Our first shared meal: takeout fast-food at the local Metropark. It was chilly. His vivid blue eyes were beautiful in the sunlight. The food was okay but the company was wonderful. Seven years later and counting...
Often it's the company you keep rather than what you eat that makes the meal.
8
I know of a woman in India who when she runs out of food, looks for grains in nearby rats nests. She says she is lucky: God guides her to the nests with the most grains. Cheers.
8
I think of fine dining as an experience to practice conversational skills with friends and to slow down in a relaxing environment . The food is only part of the total experience. Restaurants like The French Laundry would have us believe its only about an exotic presentation of unique food paired with good wines. If the food is more interesting than your dining companions then you have missed the best part.
6
“The hens have been laying blue eggs lately,” said a server... umm, chicken breeds lay certain colored eggs, the hen doesn’t just choose on a whim or what she fancies, even pretentious hens in Napa Valley or Healdsburg (because those are two very different places, which this article obscures). Let’s not get carried away now.
21
yes this has been my experience. the same hen always lays the same color, though the shade often vary a bit from egg to egg
Turning your face away from narcissistic self-indulgence and paying attention to the massive suffering of your fellow man and possibly the decline of the species is the new fine dining. Some people get this, and some never will. The latter will continue to shave truffles into a giant golden egg while Rome burns.
10
In 1945, my father drove from St. Louis to the West Coast and stopped at a place called Adam’s Cafe in Rawlins, Wyoming.
When I made the same drive in 1976 his rapturous description of the incredible food at the counter stuck with me, and sure enough there it was — with the wooden Indian still seated at the counter.
Was the food there in any way comparable to the finest cuisine of Paris? Of course not. But the set and the setting, and knowing my father had eaten there three decades before after many hours on the road when there was no interstate highway system, made it unforgettable.
11
So Rao feels like three really good restaurants aren’t worth going to because.....why? They perform at very high levels? They are extremely creative and use very fresh, impeccably sourced foods? They are absolutely attentive to diners needs? I don’t think she finds issues on any of those counts. Rather, there is a snark at play here, perhaps an ageist angle, an anti-well off attitude. Sorry for living, Ms. Rao. You should save your criticism talents for the quality of food and the service levels, not the wallet size of the patrons of such establishments.
2
Gene, in these times, it is quite legitimate to be snarky about restaurants where dinner for two is likely to run $1000. That is a very important point to be made and discussed, in addition to the quality and inventiveness of the food and the service.
There are many who could easily afford to dine there, but don’t as a matter of principle.
24
I couldnt disagree with this perception more. Im quite lucky that my wife and I dined at all three establishments just last week. I love how its suddenly in vogue for critics to lay into the old guard of fine dining, assuming it everything had to be presented in a way like Contra, Rustic Canyon or Al's Place. There is a time and a place for that sytle of dining, which wouldn't exist without the fla bearers of TFL, The Restaurant and more recently, SingleThread. The audacity to have an expenses payed trip through wine country with these restaurants on the list, with the output being a recommendation NOT to return...what a joke.
9
Macaroni and cheese at the French Laundry sounds slightly less insulting than the chips and dip we were served at Addison's in San Diego-- another highly touted, highly priced California restaurant. I shudder to think what their true opinion of their customers is, that they thought we would enjoy that!
4
Recently, I ate at the French Laundry and thought it was an impressive meal in regards to food, flavor, presentation, service, and plateware.
I admired and enjoyed many of the plates and service wares throughout the night. I actually stopped and asked about the plateware during the truffle mac course. To call these plates archaic is to throw everything to the wind for a uniform modernity.
As if some grand political statement would be made by excluding gold on plateware during a $$$ meal where we are served caviar and truffles, while dressed in suits, seated in front of white tablecloths. The author's allusion to the current political landscape affecting her opinion of her dining experience is where she lost me.
2
Many years ago my ex and I rode our bikes over the mountains from Davis , where we live , to Healdsburg or whereever the French Laundry is to celebrate my birthday. I had the added bonus of getting stung repeatedly by a hornet several times. We settled into the 4-5 star hotel across the street from the restaurant and I made the usual mistake of rehydrating with the complementary bottle of wine the hotel provided.
When the time for our most amazing meal possible arrived we ran across the busy road and entered the restaurant from the back where the break room was. What delicacy was on the table for staff sampling? Yup, you guessed it a Dominoes pizza !!! Then we were seated at our special table that we secured months before and proceeded to get one after the other of these odd concoctions that took great items and combined them in ways that to this day I fail to understand. Anyway both of us really wanted to hit the pizza in the break room. Ok call me what u want.
14
If I have this miniature size meal here, I might have to head to a diner after this meal to fill me up! Thank you but no thank you, eating this kind of food just seems stressful.
6
This reads like a hit piece to assuage the egos and New Yorkers and Angelenos who are still mad the Bay Area has more three star Michelin restaurants that they do.
6
Not entirely sure of the "review" aspect of this critic's notebook. Conflated three separate experiences into one jumble of odd musings- oh and some pictures for color.
I am trying to determine from a sense of place how SingleThread is morphed into Napa Valley- Last I checked it was still clearly and wonderfully grounded in the beautiful Sonoma County town of Healdsburg. With all the information available in the world today- yet so much still evades us each day- sad but true!
13
I admire the business acumen, the dedication to craft and presentation, even the architecture. But none of the descriptions of the food make my mouth water.
9
Macaroni and cheese in a golden egg....ohhhh pleeease!
16
The only way that some people would obtain an elegant sufficiency was if it were served on a large gold platter. lol
#guilty
Some years ago, we had dinner at the French Laundry. The place felt like a temple (or mausoleum) with the hushed voices, the soft lighting, the reverence the waiter had for the menu items. But the taste was less than revelatory. For example, I was thrilled to see a beet salad listed on the menu (my favorite vegetable) but when it came, it was like a jewel box miniature. I kid you not, the beet was half the size of my pinky fingernail. How much beet flavor can be in such a minuscule portion? The only redeeming dish was a yam that was conveyed in a copper pot on a cart to the table. With great flourish, the yam was served. It was delicious and we decided the elevation of this lowly root took clever artistry. I have to say, though, that we had dinner at Redd (now closed) the following night and had a really stellar dinner for a quarter of the price.
10
Brilliant piece, brilliant.
The final paragraph is one for the ages.
10
@Sean Dell It just sounds spoiled and jaded to me. Sadly.
7
Members of the leisure class, often associated with business, are those who also engage in conspicuous consumption in order to impress the rest of society through the manifestation of their social power and prestige, be it real or perceived.
California, capital of the Tent Cities, and of Conspicuous Consumption.
11
The picture of the waiters carrying the golden eggs is too rich to pass up on commenting. They are carrying it with the solemnity as though they laid it. This isn't food, it's pretension pretending to be food. Eventually these chefs failed art class and decided to inflict their rancor on hapless diners, who thinking they are being fed are in fact being mocked. No thanks, a good meal has very little to do with what is served up, it's the company that counts.
29
I grew up on the west coast in inner city Portland with a mother on welfare for a short bit, which included the mainstay foods of the WIC program. I still remember the powdered milk box in our pantry with the horrid orange color and enlarged face of kid with a milk mustache. I don't miss that box's contents one bit. To this day, I will occasionally enjoy the chemically laden, highly processed, ridiculously filling kraft macn'cheese. I've done pretty well career-wise as a nurse and can actually afford the uplifting, deliciously innovative, awe-inspiring creativity of the culinary arts, as it is an artform involving more than simply presentation. Single Thread was the best first course I have ever tasted/experienced in my life. A deep practice in shokunin. What food critic doesn't try the non-alcoholic pairing (unique to this restaurant... someone didn't do their research), or venture off the main highway?Hmm I've had the great fortune to eat at 3 Michelin star restaurants around the world, a few one and two-Michelin (there should be more one stars in Sacramento,but the guide is biased to more affluent cities). Every penny I have earned, then spent on these gastronomical experiences with family and friends has been deeply rewarding and pleasurable. For the rest of the folks that don't want to visit these places-you're right, it's not your thing! Don't come out. I'm so thankful for kraft macn'cheese, as well as California's unbelievably flavorful produce.NYtimes need a critic?
25
that was a great comment and I for one appreciate that you didn't feel the need to negate the authors experience in order to present yours. These kinds of dining experiences are an art form of their own, and should be enjoyed as such.. I grow tired of people comparing apples to oranges.
I lived in Napa for four years. I toured the maddeningly QUIET
Grape orchards ad nauseum.
My hay fever there finally drove me away.
Yes the food was creative and marvelous and all that. The food
Atmosphere at $300 per person became an exercise in chef’s
Narcissism. Just how cute could they create a piece of seaweed
That night.
Yes it’s lovely to look at but amazingly boring after a short time
Living there.
Sorry folks!
6
Those place are probably good, but are they 100s of times better that a $1 street taco. I doubt it. Personally I think some of best and truest food in America is to be found in street stalls.
For my money, I'll stick with the street tacos.
18
@Perry Brown But, but, but the server at the food truck did not use his tweezers to artistically arrange the fish in your taco to exact feng shui with the lettuce!
Yes, it is a lot of fun to make fun of the pretentious, isn't it?
6
so...if these restaurants are dull??..name a restaurant that is not to this writer...
5
A Punjabi truck stop in Bakersfield. It was a riveting review. Look it up!
8
@Bohemian Sarah
A Punjabi truck stop presumably discovered en route to Napa. I kept reflecting on that previous review, too--and its unambivalent joys--while reading this report.
2
@Bohemian Sarah exactly, I loved the punjabi truck review, and I felt I was going to die if I dont get that truck food!
2
LOL! Delicious but “dull”?—only a dining critic in a developed country has the privilege to say something so predictably arrogant, condescending and, well, dull....
21
I find it rich that a food critic, who is essentially paid to eat at 3 high profiles restaurants in quick succession, complains that they seem too similar to deserve praise. No normal person would have the privilege to do what you describe. And the experience the rest of us, done with much planning and care, is much more exceptional. We get rewarded with fine food, wine and service. Boring? You sound like the snob that you seem to express such detest for in the article. The rest of us will celebrate the once in a lifetime experience.
22
@ Matt Oakland, CA
I would be more charitable to restaurant reviewers who have to stuff themselves with foods unknown to them in advance, for the benefit of the readers who are snobish gourmets or gourmet snobs.
Elevating a restaurant meal to "the once in a lifetime experience" may be painfully disappointing: gustatory and other sensations are ephemeral.
4
Was the author of this ever full after these meals?
4
It’s very interesting to read these these comments because they are virtually all damning and at times resentful. What it means in the next downturn is unknowable, but you can bet that whatever cost-cutting measures they put in place will remain. Also simply by looking at old menus and the reportage from high-end restaurants prior to, say 1995, you can see how diners’ rights and value for money have been seriously eroded.
8
When New York reports on California, the grapes are often sour. This food is "absurdly delicious," served "in an atmosphere of total comfort." May more lives be so dull.
33
I always wonder why someone wants to eat - and pay - food which was touched so much, like every little inch of the grape or tomato. Where the cook and his breath is just inches away from the dish to arrange it. Gross to me. Also, have eaten high end, if a dish is really superb I love to have more of it instead of just two or three bites. Thirdly, in the time of catastrophic climate change traveling 2 hours to eat Farm to table is ironic and ridiculous.
16
@Barbara I agree. Especially when it comes to molecular gastronomy. Not only are the ingredients overprocessed, but also often have unnatural ingredients added to them. I don't think it's a coincidence that one of the innovators of this kind of cooking, Chef Grant Achatz, got tongue cancer. For me, a meal made from farm fresh, organic ingredients is tops!
4
Does this article strike anybody else as ridiculous?
These are 3 Michelin star restaurants. To get that rating, places have to be by definition a little stuffy. The staff, chefs, designers, and owners all have to make sure everything is perfect, all the time to satisfy the critics such as this one, so they can get the ratings in the first place!
A more interesting article would perhaps be one in which we question the role of the critic in all of this.
Personally, I avoid these overwrought dining establishments, preferring the more casual but still excellent 1 or no-star places that focus on the food, not the design of the fork.
14
I had dinner here a few weeks ago. Fortunately, I didn't pay for it. It was o.k. Nothing special. Would I pay the extravagant costs? No. I think people praise it because they don't want to appear suckered paying $1200 for dinner for 4.
11
I did not read all 379 (at this moment) comments so I may be repeating some thoughts.
Why do people who can afford this need to escape from anything to have this overpriced extravaganza of wealth as well as food.? Could /would one of these places offer up the exact same meals without the inedible involved in placement or the visuals involved in said plating.
And third and to me why is Christopher Kostrow's beard hanging over that plate. If one hair falls out I fear it will be mistaken for something edible and precious.
12
@carolc
At the Sprouts Market in La Quinta the butcher wears a beard net.
Looks weird, but is a great idea.
3
Fine dining indeed. No wonder they say "you can never be too rich or too thin." One would be emaciated if one had to live off some of these tiny entrees. Mac and cheese in a pretentious gold egg? A spoonful of corn custard and caviar dwarfed by a huge wooden bowl? Please. I'm not impressed.
6
Sounds to me like the reviewer is burned out. I'd love to have any of these experiences.
15
The writer intermingles social consciousness and criticism with restaurant and food critic. While there is a place for such thoughts, and given the out of touch cost of living in the Bay Area especially compared to Los Angeles, there certainly are a lot of such thoughts to be shared, they do not belong in the Food section but somewhere else in the NYT. Maybe the Editors can help find the correct place.
As the author may have noticed, the Michelin guide does not only list three star locations at premium prices, there are in fact one to three star locations at non-premium prices to be found globally and they do not involve white table cloth.
4
It is not surprising that a person who finds the famously gorgeous northern California countryside a "rural, scrubby landscape dotted with... sprawling vineyards" would be longing for the grab you by your collar spectacle of the Grand Canyon when it comes to restaurants as well. I make that two hour drive frequently, with no destination but experiencing its beauty. No regrets that 3 star restaurants are for other people's budgets. Also sad that his palate is as jaded and forlorn as his visual sense. Please NYT, find a critic fresh and open to experience.
22
Sounds like a vacation into the 90’s.
4
When food becomes so precious, it is a sign of a decadent empire...ancient Rome, anyone?
6
I am quite shocked that this article, both in perspective and judgement, made it into The NY Times. While the prose approaches that of a well educated and stylistic writer, the context is full of jade, narrow mindedness, and judgement found in those arrogant locations of LA and NY. I expect this piece to be better placed at Fox or Brietbart where distain, judgement, narrow-mindedness for northern California are the mainstay.
While many find a costly dinner at, say Singlethread, a waste of money, the linking of this to elite money and or a taco truck (as many comments have said) is complete ignorance. This is a show and experience, from the design of the table and chairs to the hand crafted ceramics for serving (multi- generation Japanese family of artists) to the growers, vintners, and chef. This article misses this point completely and lumps these places in with strip malls and overpriced waste. This is a shame that just belies the distain that Mrs Rao has for Northern CA. If singlethread was in LA or NY, this review would be completely different.
