The French Laundry

We went to the F L in November 2007. We had a memorable meal and dining experience and found that the cost was equal to the quality of the product presented. Abeit, some silverware required a little knowledge of it's proper use. The chinaware als ... more

We went to the F L in November 2007. We had a memorable meal and dining experience and found that the cost was equal to the quality of the product presented. Abeit, some silverware required a little knowledge of it's proper use. The chinaware also was quite involved.Luckly are good swimming through the merky waters that lay ahead.With that said, I understand some patron's frustration at certain establishments dresscode and other requirements. As for myself, I would expect no less at a restaurant of such caliber.Would one not expect such at el Bulli or Le Bernadin? We had a error on our bill which we only discovered hours later when we arrived home. By the time we contacted them, not one hour had passed and the billing corrected.So our experience is such that we cannot wait to go back. And, Please always check dresscode or any other requirements when Fine Dining. More and more restaurants world wide are going casual, but not all. Better to be over dressed! less

Simply put, the food was incredible. A culinary masterpiece, sadly tainted by a clear example of discrimination. Disregarding the above issue (albeit a difficult thing to do), from a service perspective, I was much more impressed with local San Fran ... more

Simply put, the food was incredible. A culinary masterpiece, sadly tainted by a clear example of discrimination. Disregarding the above issue (albeit a difficult thing to do), from a service perspective, I was much more impressed with local San Francisco gems such as Chapeau! and Gary Danko. French Laundry's service was structured and formal, but far from personalized during our meal. Below is my email exchange with the General Manager of French Laundry. August 19, 2008 XXXXXXX, thank you for taking time to respond to my message. Personally, I do appreciate the comments below, as well as the fact that you acknowledged my concerns. As you can imagine, with your restaurants reputation, many people were eager to here about my experience (the meal itself), and then of course more on this situation after hearing the details of the evening. I shared the message I had written, as well as your reply today with the folks who joined me for dinner that night, as well as several colleagues at work. The reaction was a bit different. Overall the feedback I received was this was a stock customer service answer. More than one person mentioned that no attempt was made to address my personnel satisfaction nor any effort made to make up for the experience. As stated above, I appreciate the apology as I believe it to be sincere, but thought this additional feedback might be more insightful as I hadn't expected the strong reactions from others. I guess overall expectations are quite high for your establishment, understandably I believe. Hope you find the additional feedback useful, and please note it is not an attempt to further the issue. I do believe you were sincere in your message as well as your efforts to improve. Respectfully, XXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX@gmail.com 415-###-#### August 18, 2008 Dear Mr. XXXXXX, I appreciate you taking the time to express your thoughts. There is always room for improvement and I appreciate your comments. Words cannot express to you my apologies for the unfortunate experience you encountered. The reservationist, host and captains are directed to tell each guest that we require a jacket for gentlemen and do not allow t-shirts, shorts, jeans or tennis shoes. It seems this was overlooked on Tuesday night and I apologies for the uncomfortable situation that occurred when you tried to take off your jacket. This is not a representation of our customer service “ideals” here at The French Laundry and I assure you I have done everything to remedy the problems, which occurred. Though I am not happy that you had a bad experience, I thank you for your honest comments and have shown them to all those who were involved that night. It is through letters like yours that we can stay in touch with our guests’ needs, and improve on weaker aspects of our service so we can better handle such situations in the future. Although I understand nothing can make up for this embarrassing and unfortunate experience, I do hope you’ll give us second chance in the near future. My sincerest apologies, XXXXXXX XXXXXXX | General Manager The French Laundry | 6640 Washington Street |Yountville, CA 94599 The Below Message sent via French Laundry website on Thursday Aug 14th. This was followed up by a phone call on Monday, August 18th after receiving no response. An email from the general manager was received the evening of the 18th, as described above. To who is may concern: I just wanted to write a note to address my experience at your restaurant. On Tuesday, August 12th, we had a 6:30pm reservation (under XXXXXXX I believe, our final bill was charged to the credit card of XXXXXXXXX). Firstly I wanted to say that the meal lived up to all the good reviews we've read over the years, and we were very pleased with the overall experience. There was however one situation I did feel compelled to write you about. I want to first say this did not greatly effect my overall enjoyment of the evening, however after a couple days it did still leave me a bit uneasy. The issue involved the dress code. Our group was very well aware of the dress code in place and we were dressed appropriately. As we settled in to enjoy our first drink, I was looking around the room and noticed one gentleman in a short sleeve polo shirt (no jacket present), and two others with their jackets on the back of their chairs (one was a sport coat, the other just a general outdoor jacket). Knowing this was to be a long meal, I leaned over to my wife and asked her, based on what we observed around us, if she thought it would be acceptable for me to remove my coat and put it on the back of my chair. She validated the same feeling I had that based on other guests, this seemed to be ok. At the moment I removed my coat, one of our main servers (I apologize, the name now escapes me) immediately approached me to tell me the matrede requires the patrons to wear a jacket. I stated I of course had no issue with the coat policy, and had looked around the room prior to making that decision, so I felt like I was being singled out a bit. The server agreed and commented 'that he obviously had to have a couple more of the same conversations', assumingly, with the other guests not wearing jackets. Over the course of the next four hours of our dining experience, I could not help but notice nothing was ever said to the other guests and they completed their meals, sans compliance with the dress code. This of course left me with the feeling of being singled out on this policy. It was an unfortunate distraction throughout and otherwise wonderful meal. While I have no issues whatsoever with your stated dress policies, I found it unsettling that the policy appeared to be applied both arbitrarily, and unevenly across the patrons of the establishment. I debated for several days whether this was something worth sharing with you. However, after several discussions with friends and colleagues, there was overwhelming consensus that this was not viewed as appropriate and that I should share my experience with you. Personally, my feeling was after spending over two thousands dollars on dinner for six, I should not leave feeling anything but fully satisfied. Instead, I have dealt with more of a festering feeling of being personally discriminated against. I was also embarrassed a bit in front of my friends for drawing the additional attention to our table. As a business professional, and a long time patron of fine dining establishments in San Francisco and around the world for that matter, perhaps I have set my own expectations too high, but at the end of the day, I just couldn't shake the negative feeling on the experience. I very much appreciate your time in reading this message. I am sure it's taken seriously as I know the French Laundry's reputation would not be what it was if you did not. If you would like any further details, my contact information is below. Best regards, XXXXXXX 415-###-#### XXXXXX@gmail.com less

