had the salad, which is pictured in the next slide. A dollop of hazelnut puree is on the left of the plate. The sour cherries and hazelnuts and shaved celery branch were excellent accompaniments. I had to ask the server how to eat this. He instructed me to spread the pate onto the toasted brioche, then sprinkle on one of the three salts above. There was a salt from France, one from Molokai, and one from a copper mine. All were good. They brought me a second brioche before I finished the first one, so I would have hot brioche at all times. |
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Salad of Big Island Hearts of Peach Palm, Hosoi Pears, Garden Radishes, Watercress and Horseradish Gastrique. Lani thought this was just all right. |
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Second bread course. The second bread course came next. Lani had the multi-grain, at the top. I had the ciabatta and a French style roll. I could not get enough of the salted butter, which was the best butter I have ever had. |
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Grilled Pave of Kindai Bluefin Tuna. Broccolini, Kalijira Rice, Preserved Meyer Lemon and “Essence de Piment d’Espelette.” We had a choice between this and a sea urchin dish. Both of us had this. The rice was awesome, with small shavings of preserved Meyer lemon. The fish was cooked rare, though mine was more cooked than Lani’s. I was a little surprised that the cooking was not consistent. No complaints, everything tasted great. The fish was simply seasoned, with some salt. They are not shy about using salt here. The “essence” is the orange stripe on the plate, some sort of pepper puree. |
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New Bedford Sea Scallop “Poelee.” Sacramento Delta Asparagus, Pickled Green Garlic, “Pommes Puree” and Spanish Saffron Emulsion. The emulsion is the orange stuff drizzled on the plate. The pickled garlic was great, and the scallop cooked just right, very meaty. |
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“Rouelle de Tete de Cochon.” San Marzano Tomato Compote, Romaine Lettuce, Applewood-Smoked Bacon Wafer and Hass Avocado. Traditional preparation of pig’s head. The small bacon strip was extremely thin and crisp. The pork inside the deep fried patty was very fatty and rich. The tomato made it taste somewhat like barbecue sauce, which I think is what they were going for. |
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“Four Story Hill Farm Milk-Fed “Poulard.” Black Winter Truffles, English Peas and Sweet Corn Kernels. We had another choice here, between the pig’s head and this chicken dish. I had the chicken, Lani had the pig’s head. The chicken was stuffed with a truffle mousse. The peas and corn kernels were very sweet. Of the two, we both preferred the pig’s head, but this was very good as well. |
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“Chateaubriand” of Marcho Farms Veal. Grey Morel Mushrooms, Barletta Onions, Savoy Cabbage and “Sauce Bordelaise.” You may have noticed by now that Thomas Keller likes to put quotation marks in his menu descriptions. This was a sizable hunk of veal, perfectly cooked and simply seasoned again. The morels were fantastic and everything worked well together. |
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“Stella de Capra.” Golden Beets, Fennel Bulb, Red Ribbon Sorrel and Katy Apricot. The cheese course, a cheese from somewhere in Italy. A little apricot puree, some very small yellow beets, some very cool sorrel with red veins,and a fennel bulb came with. The fennel bulb tasted like licorice, and everything gave a different spin to the cheese. I liked it, Lani didn’t like it so much. |
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Gros Michel Banana Sorbet. Andante Dairy Yogurt “Granite” and Granola. As a pre dessert, they brought this sorbet. Very intense flavor, like many of the dishes we had. My favorite part was the granite – it is the stuff that looks like white powder. It was actually frozen icy chunks of yogurt, sort of like very fine dippin’ dots. Amazing. |
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“Coffee and Doughnuts.” My internet research paid off, and I knew that you can ask them to make this dessert for you if it is not on the menu. The “coffee” is a coffee-flavored semifreddo, like a custard, topped with milk froth. The “doughnuts" are brioche style, coated with cinnamon and sugar. Fantastic. The table next to us saw us getting this and had to ask for it too. |
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The table next to us offered to snap our picture. I include it to discuss our beverages. They served flat or carbonated water. We also told them that we were not big wine drinkers but that we had heard (more internet research) that they can do a selection of non-alcoholic beverages. The server happily set us up with a selection of dry sodas, made in Washington State. He served us a lavender soda with the appetizers, a rhubarb soda with the meat courses, and finally a wild cherry with dessert. Each in a separate wine glass, you can see the cherry in this picture. All of them were incredible and went really well with the meal. |
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“Regal de Fruits Rouges au Romarin.” Rosemary-Scented Genoa Cake, “Crème Patissiere” and Summer Berries. A pound cake filled what tasted like a hazelnut crème. Various red fruits came with, and a raspberry sorbet. This was one of two choices, and Lani had this one. |
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“Lingot de Chocolat en Mousse de Malt Crostillante.” Candied Spanish Peanuts, Popcorn Sherbet, and Caramel. The other dessert choice, this was mine. It was like a candy bar. Peanut butter and chocolate puree on the plate. It came with popcorn flavored sherbet and some tiny caramel corns. Unusual but very good. |
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“Mignardises." The meal was topped off with coffees and some additional treats. They brought Lani a small crème brulee (I started eating it before remembering to take a picture), and me, a star anise infused custard. Not a great fan of the star anise, but it was very flavorful. Also some cookies and chocolate covered and sugar dusted mac nuts. They wrapped the cookies and nuts to go for us, and also gave us some shortbread cookies as a favor. |
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| The courtyard and front entrance. |
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I don't even remember who took this picture, must have been some other tourists. Yeah, I would love to go back. Maybe if I win the lottery or something.
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A Final Word
Some of the photos have been adjusted for exposure and other minor tweaks, but, other than that, the pictures and text are as Chuck first posted them.
Hopefully, Umami will get the chance to do his own "Lunch at The French Laundry." And, hopefully, it won't take winning the lottery to do it!
The French Laundry
6640 Washington Street
Yountville, California 94599
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