Many readers will spend a night on broadway or a weekend in the Hamptons. All cost more money and may in fact give you much less. All of them are different experiences. To say these places are just food for elites shows the compete limitation of this article. I ate at all these places in the last year on a salary similar to Mrs Rao and it was money well spent for me
23
"At times, overwhelmed by the opulence, I felt like a character in a sci-fi movie who had sneaked onto a spaceship for the 1 percent, now orbiting a burning planet."
This is how you know we need excellent writers to get a real sense of the time, even as we live in it.
10
@Daniel Solomon - I will admit I applaud the author for this image.
6
Why is it named The French Laundry? Years ago friends were raving about their visit to The French Laundry and I was wondering what was so special at this "blanchisserie Française"? Was it the kind of detergent used, the way shirts were pressed? I did not express my ignorance...
I would love to have diner there one day.
1
To go to Napa Valley to eat macaroni and cheese?! Wow, how the mighty have fallen! To give the other dishes in the article their due, they are OK, but is there nothing really typical of Napa Valley? Perhaps an endemic species of a bird or wine from a vine grown on the body of a murdered man, allegedly believed to be the best.
3
The reviewer had nothing bad to say about any of these places so his assertion that they are dull just seems mean spirited. Truthfully I might be bored too if I had to eat at three Michelin starred restaurants over and over again on my employer’s dime.
4
To paraphrase William Jennings Bryan, it comes a surprise to me that reviewing restaurants for the New York Times involves getting "crucified on a charger plate of gold."
Oh, the humanity!
6
One of my favorite meals wasn't Michelin star rated at all. It was a small place in Amsterdam near my hotel where we had an Indonesian meal called a "rijsttafel".
Basically it's an almost dizzying amount of small plates of well done Indonesian food and it is amazing.
5
I do occasionally travel for a restaurant, overseas. But my own rule is never eat in a restaurant "above" a single Michelin star. My favorites all evade Michelin ratings.
I want a place that is entirely about the food, meaning there is no fussy environment and no fussy service. Every single favorite place of mine has a simple interior and is somewhere I can show up dressed in jeans and a t-shirt if I feel so inclined. The menu generally changes according to what is available and fresh and what suits the chef's mood for the day. None of them is cheap but none of them is distractingly expensive like the French Laundry. A gold egg? The writer's reference to Trump is apt.
The tells for me are shavings of black truffle and wagyu beef. These are two grossly overplayed cliches. The truffle in particular is great in dishes that suit it, but that's at most 10% of the dishes routinely overwhelmed and ruined by it. I don't care how scarce or expensive an ingredient is. Its use must be justified by its merits in the dish.
5
I ate at the French Laundry for my 40th birthday in 2010 and it was a religious experience -- the food was amazing and indeed "absurdly delicious" and the service was the best I have ever experienced. It was not dull by any stretch. It was expensive and thus I have not been back. But it was absolutely worth the trip and as I creep up on 50 I hope to be able to return. Sure there are lots of other great food experiences to be had -- my local chocolatier Ginger Elizabeth has been putting together divine ice cream sundaes once a month for the summer that cause me to give up my usual low carb eating to partake. I ate a torta at a roadside stand near Pismo Beach that I can still taste. I don't see how these things are in conflict and I am just not sure what the point of this piece is other than to make me resentful that Ms. Rao was paid to eat at these restaurants for free, thought the food was great, but still thought it was interesting to share that she was bored or that her enjoyment of the macaroni and cheese was dampened by the Trumpiness of the presentation -- seriously? What's amazing is that Thomas Keller is still executing at the highest level after all these years.
8
I have never eaten at these 3 restaurants because they are too fussy for my tastes. I have eaten at many restaurants in these two valleys and much prefer the full gutsy flavor of local organic and freshly harvested ingredients that reflect the region, unmasked by artifice. I have no doubt the food is fabulous and quite like the two- star Michelin restaurant in the Bay Area where I recently ate. Plates were small; a tasting menu of 12 dishes, but I left feeling overstuffed with richness and, do I dare say, an over abundance of umami. Fabulous but not going to return.
2
Been there. Done that. By the time we got to the sixth course at French Laundry, and finally the bottle of Heitz Martha's Vineyard Cab we'd been cellaring at home, I was too bored and too sleepy to enjoy the wine and whatever the following courses were. I'd rather have lunch at Chez Panisse Cafe with friends who wouldn't think of spending $600 on dinner, even though they could. Or Gramercy Tavern, where service really is friendly, not just an act.
7
Me too. Have dined at Chez Panisse since it opened in 1971. Have watched it grow and evolve yet still maintain complete integrity and simplicity. The price fixe dinners are not a tasting menu, yet every bit the quality of these places — and way more fun. The Cafe upstairs is of equal quality. Still my favorite restaurant of all time.
11
"In the Trump era, gold seems a bit too eager to assert its value."
Wonderful double entendre, true on both counts.
5
I have not been to any of these restaurants, but what I have as "goal restaurants," just like other luxury pleasures. I'd love to be able to afford to have a server dote on me and bring me food in a gold egg. That is definitely why I have read this column for many years. I do understand, though, placing value on something being "driveworthy" I live in a sprawling city and deciding if something is worth the drive is definitely a real thing. And with that in mind, I understand where the author is coming from...if money is no biggie, would I want to haul x miles away for a food experience?
1
Inexplicably, the writer is missing the point. Virtually all 3 star Michelin restaurants offer a great deal more than carefully composed, and beautifully prepared food. They offer a theater like experience as well. When viewed and enjoyed as "dinner and a show" they represent value and enjoyment at a price point far below a pair of tickets to Hamilton.
9
agree. though this piece reads more as ambivalence. in some ways i like this food article better than many I've read. because they are simply letting you get a look at how they felt. both good and bad, and musing on why they might have felt themselves to be less enthusiastic than they'd expected. its an essay. not a review really.
The restaurants may be excessively expensive, and the pretension sometimes sublime, but the food this writer describes comes across as anything but dull.
13
First, I feel the need to ask what was the point of this article? It sounds like the writer had a good experience. Second, I have to assert that I wholeheartedly disagree with this article. In the last year and a half I have been to all three of these restaurants and at no point found the experience to be dull, quite the opposite in fact.
I believe the staff at all three of these restaurants treats guests the way they want to approach the experience. At all three restaurants my friends and I made it clear that we wanted to have a fun, dynamic, and memorable time and each time the staff was fun, dynamic and memorable. By the time we left French Laundry, Meadowood, and SingleThread we felt like part of the family.
My friends and I are millennial from Mendocino County, probably not their target demographic; at no point did we feel like we were out of place at any of these restaurants. The problem isn't with the experience, it's with the way the writer and most guests approach the experience. Make it fun and the staff will ensure you have fun, be stuffy and formal and they staff will do the same.
19
to be fair, those is what they do for a living. their experience will necessarily reflect that. it would be hard not to be a bit jaded
I'm a lucky fellow who has enjoyed dining at each of the restaurants mentioned in the article, and loved my visits! These experiences were not collected overnight, but over the course of more than a decade spent living in and near San Francisco, marking wedding anniversaries and relaxing weekend getaways with good friends. I came away puzzled by the article's "dull" headline. What exactly is the author searching for, and can it be sated by food no matter how elegant or sumptuous?
13
I live in wine country and I've been to two of the three. I have no desire to visit the third and no interest in returning to either of the other two. Sure the food is great and the service is impeccable, but it comes down to this... it's just not very much fun. Want proof? Take a look at the photos from this article. Is anyone (server, chef, dining guest) smiling?
12
It's a wonderful review. These places are dull for many reasons, but mostly for the fact that they are designed to flatter, pamper and reward people who've sacrificed their lives on the altar of wealth acquisition. And to con off a bit of that wealth by giving them what they think it's worth. Paradise on earth when reconfigured as an exclusive enclave of luxury is as boring as the debunked heavenly variety. And the higher a servant is paid to do debase themselves before me, however briefly, the greater my contempt. Who do they think I think I am? My dinner at Per Se in NY was one of the worst dining experiences of my life and it had little to do with food, though that was twee, overwrought and far from exciting. Everyone worked so hard to make me feel as if I were one of the 'elect'. And all I could think of was how off-putting and lifeless, and seriously ridiculous that position is - how sad, deficient and childish are those that crave it. I felt that most acutely as a waiter bowed too close to me (like a royal body servant) and tipped an absurdly fragile glass pipette of olive oil so as to anoint my cheese, while mumbling a nearly biblical prayer to that exalted oil. All I could think of were laughing Greek and Italian farmers, those I've been privileged to dine with, and a life as far away from that moment. We were never expelled from Eden. We just took an ill advised walk, and got seriously lost.
21
Thanks for writing about service, which as many others have commented makes the experience for me. Well I remember my first “fine dining” meal around age 21 and our server (thanks, Pam) who seemed to use a sixth sense and no effort, to see if we were comfortable, happy, in need of a refill or a warmup or pleased with everything. It made the food taste better. It made it easier to love each other. And she knew it. It was like being under the care of a magician for the evening. Years later my husband and I were “regulars” at a tiny restaurant with a similar marvelous front of house: friendly, observant, kind, truly hospitable. Now that I often dine with children it is the very unusual server who can perform this magic on them.
Food and wine are nice, but I can (as others also mention) do a creditable job with those at home, with fresh ingredients and a husband and father who are marvelous cooks. Miracles of gastronomy are also found in taco trucks and patisseries. I go to fine restaurants to be transformed into a guest again, in the care of advanced practitioners of the ancient voodoo of hospitality. It makes me, actually, into a better person.
9
I love good food. I make it so regularly and well (half a century of cooking will do that for you) that dining out at a price level I can afford doesn't happen much - I can already make anything on the menu myself. But I've sometimes fantasized about winning the lottery and going to a restaurant like the ones here. And yet... in 2019, the phrase "the 1% circling the burning earth" feels much too close for comfort. And much too likely. Guess I'll continue to make my own four-cheese mac and cheese, and never mind the golden egg.
17
I wish the writer took the time to really explain why she felt the way she did -- it sounded like she had a lovely time!
6
@Angus I thought they did a very good job of explaining the experience. I've been to two of the three and have no interest in the third or in going back to the other two. No matter how much they try (and they don't really) to make you feel welcome it always comes off as "do you know how lucky you are to be dining here?". It's not relaxed, and you feel this almost constant pressure to keep coming up with superlatives to describe each course. It's exhausting.
8
Had an amusing experience recently at Francis Ford Coppola's Rustic restaurant, no Michelin stars that I know of but a lavishly appointed popular tourist attraction in Sonoma County. Service indifferent, food very small portions of puzzling ingredients, prices astronomical. Right after we were seated, a waiter appeared with a little bag of three absolutely delicious rolls, one for each of us, that melted in our mouths. During a very long wait for our food, we flagged said waiter and asked for more of those yummy rolls. Were told they would cost many dollars extra (I don't remember how much, but we stunned, and declined on principle). He brought instead a few slices of cold, tasteless sour dough. We won't be back, but had a good chuckle over the pretentiousness that masquerades as excellence in some top dollar restaurants.
22
Dining at these establishments is outside the scale of my budget, but that doesn't mean that I am not interested in reading about it.
9
My first rule of dining out is to avoid tasting menus and the restaurants that thrive on them at all cost. Call me old fashioned but I thoroughly enjoy deciding what and how much I want to eat and I am not put off in the least if the sauce from my meat contaminates the potatoes. I also want to focus on my dining companions and not on the wait staff or the golden egg. Six course of foreplay is not my idea of what dining should be. It’s theater. It’s intrusive. It’s excessive. It’s fetishistic. It’s exclusive in the worst sense of the word.
14
not necessarily. its just a different experience. like going to the theater. you are there to partake of an designed experience. no need to compare it to the very different experience of just eating how you yourself would.
To be fair, the same description lobbed at the California high-end scene can be used to describe NYC's. Predictable and stodgy.
Even when a world class chef like Mexico's Enrique Olvera - whose Pujol in Mexico City is among the world's best and most inventive restaurants - opened an outpost here it was....meh.
Is there something about the American palette on the high-end of the spectrum that engenders dullness right now?
9
@Vin
I was thinking the exact same thing. My daughter and I made a "special journey" to dine in some of NYC's best restaurants. The stodgy, hushed atmosphere at Le Bernardin made the experience intimidating and didn't loosen up after cocktails and wine flowed around us.
Here on the other coast, my daughter ended up enrolling at CIA in St Helena, and our family has enjoyed fabulous, relaxed meals with tweezed food that on only one occasion was marred by some stodgy, hushing-us fellow diners - a pair of locals of all things.
Love of food is absent in many of the patrons of these exclusive, expensive restaurants. Their loss.
5
I very much enjoyed the article and wish I had the time and budget to dine at these fine restaurants. Yet, my first thought after reading the article was that there are children in this country who, through no fault of their own, go to bed hungry at night.
16
The children of the people employed by these restaurants and the children of specialty vendors that sell to them do not go to bed hungry at night.
1
@SpotCheckBilly
You could say that about buying expensive tickets to a lot of concerts or spending a huge amount of money to spend 4 days at a beach.
I never had $900 to see "Springsteen On Broadway" but wish I had, no matter how unaffordable it seemed.
no but I guarantee you they are not paid as well as you might think.
I've been to 4-5 such meals (though none at the restaurants mentioned). It was inevitably the tasting menu, either because it's the thing to do, or there's no other option.
Three were of the "molecular gastronomy" movement, where oils become powders and the food is made to look like something else. (Carrot puree in a coconut gelee was made to look, and "act", like a fried egg, for example.) The play on perception was charming for the first few dishes, and then it got old.
The eleven-course meals became a migratory march rather than a relaxing walk. I was often "done" around course six, but the food just kept coming.
Surely these places have repeat visitors, but apart from the expense, it just didn't feel worth it. I'm glad I did it once, but I don't think I'd do it again. I'd rather have four, exceedingly good meals than one extravagant one.
I left one such meal mechanically satiated, but still mentally craving a burger.
14
Judging from the pictures, quite a way of living lavishly in an epoch and in a state where food resources, the region itself is currently under severe strain.
By order of comparison, nothing beats a simple meal using local fresh products, altogether rustled up with a fair bit of know-how while overlooking a great vista, in good company of course.
Interestingly here also, so much of the top-of-the-line culinary experience seems to rest on mere externalities, considering everything else that orbits around the sparse amount of food cocooned into your plate. This goes from the picturesque gilded egg to the roster of cooks seen anxiously manicuring elf-size dishes as if studying a sample under the microscope.
All of this to great effect. As to the meal per se, they might not square with such hefty prices after all.