We went here for a very special occasion. A grand celebration for us. We were not disappointed. World class to say the least. We could not afford this place on a regualar basis but for something special it is the place! You will not be disappointe ... more

We went here for a very special occasion. A grand celebration for us. We were not disappointed. World class to say the least. We could not afford this place on a regualar basis but for something special it is the place! You will not be disappointed. Food and service = excellent beyond compare. less

Well, this is a restaurant that's just off the charts. We have eaten here twice. You are advised to order the chef's tasting menu. Bring your credit cards because a lunch set me back $650 about a year ago. I see the fixed price has gone fr ... more

Well, this is a restaurant that's just off the charts. We have eaten here twice. You are advised to order the chef's tasting menu. Bring your credit cards because a lunch set me back $650 about a year ago. I see the fixed price has gone from $135 to $200 per person. So, a lunch with wine and tip will run about $800. Here's the good thing. It's worth every penny. Take a look at the website or Thomas Keller's French Laundry cookbook to get an idea of the menu. less

This a destination restaurant. My wife and I have been to many fine restaurants in the Bay Area, and this restaurant met our expectations. Service was well paced, which is a must if one wants a dining experience. We had the tasting menu, and we en ... more

This a destination restaurant. My wife and I have been to many fine restaurants in the Bay Area, and this restaurant met our expectations. Service was well paced, which is a must if one wants a dining experience. We had the tasting menu, and we enjoyed how the complexity of each of the courses developed during the dinner. less

great restaurant will go there again. I just think that the service need to be quicker. But overall, it was good food, great atmosphere and good service. <br> the price I think is well within my budget but that depens on the individ ... more

great restaurant will go there again. I just think that the service need to be quicker. But overall, it was good food, great atmosphere and good service. <br> the price I think is well within my budget but that depens on the individual. less

Regardless of the reservation policy this is by far an incredible place to eat and be completely self indulgent. The food is creative and fun. The tasting menu is exciting and the service is impressive. This is our favorite place to ... more

Regardless of the reservation policy this is by far an incredible place to eat and be completely self indulgent. The food is creative and fun. The tasting menu is exciting and the service is impressive. This is our favorite place to dine. I won't even go into the menu because that's part of the suprise and it changes every day. Presentation is exceptional and be prepared to spend hours here. less

Really good, but is it the temple of food everyone claims....I don't know...At $425 for two it should be....The menu degustacion is the way to go....Many different tastes and flavors....I've had other great meals at less than half the pric ... more

Really good, but is it the temple of food everyone claims....I don't know...At $425 for two it should be....The menu degustacion is the way to go....Many different tastes and flavors....I've had other great meals at less than half the price....But I did really enjoy it. less

I just experienced a world class dining experience this last Sat. (Nov. 9, 2002)at the French Laundry. There was a group of 6 of us (cannot have any more than 6 in the main dining area), and we all were in awe over the quiet ambience, impeccable s ... more

I just experienced a world class dining experience this last Sat. (Nov. 9, 2002)at the French Laundry. There was a group of 6 of us (cannot have any more than 6 in the main dining area), and we all were in awe over the quiet ambience, impeccable service, and world class menu at our fingertips. The chef/owner Tom Keller has definitely nailed down what the human palate enjoys! A good way to describe the service was like a synchronized ballet among the servers, even down to the placement of the plates upon the table. There is no music, this place is very small, very simply decorated, and the building itself is so simple you would never know it was a chateau relais world class restaurant. It's its simple elegance matched with food that is basically a "beautiful orchestra" to your palate that make this restaurant, in my opinion, number 1 in the bay area. Although pricey, (our bill came to $250.00/per person by the end of the evening), it is definitely a dining experience you don't want to miss in your lifetime. Highly recommend it! Bon Appetit! less

To add to the other reviewers, this restaurant is a MUST for the ultimate in gastronomical experience. The decor is very French in design and is impeccably arranged. The service will pamper you and with each course you receive a detailed explanati ... more

To add to the other reviewers, this restaurant is a MUST for the ultimate in gastronomical experience. The decor is very French in design and is impeccably arranged. The service will pamper you and with each course you receive a detailed explanation of what you will be indulging. We spent about three hours there that was extremely well paced and did not realize the time at all. You are are not rushed to finish and are encouraged to take as much time as you want to enjoy your meal. The menu changes daily as mentioned before, so each time would be a different experience. Now I can understand and appreciate the reservation process, as it is designed to allow you to maximize your dining experience there. less