9
A few years ago, a friend passed on to me a $500 gift certificate for The French Laundry he got somehow through a charity auction. I heard nice things about TFL and thought I'd hit the jackpot until I realized I could afford to use the certificate only if I went alone. When I called the restaurant and the only reservation they could offer was for 9 pm on a Monday night several weeks in the future, I simply gave up. It's still in my desk somewhere.
18
@MorrisTheCat oh Morris! Go have a late night feast.
5
@Seth Tillett Thanks for the encouragement, but I'd almost prefer 9 Lives to 9 o'clock. Gotta go catch mice early in the morning.
8
@MorrisTheCat I'll take it!
3
In 1998 I researched and traveled to Napa, etc. and hit all the hot spots, including French Laundry. The weather was glorious, the vineyards sublime, the dining exquisite. Unfortunately, I made the grave mistake of bringing along an abusive alcoholic who did her level-best to attempt to ruin each experience that I had worked hard to plan (and pay for). I was just 33 then and my boundaries were not, uh, "well-formed". Fast forward some 20 years later and made my triumphant return to these fields of glory, with the love of my life. Victory, and the wine there, is sweet.
10
Lovely golden eggs, shiny copper pans...while Rome burns.
25
"Rural scrubby landscape? " These are the words this oh so ironic critic comes up with to describe one of the most beautiful regions of the world? And no mention of the near perfect climate. Me thinks there is serious envy going on. Heck, go to a taco truck or pick up garden fresh prof at a farmer's market: all will be better in Napa than most places , anywhere. Don't like fancy restaurants? Super, don't dine in them. Lifelong resident, I also can find the Napa scene a bit twee. But scrubby it is not.
18
@karen notice that she "went home to Los Angeles." Need I say more?
2
@karen So you thinks. Our visit there was a bit disappointed after hearing of all that the region has to offer. Of course we couldn't afford more than a $50 extravagant for us meal.
But the land isn't too far from looking like places in Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico we've visited. The climate is no doubt better, but yeah, scrubby in places it is.
7
Predictable comments, but no one who has eaten at Single Thread would call it dull. The other two, maybe.
6
this is what you get when you conflate restaurants with art galleries: post-modernism run amok.
13
well... i guess i am one of the have nots, in terms of eating out..
but we are really lucky in terms of eating out of our garden.
i guess if you are one of the lucky ones with cash to burn, heck let it fly.
we stay home, putter around the yard and pick dinner..
17
Michelin restaurants everywhere are similar, and yes, fairly dull.
That's the problem with criteria-based rating systems: they create homogeneity.
10
This review misses the point. Complaining about the 1% while at Napa is like tut-tutting about all the libertines at an orgy. One clear indication, that she might have been too befogged with libations, is her pronouncement that it is always 'wine time' in wine country. The trick is to be measured in one's intake. While the food can be recherche, and French Laundry might have rounded-edged food that lulls the intellect and dulls the palate with bland richness, it is certainly not true of the other two. I also continue to be puzzled by food critics who have nothing to say about wines in their review. Even with food that is elevated enough on its own, it is the wine that can make it truly transcendent, revealing taste and flavor profiles that are unreachable otherwise. Wine can also do the reverse: tearing a food to shreds and making all the gimmickry plain. Instead of sniffing at 'international wines' as more proof of rootlessness in a place where every restaurant appears to have their own local farms, she could have explored why the syrupy zinfandel from whose drunken stupor she woke up from beside the pool did not find a place on her dinner table.
9
@SG Gosh.
1
You would have to sedate me in order to harvest the internal organ necessary for me to sell on the black market in order to afford a place like the French Laundry.
Unless, of course, someone else is paying. Then I say, let them eat cake! And waiter, would you happen to have tomato juice as an appetizer? And could I have a bottle of ketchup for my steak?
I like the French Laundry!
4
"A New York student was fatally stabbed while onlookers took a video of his suffering"
You are right, New York is much more exciting than California.
7
Another thing that is yawny and predictable are reviews about restaurants catering to wealth. Poor man, having to eat at these places so we don't have to. The piece reads as a short chapter in a Didion book on the end of democracy in the US
14
I know the intent is to reflect thoughtfully on wine country’s uber restaurants but you could have had a much more satisfying dining experience up the street from the French Laundry at the delightful and not-at-all pretentious Ciccio or at the nearby Tacos Garcia food truck.
6
Food for the been-there-done-that rich and famous.
3
I can make any dish in the world in my own home for a fraction of the cost of eating at any if these establishments.
9
@Dorado I'll be the judge of that, when can I come over.
There is some serious complexity and imagination to these dishes, I love the occasional treat of a very high end dining experience.
4
Tejal Rao what troubles me about food critics like you is you aren't actually paying your own hard earned money for the food. You are having your boss pay the bill.
We budget during the year for a visit to the French Laundry and Single Thread where we spend our hard earned money on what is a special experience.
And each time we have something new. Something we don't make at home either because we don't know how to or because an item like truffles is in a dish and we have no desire to invest in truffles.
Don't know if you even know how to cook, or grow any of the food you eat. But we do, so we tend to appreciate the time and effort that goes into food that looks and tastes amazing.
Something both if these restaurants certainly know how to do.
And being disabled due to a drunk driver and thus in need of using or even asking for help when at either of these top restaurants, they have gone out of their way to accommodate me without making me feel as if I were troubling them.
47
@Beth Grant DeRoos......when we first moved to France we tried a restaurant in Chataneuf du Pape which was mainly frequented by tourists.
My wife asked the waiter if he could bring some butter from the kitchen for her bread.
He said No!
That was our last visit to that particular tourist trap.
7
I retired and left California just in time to avoid the decline in restaurant fare to absurd price levels.
Just as housing in California has gone through the roof so has eating out and the absence of normal living.
Chasing after sanity is a lifelong pursuit and mine brought me to Provence seventeen years ago.
Vive la France!
8
@Michael Kittle
I'm afraid to say France has many more "absurdly" priced 3-star Michelin restaurants than California does. If you were trying to distance yourself from that, you've run in the wrong direction.
13
I just felt so good reading this... a fun read that inspired me
5
I find it funny that the writer complains both about the ostentatious signs of opulent leisure and also the stalwart evidence of normalcy and actual farming (those offensive strip malls that sell to locals and seasonal workers).
14
Not being a member of the 1%, I can't afford to eat at 3 star restaurants regularly. but I have eaten at two of the three restaurants (Meadowood still to come) and plenty of 2 or 3 star restaurants in the area. I think the idea that these are out of reach misses the point. I enjoy a lovely meal, have a deep appreciation for the amount of work that goes into making that 'perfect bite' and am nicely pampered for a bit. It's like a mini-vacation to a wonderful destination - french, japanese, american, fusion -- each different and amazing. We are fortunate here that we have many excellent restaurants with and without stars, and plenty of chefs ready to show their best. There is still something different and special about ALL of the work that goes into that 3 star experience -- well beyond the food. It's worth paying for the experience.
33
I'm old enough to remember when wineries in California gave wine tastings for free. The idea was to let people taste, and sell them a couple of bottles. The tasting rooms were frequently primitive and not air-conditioned.
The whole wine scene has just gotten unbearably pricey and pretentious. It's more fun to look for smaller wineries and stay away from Napa.
26
@Sarah Yes, making the sojourn past trivet trays, autographed cookbooks, branded chambray shirts, aprons and baseball caps to the tasting bar is doubly frustrating when you finally arrive at your destination and get hit with a high-priced tasting menu before the word "welcome" leaves your server's lips. What happened to "how are you," an inquiry about what interests you, a swirl and some water crackers? Now you either invest in your tasting menu or take your chances on selecting a bottle based on vibe. Can't afford both in many cases,
I've eaten at my share of places like these and even now there are a few places around the globe that I'd like to try. Yet somehow the photo accompanying the article - of the chefs with their faces inches away from the plates and concentrating like they're working on heart surgery - somehow doesn't fill me with admiration for their dedication to craft and artistry. Rather, it strikes me as a tad ridiculous and comical. Sometimes a certain image or a written word will capture something you've been feeling but cannot exactly identify. This photo made me realize what's been gnawing at me subconsciously for some time now. The preciousness of fine dining and its exorbitant prices border on parody. I'm not saying I'll never go to a place like that again. Just that more and more, I see the ridiculousness of the entire scene that borders on comedy.
81
@cari924 Yes. There is the contemporary enthusiasm among the meritocracy for always consuming what is considered "the best." Food, cars, cooking ranges, vacations, and every other act of consumption becomes a subconscious competition. Oh, nothing so vulgar as trump's love of gold, but something much more precious.
17
@Lee Rentz, I agree with your sentiments completely, but wish you wouldn't interject Trump into this argument as it subconsciously ties this phenomenon with his ascent. I don't say this as a fan of his but because the rise of the "best of everything" culture that you mention came into its own during the ascent of liberals in the Clinton era. It exploded during the 90's and was championed by cultural liberals more than anyone else. That's when I too became caught up in it and only now do I see things more clearly.
7
That photo kind of grossed me out. I don’t want those hairy arms that close to my food. And where are their gloves??
It's like people paying for art - it's expensive and for the rich. But I don't see why people object to the cost of an arty meal anymore than the cost of a mansion, a fancy car, a private education, etc. I mean, the rich in this country are very rich. At least it is paying the wages of the chief and staff.
14
@BNYgal Yes, where does all that money go? Is the chef paid a lot? The cooks? The servers?
I wonder how these businesses compare to more 'affordable' places that are much less expensive.
3
3 star on the Michelin . In San Francisco. We can see the picture.
lately the Michelin guide was under a lot of criticism in France.
The famous chef from Haute Savoie , Marc Veyrat rendered his 3 stars from his 3 restaurants back to the Michelin ,disgusted by the current culture of the Michelin Guide, completely alienated to mercantilism.
He said: we go pick up our own herbs by climbing the mountains and they act lie thieves.
The Michelin must be touched by the sanctity of the dollar like Parker was once for the wine of California.
I doubt there is the same quality of cuisine , knowing the conceptuality of Americans in California than in France in the high Also with a chef who has reinvented himself several times, his restaurant burned, etc...
Money, we know, because Americans are cheating all over Europe not paying taxes with the Tech companies, is flowing in san Francisco.
Money is not a proof of high cuisine. It is the contrary. Like it was for the wine. Now we know the tricks of caramel and pieces of wood, and artificial flavors in the wine don't make good wine.
4
Some of us will never be able to afford such extravagance so the reviews are one way for some to experience this level of fantasy like dining. For me, the precision of the presentation, attention to detail, choreographed movement, and perfection of the dish all seem rather hollow. As such, ... I prefer the frenetic activity and ambiance of San Francisco's Tadich Grlll...where the elite mix with the hoi polloi to enjoy the seafood cioppino with garlic bread, or the mesquite broiled rib eye steak with onion rings and grilled asparagus. Now, that's an experience devoid of pretense.
25
If you find yourself in Houston and want to eat one of the best meals of your life, go to Giacomo's Italian. Small plates of hot and cold dishes plus regular entrees if you so wish along with a great wine list keep me going back. The food is superb and the service is excellent.
9
If nothing else, very good writing, really very nice. Ms Rao can replace Mr Wells yesterday.......PLEASE!
Re: high end restaurants.....I’ve been both very pleased and very conned. Le Pre Catalan in Paris is exceptional, I’ve been three times and hope to go at least 3 more times. Bo Innovation in Hong Kong, on the other hand, was a complete RIPOFF.
I enjoy very fine dining but it’s really buyer beware out there.
7
Nice article. The new gilded age in the US and in particularly California is disconcerting, miles away from the excitement that characterized 1950´s thru 1970´s Napa & Sonoma County and the Bay Area, discovering an American food and wine with young CA energy and verve while we rode bikes and kayaked and camped and made gay OK and discovered artificial intelligence and computers and developed fit lifestyles and flexed our freedom muscles. Was so exciting a young African American woman, friend of mine 1975 from Oakland explaining microclimates and enology with the plan of small a small craft winery. Why oh why does our corporate divisive extreme capitalism have to destroy the fine impulses of the US, why do we permit it to take us over and greed to destroy life... This is depressingly Louis XVI awaiting the beheading of these greedy lifesucking spoiled consumers so wrapped up in their self-importance. Yes I lament the lost possibilities.
24
Three "perfect" reviews, of restaurants that are making dated extravagant meals with lavish old fashioned presentations. This kind of fine dinning needs to set into the sunset.
7
Why? So long as some people are willing to pay for a unique culinary experience, and so long as that facilitates the continuation of the highest artistic and technical achievements in haute cuisine, why should you want that to disappear? There are limitless food alternatives at lower price points for anyone of any income. These restaurants never compete with or challenge that. What these restaurants continue to do is rarified and extraordinary, and exemplary of the loftiest aspirations of culinary achievement at the intersection of art and cuisine. Why would you decry this? Because the tradition of excellence and technical craftsmanship is “old?” Are you also one of those who wants to see our national symphony orchestras disappear because Brahms isn’t trending as hard right now as Beyoncé? Excellence in art, whatever the format, is something humans need to champion now more than ever, no matter what the cost.
17
While I think that Ms. Rao makes a few good points, I think that she fails to understand (or at the very least, appreciate) the difficulty and time that went into the meals she enjoyed at this trio of renowned restaurants.
I'm on sabbatical from a tech job and spend the first six months of my time away attending culinary school. I never had and still don't have any desire to work in a restaurant as a vocation, my decision to enroll was purely for self-improvement.
Part of our curriculum included working in a fine dining restaurant. I completed that element at a wonderful one star restaurant in the Bay Area this past May. Working there, albeit brief in nature, gave me an entirely different perspective on fine dining. I have a new appreciation for the amount of planning, effort, and talent that go into meals like this.
The fact that the NYT California restaurant critic doesn't seem to have even an iota of this sort of appreciation...leads me to believe that perhaps the NYT ought to consider someone else for the role.
24
Ouch! The truth hurts sometimes.
4
It all sounds so grueling, in a way. I wonder if that is the root of the word, "gruel"?
7
No one goes there anymore because the wait for a reservation is too long!
1
@Eero Actually, these places are always packed. What is sad is that they leave some tables open for critics that do not understand what the show is about and what they are eating and drinking. You could say that no one goes there anymore because it is so crowded!
5
My sister in law, one of the most pretentious people in the universe, was thrilled with French Laundry. Not the food or the service, just the Insta pics she could post and getting to mention the copious amount of truffle shavings her husband consumed. I am sure she is typical of their core audience. I could burn the name "French Laundry" into a few wooden clothespins, take a picture, and save the other $299.00!
17
If you want to experience pretense and poseurs, we now know where to go.
If there was any doubt before.
12
The article smacks of a “ Isn’t it terrible about the cost of caviar “ cluelessness about America today. Yes , the reviewer while praising the impeccable food and service does allude to the kind of soulless predictable “ performance “ of an endless expensive tasting menu to sit and eat through.
Of course there is no mix of interesting patrons ...only extremely wealthy individuals that don’t mind dropping $500 per person
( food , wine , tip )
The great MFK Fisher wrote that her perfect meal was dinner for six , dinner for two , or eating alone .
She wisely said that the actual food was far less important than the individuals she was breaking bread with ......
Making a meal the status equivalent of owning an expensive car seems kind of obscene to me .
Teller ‘s Bouchon near The French Laundry in Yountville is a far more relaxed , accessible , and affordable destination in the Napa Valley.
7
@Robert Flynn Johnson - true. But there are also better, more accessible and more affordable restaurants than Bouchon, in the Napa Valley. Altho truth be told, we prefer Sonoma County, LOL!
2
>> pairings at all three of these restaurants tend to lean more international
an article on simply insane restaurants in napa (!) which includes this aside tells this wine drinker, who because of overpricing drinks no california wines, everything he needs to know
4
This comment section is just rockin'!
(and to whom it may concern, I love eating in Italy.)
11
"These restaurants — the French Laundry, the Restaurant at Meadowood and SingleThread — already formed a circuit for the Bay Area’s flush diners, as well as international business tourists and middle-aged couples away for the weekend."
Yep, that about sums it up. Seriously boring food for seriously boring people. The looks on the faces of the navy-suited servers serving those Willy Wonka eggs says all we need to know. Anyone that would eat Mac and Cheese at French Laundry should have their napkin snatched from their lap and be slapped with it. The only thing I remember from a meal at Per Se here in NYC was a delicious hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage, breaded and deep fried. Otherwise known as a Scottish egg and done better at Myers of Keswick.
I feel kinda sorry for people whose limited curiosity and limited palates confine them to this sort of outdated dining. But then again it's San Francisco, a 1996 Jcrew catalogue come to life, so it's par for the course.
9
I’ve read two California stories here tonight. 1st was a shallow, lurid and alarmingly unresearched piece about the milieu and arrest of Ed Buck in West Hollywood, and now this shallow, lurid and unresearched piece about three of the top restaurants on the planet. This news organization owes its readers more. We live in sloppy enough times as it is.
11
We have this problem in NewYork. Better wear something to guard against the cold waitstaff.
3
Sorry! Absurd! This is how revolutions get started.
8
Ms. Rao’s taste is questionable. After all, she chooses to live in Los Angeles. And thinks Napa and Sonoma are “scrubby.”
Putting that aside, I’ve eaten at lots of these kinds of restaurants all over the world, including Meadowood. Always with clients on an expense account. And whether in Paris, New York or the Bay Area, I’m always bored to tears. And feeling kind of queasy about the prices even if someone else is paying. As to the frou-frou food, typically I start the evening fantasizing about stopping off for a cheeseburger when I get out of there and then abandon the idea a few hours in out of shear eating fatigue.
But plenty of people love these places and have the money to spend on them. Different strokes.
My suggestion is that the next time the NYT decides to review a Michelin three star, they send someone who actually appreciates what these restaurants have to offer.
20
Not all good food is expensive, all expensive food is not always good. Sometimes nothing beats an ice cold beer, at other times a sip of 25 yr old calvados is unbeatable. Sometimes it's a swim in a cold mountain lake that costs only the hike to get there, and equally satisfying can be a soak in a hinkoki cedar tub at an expensive Onsen in Japan. It's a big tent people, full of cotton candy, clowns, popcorn, peanut shells, and horse droppings...where some seats are more expensive than others.
13
I agree Tejal should review other restaurants than Michelin ones. Maybe ask locals for their suggestions and choose a few that come up from several sources. Many readers are looking for restaurants they can actually afford and $300/person is way off my chart. NYT, please consider adding a more “average but discriminating” critic to your staff; or have current ones check out the many excellent restaurants that are in the $$ rather than $$$$ category.
4
Summary: The New York Times paid for me to dine at three of the best known, most expensive restaurants in the country. I liked them -- a lot -- but I know I shouldn't have.
21
What happened here? If Ms. Rao does not enjoy the experience of eating at a 3 star restaurant, why did she visit three 3 star restaurants? As an experienced restaurant critic, surely she knew what she was signing up for.
8
This guy is crazy. The dining here is divine. If you don't get it, move on.
3
There are MANY MANY much 'better' restaurants nearby - WHY go to an out of the forsaken place for such attention draining food - stop at a nearby McD BK etc - and move on.
1
While most of the people on planet Earth go to bed hungry.
12
If you called a restaurant " Lavomatic " In France, I doubt you would have lots of customers.
Macaroni and cheese " absolutely delicious " You have to be American to love macaroni and cheese. Disgusting.
Go to a restaurant to eat macaroni and cheese ?
I would not even have made that for my children.
5
What’s adult Disneyland if not for the high priced pablum?
4
If you want to feel really good after a meal, just eat fresh fruit, and give away what you would have spent at these ridiculous restaurants.
8
I found this article just a little more pretentious than the restaurants that were reviewed.
28
What a waste. Cook at home and save yourself a lot of money.
5
“At times, overwhelmed by the opulence, I felt like a character in a sci-fi movie who had sneaked onto a spaceship for the 1 percent, now orbiting a burning planet.”
What a great line. I too, have felt this way. Sort of like the family with 3 SUVs who doesn’t recycle. I guess this is why this is sometimes referred to as a guilty pleasure.
Given the sad state of this country now, I feel as though I must stop.
15
I would be more appreciative of the advice of restaurant critics if they were very highly paid in their jobs, but then paid for these fancy, once in a lifetime dinners out of their own pockets.
10
Kudos to the headline writer for encapsulating the zeitgeist of the last 20 years in all things. Yes unless I am excited or tittilated you have failed. Let that be our watchword in all things. Including financial planning, banking, modern dentistry and infrastructure repair. Out with the old, in with the new!
3
I’m not sure what the problem is with beautiful food and service in a lovely location. Sure it’s expensive but it’s a rare treat for some of us and worth it. It’s a kind of inverse snobbery to mock the pleasure to be found in a fancy tasting menu.
41
Just got back from a trip to Chicago where we visited Smyth with 2 M stars. Food and service were impeccable, particularly for a very relaxed atmosphere without the stratospheric (pretentious?) stuffiness one would expect. Wine pairing wasn't too bad either and the reasonable tab made it even more palatable.
8
What if I don't like urchin? Do I send it back for something I do enjoy?
I continue to be amazed at the chefs searching for foods that are not normally available, with the pretense that it is exclusive, exquisite, and that the normal person would go ape over the opportunity to enjoy it.
I, for one, can enjoy a good peach or strawberry no matter where it came from. And probably more than if so artfully presented. I guess that is where I differ from those who think taking 2 or 3 hours to dine, looking for some tweezers arranged leaf to solidify the exclusivity, gives way to good food, at its peak. Oh, throw in a spectacular raspberry, just picked to top it all off.
8
@Reid
At the French Laundry, the first thing the servers ask is what you would like to eat and they can tailor the menu to one’s desires. For example, I don't eat pork so they substituted the menu. Also, my sister was pregnant so she wasn't drinking alcohol and they gave her a complementary pairing of nonalcoholic beverages. My dad had a cold so they brought him Advil and tissues on a little domed plate. It's these little details that make the French Laundry a 3 Michelin Star restaurant.
31
From time to time, I have had the distinct pleasure of dining at wonderful recommended first rate restaurants, though not as out of reach as these. I enjoyed good service, ambiance, wonderful menus and preparation.
I must say I have often left inspired and lifted by the experience.
However, the very best meals I have ever had, cooked to taste, fresh and delicious, made from the best ingredients, served at their best, just how, what and when wanted, were at my humble home. No travel, no dress up, no cold water of a bill to ruin the mood at the end.
Just fun to plan, gather, anticipate, prepare, and enjoy. It's a long family tradition and I am grateful for it.
16
One of the most memorable meals I ever had was in an off the beaten path restaurant in Florence, Italy. My wife and I and another couple chose it for no other reason than it was packed with what seemed to be locals and that was good enough to have us give it a shot. The steak Florentine was amazing, the wine perfect and at one point the chef came out to greet&thank us in his best English. Did this place have any Michelin stars? I don't know, and it doesn't matter.
29
My husband and I recently had a once in a lifetime dinner at Meadowwood. We thought it would be once in a lifetime because of the $2,000 bill. But really it was once in a lifetime because it was a weird, stultifying dining experience with marginal food.
25
Did you ask for your money back.?
2
@JP - Don't feel bad. You could have eaten at Charter Oak/St. Helena, under Kostow's former chef de cuisine, and had an absolutely indigestible meal for $75/pp., with some of the worst service I've encountered in 40 yrs of dining out in CA!
3
I can't say much about Northern CA, but much of the best food in Southern CA is in mom and pop restaurants in dumpy little strip malls. Jonathan Gold (who is sorely missed) won his well deserved Pulitzer for writing lovingly about all variety of these hidden gems. In his heyday at the LA Weekly the reviews tended toward family run ethnic restaurants that were often inexpensive but very conscious of making good food. When he moved to the LA Times his coverage area seemed to increase and move a bit more upscale, but at the core he was always looking for really good food, no matter the pedigree. He was really a food reviewer for people like to eat, and focused on the food experience more than the dining experience.
25
Single Thread sounds like a place I'd want to visit, if I were in the area, the other restaurant less so. Still, to echo other readers, some of my most memorable meals have been in unexpected and unheralded places. Last winter I was in Valencia, Spain and after swimming in one of the municipal pools discovered a small, unassuming canteen next door, bordering a soccer field. Lots of families had gathered to eat and cheer the game. I ordered veal chops and the friendly staff presented me with a heaping plate of meat with potatoes and grilled artichokes, for less than $10. The food was fresh, well-prepared and totally soul satisfying.
25
@ilona67 that is regular food in Spain , Italy or France.
It is because you are American that you are delighted with it.
And it is good. But there is a reason why these people eat that for 10 $ , if they can afford it with 800 $ minimum wage in Spain, and the restaurant El Buli in Barcelona for 300 euro.
It is not the same research and luxury.
4
@JPH actually, the food at that canteen was more delicious than some of the food I ate at more established restaurants in Spain (that came with solid reviews). I have eaten lots of meals in many European countries over the years, ranging from supermarket takeout to self-service cafeterias to bistros and even one Michelin restaurant, and that lunch in Spain still stands out. Part of what made it special was that I stumbled across it, rather than following a guidebook. Serendipity and surprise are also part of what makes a meal memorable!
21
Heitz Cellars is in Napa. Which is definitely not a local wine in Sonoma despite their proximity.
6
This article expertly mirrors its own thesis: that no matter how well-constructed and perfectly conveyed something is, one ultimately tires of it when there is simply too much. This was a very well-written article, but just like the restaurants to which it refers, I began feeling overwhelmed and waiting for the end. I have traveled quite a bit, and don't mind spending money on an extravagant dinner, but 2-3 hours of more and more and more food, no matter how petite and enticing, would leave me searching for the door. I am completely out of step with such places (and I've been to Yountville a couple of times) with the endless presence of the servers at your table, no matter how discreet. Cheers to Rao for the sharp rebuke (in print) to the server who wanted to move the cane and didn't recognize its role as a mobility device. That call out was as refreshing as a glug of Sauternes.
18
What if I’d like to keep a walker next to the table? Can the server bring it to me the instant I need it instead? If it’s blocking the walkway? How is a cane different if it won’t remain reliably upright and out of the way? It is presenting a hazard to the people working hard in that room.
The servers walk around that room probably 20000 steps a night, and I’m sure could do it blindfold. They certainly do it with trays between them and the ground that prevent them from seeing a cane lying across the path. The server had, if I’m recalling, already tripped on the cane. They can’t always watch their feet. I think it’s reasonable to ask...if the answer is no, I can see that as well. They are trying to maintain hospitality, the guest needs it, and is doing their best. It sounds like it was done politely.
3
Delightful review. Let's me know what I'm missing, and leaves me happy with that outcome.
10
I have one major observation about all three restaurants and that is that each one spends so much time touting the authenticity and organic-ness of their food...but when it comes to the wine, the vast majority have been made with pesticides. It is puzzling why someone would pay $600 for a bottle of Sonoma Coast Pinot grown with fungicides when there are plenty of other equivalent bottles from organically grown grapes. I hope there will be a growing awareness of the disparity in the search for the perfect meal.
17
@Pam Agreed! No restaurant at this price point and with this branding should be serving anything other than natural or biodynamic wines.
7
@Pam Glad I don't drink!
I live in New York City and am used to dining well, but I still find the French Laundry to be an extraordinary dining experience and the perfect example of the Michelin "worth a special journey" standard for three star restaurants. If Mr. Rao's decision not to return enables me to get a reservation the next time I am planning to be in Napa I will thank him.
19
@Joel It's not "mister" Rao. Reread the end of the article.
7
"Since moving here last fall...". And yet the author feels entitled to make a statement like "More than ever, the dining rooms of Napa and Sonoma Counties reflect the region’s growing corporate wealth." More than when, in the author's experience? January?
15
The new Disneyland for the well-heeled. Opulent, bland and predictable, with overly descriptive menus. Do I really care where the wild greens were picked? From the banks of a river, allegedly.
Overhyped, like so much of our culture.
25
@Emily Clark And everyone wonders why traffic in Napa Valley has been significantly less than in recent years...
2
@Emily Clark... or better put: " oh, the useless excesses that money can buy."
2
Such privilege, such tripe. I used to live in NYC and occasionally, when bribed by friends, ate at exceptionally expensive, highly rated restaurants. For a while I lived in Paris, and again fell prey to being bribed to eat in an exceptionally expensive and highly rated restaurant or two there also. I always feel these places are a waste of time and money and represent a pretense of excellence rather than actual excellence. I much, much prefer eating in Harlem or the lower east side, or, say, on Arthur Avenue. And neighborhood Bistro food in Paris, is to me, the ultimate dining experience - give me a good Croque Madam or cassoulet. I have better things to spend money on.
29
The cool thing about food is even though it has plenty of pricy exclusivity and food-as-art and folks willing to shell out fortunes for that experience, even the wealthiest fine dining patron needs a good, humble taco from time to time. Food can be luxury but when it’s good, it doesn’t matter if it’s served on fine china or a paper plate. It’s why I don’t resent anybody for splurging on a French Laundry dinner even though I never will.
12
"a rural, scrubby landscape"
"not just because the French Laundry has used this presentation, for various dishes, for years."
"It was as if this younger restaurant was more restless, less comfortable with its reputation than the others, and still felt it had something to prove."
So as I understand it the West is ugly (Napa and Sonoma Valleys are internationally famous for their natural beauty.) and anything that is older than Mr. Rao is awful and should simply be done away with.
I have no intention of following criticism so deeply rooted in the author's prejudices.
30
@Kenneth Ranson, Ms. Rao needs to create controversy to sell the article. Who would read yet another gushing piece about The French Laundry? Certainly not her editors.
3
One of my favorite places to take a long weekend is Napa Valley. I usually stay in Yountville because I am a creature of habit. I love the food scene in the SF Bay Area and have recently been able to partake in some of the Michelin starred restaurants. I tell you it can be so pleasant. It has spoiled me for dining in just regular places so much so I've actually started cooking more at home. The service is spectacular and pampering. The food is always good. I try things I never thought I would. I've not actually been to the French Laundry because of the intricate dance required to get a reservation. I have heard such great things about Single Thread from people I've met who have gone. These restaurants are like a Disneyland for adults in my opinion. Hadn't heard of Meadowood but now it's on my radar. Life is too short not to enjoy good food, drink, and lovely service.
12
Some people like fine dining. They are willing to spend money on it but they may not be rich. They may save up for a special occasion, for example, and it may be their hobby. Every time a fine dining restaurant is reviewed in these pages these days there’s predictably a chorus of well meaning democratic socialists that quickly point their fingers about how the money spent on these restaurants should perhaps be donated to a food bank instead and, anyway, there is a taco truck nearby that has much better food and, furthermore, dining at one of these fine dining places will only result in you leaving terribly hungry and you will need to stop for a cheese burger after.
23
Some of my favorite memories are of eating wonderful dinners at fancy restaurants. There's nothing immoral about having a really special dinner. I like tacos, my car is fifteen years old, and I buy thrift store clothes, but I would love a chance to wear them to the French Laundry.
90
@Liz
Do it!
8
@Liz
Some of my most prized "memories of eating wonderful dinners" were in tiny, hideaway places in France & Italy, run by "mom & pop," where human warmth was accompanied by excellent, rustic, authentic food fragrant with love & the centuries of culinary history behind these marvels...oh, & often, reasonably priced.
5
Kudos for Ms. Rao's attempt to challenge the field to something greater, but she doesn't go far enough. Perhaps she won't bite the hand that feeds her.
Can chefs please start seeing their work as a true art form and not just high-craft entertainment?
I've always been baffled about why a chef would execute extraordinary manipulations (kernels of corn made out of custard!), but not explore the galaxy of food related concepts and archetypes that would elevate it to a truly relevant artwork. Why are so many of these chefs content to stop at entertainment dining for the wealthy few and not address bigger questions?
Sure, there's money in it, but that can't be the only reason. Does their education just not include critical thinking about politics, biology, agriculture, tradition, community, commerce...etc. etc.? Food touches all of those things and many more. There are so many opportunities just hanging there for the picking!
4
@Chris
Living in the Bay area, we have a culture of questioning values around food. Hence the organic ingredients, schools growing their own produce, awareness of fresh produce, humane treatment of animals, healthcare for restaurant workers, ...
11
I don't get it, spending copious amounts of money on this. It's only food. It's here now and gone in a hour. At least if you bought something of value you'd still have it an hour after spending big bucks on it.
Maybe it's just me.
17
Why go to a museum? Why see a play? Here and gone. That’s life!
55
@MIKEinNYC
Is Mark 7:17-23 helpful in this situation?
1
Another version of getting taken to, the laundry. Unbelievable as this may be ,outsourcing everything but the tomatoes just doesn't jive with being within the heart of the coast of California.Good Jeez ,tremendous seafood resources right there ,from the uni on down ,to fresh caught wild Alaskan salmon and there's surely grass fed beef and lamb. The 3 Mitches seem better suited to Manhatten.
8
Perhaps The Times’ editors have come to the realization that we don’t need a $300 meal to make us happy . . . nor a $10,000 wristwatch or a $10 million apartment or a $400 theater ticket or any of the other “aspirational” tripe we too often find in its pages.
An awful lot of the “regular” people help to keep the lights on at The Times. Maybe it’s time to put a greater focus on what makes them happy, like a good $15 cheeseburger.
31
@LIChef
And, shockingly, some “regular” people don’t like cheeseburgers. Or do, but also like to occasionally splurge on a fancy meal. One of my poorest friends was a cook and she would save up to go to restaurants I thought were offensively expensive. But for her, it was always worth it.
11
@LIChef may be a $2 cheeseburger!
1
@LIChef
No cheeseburger is worth $15.
2
We REALLY need to raise taxes on the rich. Clearly, their priorities are insane.
53
The better word is preferences not priorities. And, by your comment, are you suggesting putting the servers, dishwashers, and out sourced specialty growers/suppliers out of business? Remember that all those people earn wages that they in turn spend in the economy at grocery stores, clothing stores, restaurants, etc. Having money flow through a gourmet restaurant is not a bad thing!
5
Perfection is boring. Let’s go back to the Punjabi truck stop in Bakersfield! Now that’s the kind of food adventure worth having.
Thank you for doing the terminally bourgeois Napa Valley justice. It no longer tickles my fancy, either.
I remember a squillion-course tasting meal at one of the valley’s celebrated hostelries a couple of decades ago, when I realized about halfway through that it was making absurd demands on my attention and reverence. Exhausting. Foodie that I am, I ditched the culinary big time for places that want to delight and surprise me with the pure joy of food and hospitality without demanding...anything
22
@Bohemian Sarah Your post reminded me of a delightful surprise I had recently in Vacaville, CA. I needed to get gas and pulled off the road, and there was Baldo's Drive-Thru Mexican restaurant. The strawberry-filled churro had deep crunchy ridges covered in cinnamon sugar, and was perfect in the way deep-fried things are when they are fresh. I'm not planning to make a special trip there to try the other flavors, but if it's a short detour...sure!
6
@Lydia Next time you find yourself out our way again, may I suggest La Cabana in Suisun City; Hot Stone Korean on North Texas Street in Fairfield; or Evelyn's Big Italian Pizzeria in downtown Fairfield.
Delightful surprises are not limited to the Valley of Overhype.
2
@Bohemian Sarah
Ditto for the Mexican place in Soledad that had one of the best chili relleno ever!
1
“Exorbitant fantasyland - yawny and pampering” I beg to differ Mr. Rao. Perhaps that’s your takeaway after dining at the mentioned restaurants.
Let me assure you the Napa Valley is anything but yawny and pampering. There’s a myriad of things to do besides fine dining and wine, if that suits your fancy. And there’s hundreds of less pretentious restaurants than the ones you went to that serve wonderful food at a reasonable price. Perhaps you should broaden your horizons and give it another go.
18
@Duncan
Amen. Try tent camping at Bothe Napa State Park.
1
@Bob Brown.. That's where my life in the Valley started in 1990. We loved our five years in Napa at the dawn of the Wine Country Cuisine era.
Informed knowledge offered without preconceived opinion is an essential strength in a critique, I find that element lacking in this article. That said, I look forward to seeing Ms. Rao review of three other major American culinary institutions: McDonalds, KFC and Starbucks that she probably encountered on her drive south.
12
Wow, one of the best reviews I’ve read in the Times - why have I not remembered this Rao person from before?
7
Oh, that's it. I'm done with the NYT restaurant reviews. Call me, a 52-year old, a middle-aged diner away for the weekend.
14
Even as a Californian in NYC this week, I know better than to check Yelp for the best food in town. So should anyone visiting from New York.
If this job is open, and after this, I would assume it is, I’ll volunteer if the NYT will be pay the tab for the truly best food in California.
7
@Greg me too.
This review has too much negative attitude and totally misses the point. A sad reviewer who has lost her way.
She had great meals and wanted to complain, for no reason. She clearly had an agenda.
As many comments make clear, one can enjoy food from simple to ‘complex’. The French Laundry (and my recent experience at Quince in SF) are the pinnacle of foodie experiences. No different than other art forms. Take them for what they are. Enjoy them of you love food, even if you have to buy your clothes at Goodwill! (and the opposite for people who LOVE garments but not food, or fancy hotels and not food....)
These restaurants offer the ultimate in culinary experiences, and that is an art, and love.
7
Despite being well written, this article made me very sad. I love good food and spend a great deal of time searching it out and creating it. That said, I have never used a plastic dropper and I think foam is way overrated.
There is nothing wrong with this kind of excess per se, but that it exists whilst there are hardworking people starving in this country is unconscionable.
9
@Judith
Those restaurants support a bevy of food producers and farmers (not to mention the staff who work in the restaurant) and so your comment about 'excess' needs to take into account the web of workers that these institutions support.
11
"At times, overwhelmed by the opulence, I felt like a character in a sci-fi movie who had sneaked onto a spaceship for the 1 percent, now orbiting a burning planet."
Best quote I've read all day. A great turn of phrase to describe our almost comically tragic predicament. Great read.
32
I live in the area and therefore have been to all three restaurants throughout the years. I treated myself and my closest friends to dinner at the FL for my 70th birthday, it was quite a treat and worth every bit. I wouldn't want to go to any of them on a regular basis. Other than the cost, it can be wearing because it's so out of the ordinary. I much prefer other bistros in the area such as Don Giovanni.
11
@Krismarch
Bistro Jeanty is good too.
1
Having experienced the delights of the French Laundry, I agree - once was enough. The food was interesting, tasty, and at the same time, bizarre. Twelve tasting courses sounds like a lot, but it is not overwhelming. Each course has tiny bits of food, focusing your enjoyment. But it's work to spend several hours luxuriating in little tastes. And I can honestly say that across the street from the garden they brought at most 2 beets that night and served the entire restaurant.
Worth the cost? Well, if you have to ask . . . then you can't afford it. Honestly, it is just a one-time thing.
17
For me,tiny bit of food in tasting menus DO NOT focus my enjoyment.....it focuses my feeling of getting ripped off.
11
About 20 years ago I ate lunch at the French Laundry with a dining companion who loved food as much as I. It was a couple of weeks before Christmas and she was to have gone shopping for her child when we finished eating. The food was beautiful and delicious. The wine was French and awfully good. Then we paid the bill which I remember far more distinctly than the food. My friend had no more money left for Christmas shopping and I only remember feeling horribly guilty for spending enough to have fed a family of four for a month. The next time I feel so compelled I will feed that family of four instead of my ego
39
But you helped to feed the wait staff, the kitchen help, and the specialty growers and suppliers!
4
@Ann
Leslie may have fed the waitstaff back then, but now many elite wine country restaurants have the audacity to charge through the nose while deploying interns instead of career waitpersons.
2
This is a Pete Wells-level review. The line "At times, overwhelmed by the opulence, I felt like a character in a sci-fi movie who had sneaked onto a spaceship for the 1 percent, now orbiting a burning planet" is spectacular.
26
10 times better than any Wells review
This "food writer is too cool to enjoy fancy things" shtick is getting tiresome and dull. I've read this before, "everything is delicious, but I hate it".
Honestly, looking at the picture of the Single Thread presentation of "small seasonal dishes, fresh fruit, cured fish, and more", I can't imagine how anyone could have a bad experience eating that, and enjoying a nice glass of wine, and some good company, unless they were determined not to from the get-go.
116
@Jonathan
Not to mention the web of small artisanal food producers and farmers that these restaurants sustain.
I've been to Single Thread once. I probably won't go back though I enjoyed it, but I appreciate that they exist, and I appreciate the crafts people and farmers whose enterprises they help sustain.
12
@Jonathan
My reaction exactly. It felt so weirdly pandering, like the writer was already anticipating the enraged cries of “but it’s so expensive!!” and had to act embarrassed to even partake, despite everything actually tasting really good. Oy.
12
This article reflects more on the lifestyle of the author more than anything else. Few people have the problem of eating day after day at exquisite restaurants. I ate at the French Laundry once and was totally blown away. If you want more variety, few places on earth have as many good restaurants in all price ranges and ethnicities as the Bay Area/wine country. It must be sad to become so jaded.
64
I’d love to hear more about the rice noodle bowl, sourdough, peaches, and tacos! Having eaten at a number of ultra high end restaurants over the years I must admit that these kinds of places now strike me as sterile and overly precious and seem to have lost sight of something fundamental about food and its relationship to the human soul. They strike me as being a sign of the times. But times have changed. I very much prefer a really good taco or a lovingly made bowl of chili or a perfect tree ripened peach these days. I must be getting old. : )
34
@Enigma Variation I think its not you Enigma. The US now is distinctly uncomfortable for many of us, yes even those who grew up with this kind of deal. Something has occurred. Its the way I feel when anticipating an earthquake or a big hurricane. Its an unease.
11
My wife and I have had the good fortune to dine at both the French Laundry and The Restaurant at Meadowood. We are not easily pleased, but contrary to your disappointment with these fine restaurants, (and one can only describe boredom and a desire not to return as disappointment) we have found them both to be worthy of every once of praise they have ever received. Unfortunately, we have not yet had the opportunity to dine at Single Thread.
We found The Restaurant at Meadowood to be particularly wonderful, and we enjoyed the interaction with the entire staff during the meal. For us, a stunning experience. The French Laundry? What can be said? It is the pinnacle of fine dining in America.
My wife and I suggest you revisit these establishments at some point. Perhaps fly to Napa and be in a better mood when you submit reviews and your insights won't be colored by the long and boring drive from LA.
48
@John Tapley
How much did it cost, John? An arm and a leg, or just a flake of fingernail due to your net worth?
14
@Anthony
Is that really any of your business?
What people are forgetting is how many jobs (staff, farmers, craftspeople, vintners) these restaurants sustain.
7
@Anthony I appreciate art in most forms. Dining at the restaurants mentioned in the article is a reflection of that appreciation. As for cost, my wife and I are not regular customers at any of these restaurants. That is perhaps what makes the experience so special. Appreciating the food and experiencing the food in a form which is elevated in a way that is very unique. For the record, the best meal in my life was in Maision Daphne........my wife's kitchen.
3
I'll have to give them a try....at least once, maybe not more though, since they're so expensive!
2
The most disappointing and expensive meal I’ve ever had was at a 3 star Michelin rated restaurant here in the Bay Area. We did the tasting course and each small plate they brought out was one small morsel of food covered in foam or a fancy garnish. We left hungry and went to a drive through burger place. The burger and fries were much more satisfying. Thanks but no thanks. I’ll take my local family owned restaurants any day of the week.
39
I have enjoyed spectacular meals throughout the world, sometimes in starred, fancy settings, and other times, in every day settings. My one, and only, visit to the French Laundry, was a terrible disappointment on a range of levels. Service was pretentious, very pretentious. The food was inventive and good, but not worth the price. The wine list was insanely overpriced. God bless those who continue to enjoy the experience. It was a “one and done” for me.
21
One of the three best meals I ever had in my life was at the Ellora Caves in Aurangabad, India. at a shack all of us would have passed by with a shudder.
No choice. And vegetarian. But a biryani to die for, washed down with the ubiquitous lemon squash, served with style, grace and smiles. and cheap! Lunch for two, with generous tip, was less than three bucks.
Much as I try, I have never quite made it as good as theirs. Maybe it is the water.
18
@jhbev
I envy you. I was at the Ellora Caves in 1965 (how time flies!) and there wasn't--as far as I could see--a food shack in sight. Had to settle for "feeding on" the bas-reliefs for at least some esthetic nourishment. Reminds me of how, perhaps ten or fifteen years ago, there were no now-ubiquitous and excellent food-trucks in the Cambridge/Boston area of the U.S. I must say, though, that all the local Indian food I had the pleasure of eating (in the many provinces I visited) was wonderful. Never had a "western" meal (and never had a stomach-ache, either).
4
I might have eaten at the same shack! And the night before, same amazing meal in Ellora.
3
@Alan Levitan
Thank you. I was there in 1993, not yet a tourist destination.
When I first entered the place I was certain I would be regretting whatever I swallowed. First surprise; it was spotless. My guide knew the owners well and introduced me. They made me feel welcome. As we ate, they would come by to see if there was anything needed. OK, that is standard procedure.
Restaurant critics --Tejal Rao or Pete Wells, write about ambience. It is part of dining out. Once established, it does not change but we are at the mercy of the chef's moods, the weather, stock market, all things that impact the food. This lunch taught me that things are not always as they seem, that we are too hasty to make conclusions, and that a little humility goes a long way.
And like you, I never had any stomach problems in India. Twenty Indian cookbooks and sometimes, something just doesn't come up to the mark. It's gotta be the water.
3
If you went to the French Laundry with a group of friends and were bored, look in the mirror. I went with four friends and we had a great time. It's true, the atmosphere was a little church like for the first hour. Then it loosened up and everyone around us was having fun, and we were too. Sorry everyone because I think we broke the corkage policy for you. It will always be a special memory for me because I can't afford to do it more than once a decade and I felt it was a great balance of deliciousness, good service, and good fun. I also like taco trucks, duh, but I don't make direct comparisons between the comparisons and rule one out as invalid. When you call these out as experiences for the one percent you rob yourself of an occasional pleasure that really is framed up (or should be) for the middle class occash splurge which is the sweet spot. For rich people and food critics on the job it can be easy to get complacent about such things. I blame the headline writer for skewing the overall tone to one of diminishment.
89
@Ian
Thank you for articulating this. It's the little pleasures that make life special. Indulging in an occasional 3 Michelin Star meal with friends and family creates beautiful memories just as sitting at home at the dinner table does. Saving up and eating out a few times a year, and mostly cooking at home is a wonderful way to savor food and life.
44
Graceful, and outstanding, criticism.
6
Displays of extravagant wealth and whispered "introductions" to the rarest ingredients and presentations makes me nostalgic for the late Jonathan Gold of the Los Angeles Times. I miss his old pickup truck, unkempt mane and his taste for the utterly authentic and sometimes cheap'n'greasy and his sense that we were along for the ride with him. This just left me sad.
30
@Zen Dad
Jonathan Gold’s last top 100 LA restaurants listed a $250 tasting menu restaurant (Vespertine) at the #1 position.
6
As an occasional resident of Napa, I thank you for staying in LA.
18
Why even bother to eat the Mac n cheese, the obsequiousness of such elegance only makes me want to throw it back up anyway.
9
P.T.Barnum said it best about suckers. If you like the food at a restaurant because you like the food at that restaurant and not because you are supposed to like the food at that restaurant , good. One cannot argue about taste . End of story, and save your money. Same is even more true for contemporary art and other creative endeavors where there are always self-appointed critics whose existence depends on making a a lot of noise.
6
I first saw this piece in the online edition, and as is my want, only read the reader comments (sociologically intended, readers preferences priority), and found quite a bit of umbrage toward the critic. Now, several hours later, I actually read the piece, in the paper edition, and found it quite literarily impressive.
I do believe that the critics' prejudices were constituted, at least partially, by this commentary:
"On one of my visits, that service was eager and energetic. On another, after a server accidentally knocked over my dining partner’s cane, which was leaning on the table, he didn’t place it back beside him and work around it. Instead, he offered to “hide it” in the back, presumably so it wouldn’t get in the way of the servers demonstrating their hospitality (which didn’t include working around a diner’s mobility device)."
I share her skepticism...
11
@Velleity. as is my WONT
2
In my humble opinion the best food in Napa Valley can be had at the Gott's hamburger stand in St. Helena. The opposite end of the spectrum from these restaurants for sure, and that is part of the charm. Gott's even has a wine list - of course!.
15
"When I woke up and checked my schedule, it was, in fact, wine time. It was always wine time." - so good!
5
Good for you for giving that garden across the street from The French Laundry a fraction of the attention you gave to the assumed bank accounts of fellow diners.
The ingredients, their local sources, those purveyors you dismiss, the time put into the growing, preparation and presentation of sustenance - they are the point. In other words, without a thought to the ritualistic nature of dining evoking a reverence for the experience of sharing a meal, you have missed the point. Our Mom's birthday cakes were served with as much pretense, and we loved it.
You could have taken a detour and visited farms, orchards, vineyards, forests, the coast, smelled some dirt, talked with people, said thanks. Do it. You’ll be a more informed writer for it.
But then, you were expensing the whole thing and hungering for an angle. Why would you go back to any one of these restaurants, each distinct, when you didn't make the choice to go to any one of them in the first place for any reason other than to do a job? (Sure don’t envy you that trumpian mac ’n cheese course)
Didn't you get rather stuffed senseless, all that wine time?
I'd love to go to Blue Hill at Stone Barns some day in fantasyland Hudson, same price point, worse traffic. I'd $ave up, plan, and I'd savor, cognizant of the hard work, care, setting, creativity, skill, flavors, earth, season, creatures and the very vegetable seeds, as I gratefully enjoyed myself despite how much more interesting I might seem if I deemed it all dull.
46
@Another2cents Tejal Rao appears to be a restaurant critic, not a gardening writer (those do exist), so grinding in the dirt is probably outside the professional wheelhouse.
5
@Another2cents - I'm a gardener and a foodie, but one really can't get lyrical about TFL having a garden. It's not a big deal any longer. They are far from being the first nor the only. Brix and Mustards, along with a number of others in Wine Country, also have gardens. Thomas Hill Organics/Paso Robles STARTED with a 10-acre farm and then opened a bistro to use their own produce.
2
I live in the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. We have 3 star Michelin places to eat as well. All serve variations of Chinese cuisine, in settings as varied as a Chinese castle to a strip mall . I have also eaten at the French Laundry. There is other items on the menu then the tasting courses; it seems the writer went out of his way to criticize these eating destinations, as a means to show his solidarity with the masses. I suggest the writer refrain from visiting California eating abodes, if they conjure up the word"Trump" to describe their menu items...
13
@stuckincali. Small correction - Her. The pronoun is "her." "...it seems the writer went out of HER way to criticize these eating destinations, as a means to show HER solidarity with the masses." There, fixed it for you.
Misogyny, even when discussing food.
4
Sexism is not the same as misogyny.
1
There is not a single 3-star restaurant in Southern CA. 1- and 2-stars only.
There is nothing wrong with fantasy. Or yearning for it. Sure, I love to eat a simple supper at home with family but the best meal of my life was at the French Laundry with sisters and our dad. He who was raised on a farm in Brewster, WA and thinks peas and boiled potatoes are ”gourmet”. The delight he took in eating that special meal and the stories he tells about our at the French Laundry dinner we're worth every penny. It was the epitome of a Proustian moment.
72
At the invitation of friends we joined them for dinner at SingleThread. The food was absolutely delicious, the wine perfectly appropriate and exceptional and the staff was low key, down to earth and very friendly.
But in the end we felt too full and saturated with alcohol and lethargic the next day. That took away from the good memory.
I’ve been to two other such meals and I’m not a fan of them (many years ago they spilled wine on my wife’s dress at the French Laundry and did nothing to make up for it).
I’d much rather see this level of rigor and creativity and respect for ingredients applied to smaller meals. Just enough to reach a peak of satisfaction, but no more than that.
My most satisfying meals tend to be much more casual. Like a few of the taco trucks down in Oakland or true Tex-Mex or a perfectly roasted chicken with perfectly cooked potatoes and greens.
9
@Berks I really agree with you about feeling too full, saturated, and lethargic the next day. The individual dishes at French Laundry are so small, that I did not expect this feeling, and I really do not like the stuffed feeling. The dining experience was wonderful, but I guess we could have stopped half way through and been the right amount of "full".
7
Why the war on fine dining? Should we also dispense with luxury consumer goods? Mercedes-Benz? Armani? Rolex?
There were always be income inequality here. Not sure that renders immoral the pursuit of culinary excellence. All three of these restaurants bring attention to California wine country. They also do civic work in the community, and let’s not forget—they employee a lot of people here. What they do not do, is claim that their food is appropriate for all income levels. Nor do any of luxury brands selling their products around the world. Let’s keep a balanced view here. They’re just serving dinner.
78
@Roving Oenophile: I agree. There should be room for excellence - in ambience, cuisine, and service - regardless of price. I might never be willing to pay that price, but neither am I willing to pay hundreds of dollars to attend a football game, or thousands for a first-class seat on a plane. So what? Excellence gives everyone else something to aim for. And frankly, I'd pay extra just for decent service, anywhere.
33
@Roving Oenophile
Yes, we should dispense with Mercedes-Benz, Armani, and Rolex. What exactly is your question beyond that?
9
@Martin Daly
After all, we are living in the New Gilded Age, so why wouldn't there be $300 meals before drinks, tax, and tips? Go for it, circus dwellers, all of you!
9
My great grandfather settled in St Helena. My sister lives there now, right above Meadowood. We walk down a dusty path to the resort. Her English Bulldog is often seen running around on the croquet course. My kids and their cousins run and play on the lawns and swim in the pool. It's not as pretentious as it is described here. Back in the day, my sister was a waitress at the pool. The servers always offer the kids free ice cream and most of them are college kids, working during the summer months. Eating at the restaurant is an occasional treat, not a regular thing. That's what makes it special.
40
This is old news for San Francisco locals. French Laundry is overrated. It disappointed my partner and I on our last visit there over 5 years ago for his 50th birthday. Never again! We were sadly highly underwhelmed and truly disappointed. A few years later good friends of ours from London mentioned they too were very disappointed in the food at French Laundry. It is old fashioned dining with uninventive and uninspiring food. Our friends from London actually said they felt ripped off! There are plenty of amazing dining experiences in the Bay area. I’ve dined at Lazy Bear in SF 3 or 4 times over the last 4 years and it is truly a stoic and memorable dining experience. Also, Al’s Place in SF is amazing for veggie centric fare.
10
@SF Foodie. What is a “stoic” dining experience?
20
@Sharon
I guess it means he didn't give away his feelings by smiling or gesturing of any kind. He sat humbly and satisfied with his lot in life, whatever it may have been. He accepted reality as it was, and did not bicker about the bill.
16
Thank you! For the philosophy and humor!
I'm a native Northern Californian. I love eating. And I treasure the rare occasion I get to experience an extraordinary restaurant.
But I get what Tejal is saying.
Pandering to the nouveau riche in this region has stripped the simplest joys from many things. It's hard to explain until you get close to it and have to remain close to it in so many day-to-day exchanges.
But the new rich are a shockingly boring, entitled, boorish lot. In short they are a drag, and enough to ruin any meal. Any "experience" that caters to them is likely to reflect those those same qualities. I'm not surprised by the author's experience. Nor do I think it a harsh assessment.
73
I have been in northern California for 40 years. Napa was an earthy place once, where the chefs were experimental perhaps, but not given to "tweezer food". The last time I suffered the traffic to go to Napa, I found it to be a Food Ride theme park. Yeah, sure, jaded after all these years. Give me Mexican street food anytime.
35
@Lapis Ex "tweezer food"....love this!! I often tell my husband when we are traveling "find a nice restaurant, but i don't want to eat foam"
7
Oh, how my palette aches for the skill to appreciate these ultra-sophisticated foods and wines. Alas, I just can't distinguish them from! mere pedestrian fare. My wallet thanks me.
23
Of course, to each his own — but I’m not sure a meal served in a restaurant needs to be “exciting”? My hubby and I don’t eat out often when at home, so mostly it’s while we’re on holiday.
I think our favorite place, by far, was a hole in-the-wall crêperie in Paris close to our hotel. We ordered our dinner there three nights in a row to take back to our room to have with a nice bottle of wine.
The first night, the cook (likely the owner) was efficient, and the food was delicious. The second night, the cook was friendly, and again the food was delicious.
The third night, the cook was our new best friend. He asked us about our day, we all laughed at our French, he helped us with our French pronunciation — and maybe it was my imagination, but the food was even more delicious.
Fresh, simple ingredients, made to order, and served up with a touching interaction with another human — those are the dining experiences we treasure!
54
@C Mac . I couldn't agree more. I have such great memories of really great places in Paris where there was such a balance between sort of pastel decor, relaxed conviviality and superb food. I always felt welcome with my meager French. So many French restaurants don't overdo the drama part. And that makes it more special in my book. No golden eggs for me!
14
@Marjorie Summons: Give the fancy places a break! Surely people patronize them on special occasions, not three nights in a row! There's room for every cuisine, every price point. No one is forced to eat at, e.g. the French Laundry. I've never been there, and am unlikely ever to be. But I also don't want dinner in an all-you-can-eat buffet. Ultimately, when it comes to dining out anywhere rather than at home, repeat anywhere, people should mind their own business.
16
And THAT is precisely why I fled the Bay Area rat race for a pricelessly beautiful old city that nobody’s ever heard of, in Eastern Europe. I know what you mean, with every corpuscle!
4
Considering that this county is tearing itself apart for the benefit of politicians, propagandists, and their donor classes (who have the money to spend $500/pp for dinner) while others starve or their futures are overshadowed by illness, hunger, medical, and educational debt, this article reminds me of a review of black-market dining in Paris in 1943.
Even more than this, it reminds me of the lush propaganda images in the film-within-a-film in Babenco's "Kiss of the Spider Woman," showing a lush life that could only be maintained by collaboration, blindness, and inaction in the looting and genocide that was going on around the corner at the Jeu de Paume (round-up point for looted art) and Vélodrome d'Hiver (French police roundup of Jews).
Here, this is rendered obscene by the growing problems of hunger, unemployment, and homelessness in California and elsewhere in this country, which the governing party seems unwilling and incapable of addressing.
11
@Carl Ian Schwartz If one look's at the population of California on a Bell Curve one expect (and does) see both tremendous wealth and ridiculous poverty. On the other hand, it is not as if there isn't support systems in place for aiding those who are poor, should they choose to avail themselves of them. I have just heard from a local police Sargent of a "homeless" person who has been living in a local open space for 20 years - tent, refuse and all. Sometimes homelessness is nothing more than a life style choice, regardless how much we wish it was not.
3
@Carl Ian Schwartz --- there is nothing wrong with the existence of purveyors of luxury products, whether culinary or physical to serve those who can afford it.
They are restaurants, not the physical manifestations of evil. Some can afford to dine there and some can't. So what?
Is your answer to close down these restaurants, the Louis Vuitton and Prada shops, Mercedes and Bentley car dealers and redistribute their wares or funds to the masses? Look to France during their revolution, Russia, Cuba, or Venezuela for clues on how well that turned out. Yeah, not so much.
While I would not be able to afford to dine at these restaurants more than perhaps once a year, I congratulate those who can. And I look forward to experiencing one of them on a future trip to the Bay Area and am unlikely to be as jaded as the reviewer was - they sound lovely.
7
Dining at these places is for bragging rights later. Just more folly of the elites.
18
Oh, to have the opportunity to grow so jaded!
22
Kinda harsh.
10
Trendy precious restaurants have an unappealling sameness, especially those in hotels that in France are referred to as “palaces”. I had lunch recently in one in Paris, all chic and shiny, with rogue crumbs here and there on the chairs and floors, and lackadaisical wait staff who seemed to have no idea what to do. The food was hit and miss, but the purpose of such a place is to see and be seen. Rather tedious pretense, quel dommage.
12
IMHO Napa is out of control over-rated. Went there last year after a rather long hiatus and yes, while the wines can be excellent, overall I thought we were treated rather poorly in the tasting rooms. And in turn that casts a pall over wanting to go to any of the restaurants. One winery that will remain unnamed wouldn't even put out any crackers between tastings - said we could buy some for $20/bag - $40 for a tasting flight and can't even put out crackers - that pretty much sealed it for us. So many places one can go where the wines are superb and one can have a genuinely lovely experience. I think Napa wineries figured out a long time ago that the casual wine enthusiast/tourist won't pay their exorbitant prices so they soak you on the tastings instead. Never again.
15
@Liza
AZ has some really fun wineries but if you are looking for an out of state winery experience, try Temecula!
4
@Left Coast, Temecula, you must be kidding.
I appreciate your comparisons of the similarities and differences between these three restaurants. It is helpful to get a perspective on the distinctions between them. But, I'm confused both by what others have noted in the headline including the word dull and in the use of the three highest rated restaurants (all of which are at least as much event or theater as they are dinners) to deeming a place not worth returning to.
In your review you use terms like "absurdly delicious", "stunning production", "vivid moments", "focused and clean, with an occasional wink", "coziness", "restless...and still felt it had something to prove." Your descriptions do not sound dull at all. Expensive, yes. Not for everyday, yes. But, your own words do not support dull.
The more puzzling assertion is that Napa (maybe you did or did not mean to include Sonoma) is "yawny and pampering" and not worth a "special journey back." You're welcome to your opinion as are we all, but that seems like me saying El Bulli closed so there's no reason to visit Spain. In 25 years of visiting I'd guess I've spent 3 years out in Napa in total. I've been to The French Laundry three times, the others zero. The area, and any place on earth, is so much more and more interesting than the three highest rated restaurants in that area. Heck, just using the chefs you mentioned you could do Mexican, French, family style, New American, or Fried Chicken & BBQ to go - all excellent, creative, fun, and casual.
18
When we went to Meadowood two years ago a staff member interrupted our conversation during the third of 15 courses to ask me whether I wanted him to order a car for our departure. Basically saying we can’t wait for you to leave. Whenever I think of Meadowood that’s all I can remember !
15
@Franinnyc When I think of Meadowood, I am reminded of the "spa cuisine" that we talked one of our party into ordering. It was a big plate of shaved fennel bulb with a small piece of chicken on top, no dressing, no other additions. Our group still laughs about that one. I think it cost him 25bucks.
5
“ ‘e can ‘ave ze duck.” - Patrick Stewart’s French chef character from LA Story.
8
Bummer! He’s bored of luxury. Nice work if you can get it.
26
For those of us who can afford it (But are not of the top 0.1 %), a visit to The French Laundry is certainly worth it . Maybe your food critic has become a little numb from all the stimulation .
11
And yet, Los Angeles continues to be sans Michelin stars anywhere!!??
5
@Rodrigo Palacios Not so - check Eater's list of 2019 Michelin-starred spots.
@Rodrigo Palacios the new guide has given LA quite a few stars, plenty of good dining there.
1
If a critic is going to fairly review these restaurants they should be experiencing them like the rest of us - gathering loved ones who enjoy fine food to mark a special occasion. You anticipate the meal for months, get dressed up, and come to enjoy both the company you have curated and a spectacular meal that is orchestrated by a symphony of talent.
These dining experience are theatre and entertainment to be sure (and you need to be up for that going in), but they are greatest when the diners get in on the performance.
After decades of only being able to lust after these all-encompassing meals painstakingly created by a team of the best culinary, hospitality, and sommelier stars, I finally got the chance to enjoy one at The French Laundry. It was Epic, but I was nervous to engage the servers, be curious, and fully enjoy the experience.
The second time I had a chance to go I didn’t waste it. I asked lots of questions and the servers lit up. They loved sharing information with an engaged guest and offered so much to the experience. At the end of the meal we were laughing with our servers, being offered a tour of the kitchen, and felt like treasured guests.
Just like any experience, it ends up being what you make of it. You will be treated like royalty at The French Laundry and eat like a king, but if you expect their magic on a plate to fill your soul it isn’t going to happen - you must be engaged and excited to be there. Something tells me the reviewer wasn’t.
99
@luckygal Your assessment is exactly what I was trying to formulate in my mind, but apparently your mind is better than mine. Each and every one of your words expresses exactly what I had tumbling around in my brain. This is theater, and one must become one of the performers. I loved it, except for being too full!
11
Tweezers.
18
Sounds like a miss.
1
I found the photo of 2 chefs bending closely over the plates while they arranged food with a tweezers incredibly gross. I do not want someone breathing that closely to food I'm about to eat.
And that photo of baby cherry tomatoes ( Matt's Wild Cherry?) draped over the bowl and plate incredibly laughable; it's all just too precious.
43
I've never like fussy presentations, which is all you get at these places now. And you couldn't pay me to eat a blob of sea urchin, not any amount of money.
11
Travel worthyness is an interesting yardstick. I encountered a couple who had driven 11 hours from Spokane to In-N-Out in Redding,CA just for the experience. Michelin probably wasn't on their minds.
11
Personally, I wonder what Mr. Bourdain would have said or if he would have even bothered?
4
@Ms M. The French Laundry was one of his favorite restaurants... he wrote a beautiful paen to a dinner there, worth a read.
10
@Ms M. One of the episodes of A Cook's Tour is about a dinner at the French Laundry, which he loved.
7
Is it true diners must genuflect before entering these temples?
8
Earlier this morning was a NY Times article underlining the severe and unprecedented homeless problem in the urban West. And yet we see just a short drive away the Uber wealthy (see what I did there?) dining in the midst of the crumbling walls of Rome and being bored with the putrid richness of their luxury. We are in for an interesting next few decades, if we make it that long.
34
@CB
Yours is the only comment (thus far) that has expressed this view, thank you. Let us keep reminding each other of the grotesque chasm between the wealthy and the needy.
10
Whenever I see a photo of a chef with tweezers hovering over a dish I immediately cross that restaurant off my list.
21
Maybe I grew up watching too much "I Love Lucy," but these kinds of places make me want to show up dressed as a hillbilly with a goat as my service animal just to see what happens.
I just can't take it seriously. I guess that's because I don't have enough money to take it seriously. :-)
29
"...a spaceship for the 1%, now orbiting a burning planet." Fabulous. I'm already stealing your analogy.
23
That food looks and sounds delicious, but the golden egg serving is a bit shocking. In "casual" California? Gold for the sake of gold is just vulgar.
5
With whom else in the car...
2
"The French Laundry has been a destination for luxury dining in Yountville, Calif., for 25 years."
Is that right? I ate there in 1989, exactly 30 years ago.
4
@polymath
That was before Thomas Keller took over the restaurant.
5
Congratulations on your safe return from the Holy Sepulchre of ultra-fine dining. I hope your reentry into to the secular world of eating goes without any significant withdrawal symptoms.
4
This article tells me a lot about people in the bubble. There are folks who can barely afford boxed Mac and cheese but there are others eating out of golden eggs. This is crazy.
17
It might just be me but all of these experiences sound really tedious. I appreciate the art and the craft but I'll happily leave this nonsense to the 1%.
In Northern California there is no reason to eat bad food or drink bad wine and you don't have to pay $300 a head for it. If the writer is overwhelmed with ennui breaking away from the allegedly top tier restaurants might bring renewed interest. Go find a food truck or a hole in the wall taqueria. You'll have a better time I'm sure of it.
For the record Healdsburg is in Sonoma County, not Napa. Napa is where we send the tourists.
19
@BC
And it's stop and go traffic all the way. Make sure you have interesting traveling companions while your limo driver deals with the sluggish highways.
2
I travelled the highways and byways of the Napa Valley from Berkeley , long ago before it was “wine country” . 10 bucks got you all day at the Calistoga spa. Extra for the mud baths. The best wine never got out of the valley. Graduates from my cooking school began to be hired and the food got good. Now of course, it’s just another indulgence for the 1%.
6
You’re saying that you are responsible for good food in Napa?
3
@Lisa Murphy
And more and more you can't get into the mineral pools without a room reservation
1
@Anita Larson. Gee no, that’s not what I was saying, however in mid 1970 jobs started appearing in new restaurants in Napa valley. A lot of my colleagues went up there to cook.
4
Elderly lady here! Many years ago I lived in Europe and traveled with a crowd of well-heeled Americans and Europeans. Been a long time since I had dinner (or lunch) in a three or four star restaurant..I'm glad I was in that group then and not now. The food today sounds awful!!
5
what struck me most about this article is the servers who let half the truffle shavings fall onto the table. intentionally wasting a precious and expensive product as a spectacle of wealth and status reminds me a bit of the rich people who pay tens of thousands of dollars to hunt endangered animals. a level of decadence that the future will ot look kindly on.
24
Perhaps it is done as an offering to those passed or to Mother Earth.
4
@55553333 yes of course. Some spilled shavings of a fungus on a restaurant table = shooting and killing endangered animals for sport. Same exact thing.
13
Not really decadence so much as depravity. More than waste or cruelty as optional amusements, but waste and cruelty as requirements to avoid boredom or provide a higher wattage of distraction.
The sleepiness might have been affecting me too ! - for most of the article , I presumed it was written by Pete Wells after seeing the " Critic's Notebook" tag and presuming too much. Then with a start, after reading "moved here last fall", I saw it was Tejal Rao ! Superb article ! Knew you were in charge of the paper's California restaurant-reviewing but had somehow missed out on your articles for a long time. As a journeyman culinary reviewer, I can very well understand your eventual sense of tedium despite the fact that these were the creme de la creme. However elite a restaurant might be, if it has lost the fire in the belly to wow you with a renewed game , it devolves into staid decadence and this article expresses that easily misconstrued reality with beautiful disappointment. The last two paragraphs, particularly the penultimate one, are exquisite. It's interesting how Thomas Keller has lost ground after his zenith in the earlier decade - Ulterior Epicure was one of the first famous reviewers to be disappointed by Per Se, then came Pete Well's felling of the oak , followed by TAK Room's relative down-tick and now this disenchantment conveyed by Ms.Rao...
28
@Upnworld
It seems the nature of these times that the new is deemed better than the old - even when the old still produce moments of pleasure (if not revelation), and even when "old' is only a few years.
Restaurants come and go. You know that, right?
My daughter and husband used to play a game as they walked through our downtown and its mix of very high end and local casual restaurants. They would tally in which restaurant people looked happiest. It was always the local brew pubs and taco carts. And people who eat at the most precious establishments often end up at a taco cart because they’re still hungry after their 300 dollar meal.
14
I'll never forget my first meal in Napa Valley. I had bicycled 400 miles over the past 5 days, one in a terrific storm that blew in from the Pacific. After a short, easy day of pedaling through the most beautiful vineyards I had ever seen, I grabbed a bottle of cabernet, a wedge of cheese, and a loaf coarse brown bread, and enjoyed a simple but satisfying peasant meal under craggy oaks as the sun set.
But let's not kid ourselves: it wasn't anywhere near as good as The French Laundry.
11
Most restaurants in expensive locations tend to a certain sameness. They have to, precisely because they are so expensive and need to please customers who are paying a lot of money -- not mention, typically, investors or banks. It's hard to be less than perfect, let alone experimental, or take many risks in this environment. If you want a restaurant that is the quirky creation of a chef with an idea, you need to go somewhere else and be willing to tolerate less than perfect as well as outright failure.
5
I visited Napa Valley and enjoyed the sourdough bread there. 45 years later I enjoyed it again at the local Fresh Market. About a mile from my house is Saigon 1 for pho. I go there for pho a couple times a month. The joy of eating is what you make it.
5
I was gifted a dinner at French Laundry. Glad to have had the experience but it was far from my favorite meal. I thought a lot of it was over salted and the whole thing was overly precious. We got a kitchen tour and I swear the staff were high.
16
I love good food. I was first married at age 23, in 1966, at the height of Julia Child's TV shows and teaching a new generation how to cook. That's how I learned and I loved cooking and eating.
But I refuse to pay what for many is 1/2 a month's rent for a meal. I don't care if it's wild hummingbird's throats or the throat of a unicorn, no meal is worth such a price. And Mac and Cheese? Please!
I'm tired of the pretentiousness of such dining. All the people, sitting there with their $400 bottles of wine, rapturously describing some minutia the chef has just brought to the table, the food itself being about 1 teaspoon full.
I don't care to even know the name of the chef in the kitchen, nor my waiter's first name. I want beautiful food, beautiful ingredients prepared classical with a masterful hand. I want to enjoy my food and the company with whom I'm dining. And I don't want to pay the price of a plane ticket to do so.
It's still possible to do this in Paris and in a few old restaurants in NYC. Forget the hottest and latest - go for a place that has consistently prepared wonderful food, served it with dignity and given me an enjoyable meal for the past 30 years
64
@India
Or, go to Greece and eat fresh fish and vegetables outdoors!
9
My favorite place in St. Helena is the the local Mexican market with its fresh tacos, which can't be beat. They are inexpensive, and you can eat them outside at a picnic table while gazing at the lovely vineyard next door.
16
@Birdygirl ANd would have made for a more interesting review than a restaurant that has been open for more than a decade and already reviewed a thousand times.
5
Wow. Mac and cheese is "fine dining"?
Things have come a long way since I worked in a French restaurant and fine dining meant Coquille St. Jacques, Boeuf Wellington and Soupe a L'Oignon.
14
I just had meals at the French Laundry and Restaurant at Meadowood this weekend. The meals were fabulous, delicious and amazing experiences. My gut is that some of the commenters and the writer of the article may not have enjoyed their company. To say these restaurants are "dull" and "everyone sat around staring at each other" makes me think that new dining companions are in order. We laughed our way through both meals - memories for a lifetime.
70
I’ll bet your tax return is even more memorable.
10
"Without asking or making a show of it, a server brought out a hot one to replace it. The staff exuded confidence and warmth, and their attentiveness was thorough (even after the check was paid) but never intrusive."
That made me want to visit the French Laundry more than any of the food descriptions. It speaks of a great culture.
40
I'd like to suggest to all readers of this story that you consider visiting Walla Walla, Washington if you'd like to have a great wine and food experience like you used to get in Napa decades ago. Our wines are equal to (and sometimes better) than Napa and even though we don't have the equivalent of a French Laundry or Single Thread restaurant, we do have restaurants run by top-notch chefs who fled Seattle for a more sane life. And I guarantee you the bill for dinner will be significantly less!
28
And your wine growing climate is much closer to that of Burgundy!
6
@Karen Craddock
Don't visit Republican Walla Walla:
Walla Walla County, WA is Leaning conservative. In Walla Walla County, WA 37.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 52.0% voted Republican, and the remaining 11.0% voted Independent.
Walla Walla county voted Republican in the last five Presidential elections.
In the last Presidential election, Walla Walla county remained strongly Republican, 52.0% to 37.0%
16
@DAK. Good grief, stop injecting POLITICS into everything! We Californians (supposedly) appreciate diversity and good food and wine...you remind me of my son-in-law, an outdoorsman and avid hiker, a college grad and avid hiker who refuses to even consider hiking the Appalachian Trail because “they’re all Trumpers back there!” It’s a complex world out there, it is vital. That we engage each other!
2
Fine dining of this sort can be a wonderful experience, but I agree with Tejal Rao that here in CA we've normalized these extremely precious dining experiences to such a degree that they are somewhat boring. There are just too many of these sorts of establishments in the area - the quantity has cheapened the experience. With so much wealth sloshing around Northern California, we're drowning in our affluence. It's all just food after all - most of what you're paying for are the army of servers, the exquisite details, and quaint locations. The food on your plate's cost is a small fraction of the price you'll pay. It feels like there is a certain level of desperation in the fine dining world to continually launch new, more expensive places as if we don't have enough already. And let's not even get into the debate about Michelin's star system and it's legitimacy. Bottom line - go out and have a perfectly wonderful meal for a fraction of the cost at French Laundry. You're really not missing all that much.
22
I was only ever treated to a lengthy tasting menu once (in Montréal) and, while the whole evening seemed extravagant compared to my ordinary life, I was delighted by the succession of wildly improbable dishes and flavors, the impeccable service, and the leisurely pace of the whole meal. Maybe I enjoyed myself partly because I was in good company? Maybe exquisitely fine dining should be a rare enough experience that one does not become jaded about it?
36
Having dined in many of our fine eating establishments, I finally came to the conclusion that it's just food. Very expensive food. No amount of tiny lettuces arranged with tweezers or blue eggs change that.
The experience really doesn't change all that much. You're sated and buzzy, and your digestive tract may be thrown out of whack by excess oils and butter, rich meats and sauces.
Finally, I look at the pictures of these places and think: "Do I really want to sit in a room with these people?".
42
Wouldn't feel right paying for all this, but I love reading about it. Still, unless one is the Princess and the Pea, can't wait staff at a 3-star restaurant be forgiven for wanting to avoid "a diner's mobility device"?
5
@Martin Daly No. I’m honestly shocked at this comment. Should a diner have to signal a waiter to bring their cane to go to the bathroom, or not be able to leave when they desire? What if there is an emergency, or a fire? What about people who need a larger mobility device, such as a walker or wheelchair? Should good manners dictate that they stay home so that waiters don’t have to take a few extra seconds while serving them, even at restaurants that charge a premium for hospitality?
26
In a word? No. Offering to “hide” the cane, however carelessly that word might have been chosen, told the diner there was something shameful and unpleasant about the fact of its existence and about his/her reliance on it. Those who need such devices are reminded dozens of times per day that they are the aberration that the non-disabled rest of the world resents accommodating. What’s reasonable is that the diner paying $300 for this rarefied experience might expect service free from that.
28
@Maggy (and Bratschegirl): My point was that the writer seemed to be nit-picking. True, "hide" was an odd choice of words, but neither the writer nor the owner of the cane was reported to be offended. References to a possible "emergency, or a fire", "a walker or wheelchair", the bathroom, sudden departure, the idea that a cane is "shameful", and "the disabled" are impertinent and typically over the top. Without going into details, I have enough experience of actual disability and the difficulties disabled people face to dismiss "Gotcha" comments for what they are.
1
The saga of the French Laundry. Sounds like a spectacularly long and boring Church service, and those golden eggs are just perfect incense holders. This is performance art, with food, for the excessively Rich. No thanks, I’d rather go elsewhere 3 or 4 times and I know what I’m eating, without using my IPhone. As for “tasting menus”, NO thanks. I’m a knowledgeable and picky eater, I don’t wish to try your experiments and indulge your whims. Especially at my great expense.
Cheers.
19
I indulge in other's indulgences. Reading this article about food is as enjoyable for me as reading about Opera or Fine Modern Art or Concours d'Elegance. I've never been attracted to opera, understood modern art or can afford luxury autos, but
I relish a well-written story about the pinnacles of each.
So glad others find such joys.
22
The summation, or conclusion, is hardly supported by the preceding narrative. The author/reviewer instead comes across as one who has had too many expense account paid meals. After years of indulgence perhaps he's jaded, seen it all before. But for those of us who pay our own way, what seems repetitive might well be innovative, even cutting edge. I found everything about Meadowood, except possibly the cost, now higher than when I was there, to be first rate. And since I know what good food costs I can't say that the price is not appropriate. There is a restaurant we frequent in Italy's Sud tyrol - off the beaten track - almost five hours from Malpensa by car. We will return for our 8th visit in March. I never cease to be amazed by the chef's creativity but I'm sure this author and probably some who comment would find it boring, old hat, common because they bring their experience, their perceptions, knowledge etc which is different than mine. Perhaps theirs i more informed but maybe not. Bottom line. I didn't find this piece to be the least bit helpful or convincing.
41
@Bridget Actually, it's perfectly representational of a Southern Californian's resentment of Northern California's superior dining scene (despite having half the population, Northern California has far more Michelin-starred restaurantts--including *all* of the West Coast's Michelin 3-stars).
17
@Bridget you mean, she.
4
@RadioPirate it's a one way rivalry, to be sure. You just got the direction wrong.
3
I understand the complaints about the restaurants being too hushed or quiet, but as one who has a hearing disability and has trouble having a decent conversation in most restaurants it was a pleasure to enjoy myself in each of these restaurants. Furthermore, Ms. Rao mentioned that she was asked to wait before being seated, Single Thread has a roof garden atop the restaurant where diners are taken by elevator to enjoy the view of Sonoma county and have a drink along with hors d'oeuvres before entering the dining room downstairs. To each his own.
21
I still don’t understand all the how about SingleThread - hands down worst dining experience we have ever had with horrible service (spouse fell asleep during the meal at one point because our waiter forgot about us for about 45 minutes), wine pairings were mismatched and just off, and food and wine never came out on time. Also, food wasn’t memorable except for the worst course I have ever had at Michelin.
French Laundry and Meadowoods are totally worth it and I would do them again next time we are in Napa. I would also check out the Twelve Days of Christmas for quite an exception dining experience - still to date prob my favorite meal ever.
1
@Jen How can you fault the restaurant for your spouse falling asleep at the table? Perhaps the conversation was a little dull?
7
@AC Chicago For a $1300 dinner, I expect my waiter and my sommelier to show up and do their job, bring the courses on time, and don’t turn what was supposed to be a 3-4 hour dinner into a 4-5 hour exercise in waiting for food or drinks to maybe show up at the same time vs 15-30 minutes apart from each other.
Doesn’t sound like you have ever eaten at a Michelin before - and I am speaking from dining experiences at Michelins on 3 continents including all of the ones mentioned in the article so probably have a better frame of reference for what the experience should be.
3
@AC Chicago For a $1300 dinner, I expect my waiter and my sommelier to show up and do their job, bring the courses on time, and don’t turn what was supposed to be a 3-4 hour dinner into a 4-5 hour exercise in waiting for food or drinks to maybe show up at the same time vs 15-30 minutes apart from each other. This dinner was after a 3 hour drive due to horrible traffic from SF and in the middle of a heat wave where they have you sit outside for 45 minutes or so for ambiance so yeah, when the restaurant is poorly lit to create mood lighting, your wife is 8 months pregnant and you haven’t gotten a full night’s sleep in several months because of how little sleep she is getting and you are both exhausted from the excursion to even get to the restaurant, ridiculously slow and inconsistent service for all the tables and a lot of alcohol without food will lead someone to fall asleep.
Doesn’t sound like you have ever eaten at a Michelin before. I am speaking from dining experiences at Michelins on 3 continents including all of the ones mentioned in the article so probably have a better frame of reference for what the experience should be.
1
I want to definitely go to Napa Valley very soon. Thanks for writing this beautiful article.
2
We shared a meal with friends at Meadowood about 7 years ago, just around the time Kostow earned his first star. Even then all 6 people at the table (one of whom was a chef) found it eye-rollingly predictable. Blade of grass in foam? Check! Frankly, that appetizer is the only course I remember, mostly because it spawned such merriment after having been presented by a solemn waiter as though it were the consecrated Host.
I can tell you that our mirth was not welcomed by the wait staff. We left the meal feeling as though we were naughty children, having had the temerity to enjoy each other’s company rather than worshiping appropriately at the Altar of the Sacred (Michelin) Star.
42
@SeattleMama
We have had two similar, and equally entertaining, experiences over the years at Susur in Toronto and Restaurant Edouard Loubet in Provence (both eponymously named for their chefs).
We had to hear a long-winded ode to Susur's genius - where they served the courses backward (except for dessert, which was still at the end), before being allowed to get back to chatting with our friends. The food was meh.
We were able to page through a coffee table book while enjoying cocktails in the lounge at REL which featured a two-page spread with a picture of Monsieur Chef wearing a pirate-type shirt and riding a white horse through the surf.
The food was excellent, but not inspiring, and I've forgotten all but the homemade chartreuse (with like 150 herbs) at the end of the meal.
When we realized that each table would be asked in hushed tones toward the end of the meal to come back to the kitchen to meet the chef, one of our friends briefly considered responding, "nah, we're good."
Both are two of the most memorable meals of the past 23 years, but not for the reasons the chefs would assume. "Susur" is our 1-word code for unbearable pretentiousness at any restaurant.
14
Is it just a coincidence that this article appears in the same edition that has the article about the profound homelessness problem in California. I can’t help noticing the juxtaposition of the elite few dining on golden eggs while so many people are living on the street. Something is very wrong.
277
@Jill Lesser That this comes from a New York City resident without a smack of irony is hilarious.
28
@Jill Lesser
Haven't ever seen anything like that in NYC?
6
@Jill Lesser
Your comment should be the only comment.
Just how do you season greed? Should it be served or severed?
7
Hand cut noodles for macaroni & cheese? Sigh, I guess. I've been to The French Laundry & it was a fine dining experience I do not care to repeat. Give me fried chicken, a box of Annie's macaroni & cheese, a nice salad and a good bottle of wine, outside, on a nice fall evening, any day.
43
I'm not good at these types of places. My husband and I went to a Michelin starred restaurant in Paris a few years ago and the starchy servers made me uncomfortable (as in, were they human or robots?), while the fixed menu made me unhappy. (Not a fish person, and many of the small dishes were fishy.) So we paid a whole lot of money for me to end up hungry and annoyed at the end of the meal. I can tell from the description of these places that it would probably go the same. (Went to the French Laundry many years ago and can't remember what it was like at all.)
4
I have dined at two of these three superb restaurants earlier in 2019 --- with the exception of French Laundry. Dining frequently at Joel Robuchon's restaurants and Estiatorio Milos in Las Vegas by comparison is, imho, typically more exciting and more enticing for return trips. High level fine dining SHOULD make one want to return. I agree with you that at least in the case of Meadowood and SingleThread, neither experience had nor has me yearning to go back...
2
I participated in the San Francisco Bay Area foodie scene for a couple of decades dining in Napa Valley a couple of times each year. I don’t regret it but it is all pretty boring now. I recently dined at Jay Fai, a Michelin star restaurant in Bangkok. The atmosphere couldn’t be more different. The food was perfection but in the end it was still Thai street food at much higher prices. These days my perfect restaurant is boat noodle soup at a street stall with 3 plastic tables. A bowl of delicious soup - $1.25.
35
Spot on review. Spare me all the protestations that it's expensive, people, we knew that. What amazes me is that the experience costs so little considering the difficulties of making everything perfect every time. These restaurants are also businesses with margins and pricing decisions, and the service is not so much pandering as commensurate with spending that much on the food.
The tedium of US restaurants rests with the percentage of Coca-Cola addicts who expect their wines to be sweet and the food to be comprehensible and non-threatening. When consumers get a spirit of adventure and are willing to eat things they have never tried before, the food will change for the better in inventive ways. Until then, the boredom of famous places will be a reflection of the intransigence and provincialism of their customers. Bone marrow? Ick. Squid? Not for me, thanks.
The biggest food problem in California is the obsessions with gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, cutting-edge diet obsessives, who limit what chefs can present. These people should grow up and get a job or something. These are the truly money-throwing useless, culture-lacking, terrified of everything customers, who want to chew their meat quietly and not let anyone know they are unhappy. Real food takes courage to try new things, and these people conspicuously lack it.
Don't blame the restaurants. They are there to serve.
26
Just for the record, some of us who are “obsessed” with gluten-free have Celiac disease.
10
@Michael Simon wh y oh why are so many of these menus so full of fish and seafood. I would love to give them a whirl but have in late life developed an allergy to all things from lakes or oceans. Also a nut allergy. It is very hard sometimes to get a good meal that may not kill me.
2
@Eileen Donohue
Also there are people who don't have celiac disease but still can't tolerate gluten. It's not that these people are obsessive - it's that they don't want to get severe stomach aches and explosive diarrhea.
2
I don't think these US restaurants are held to the same standard as European restaurants with 2 or 3 Michelin stars.
Italy and France have some fantastic 2 starred restaurants that have so much creativity they put these CA places to shame. In fact no US restaurants can compete with the creativity found in Northern Italy in particular.
11
@Bridget . Respectfully disagree and I have been to northern Italy multiple times. I am not saying the US is better but to say that no restaurants, in all of the huge and incredibly diverse US, compare to a relatively small region in Italy is odd.
12
@Paul. I agree with Paul. This is just another form of snobbery from an old saw about Americans not matching up with “the Continent”. Spare me. If there is any organization that can contrast and compare restaurants across national boundaries, it is likely to be Michelin. But glad you like Italian food. That’s nice.
7
The problem with these high end restaurants is they get uncomfortably too close to the philosophical proposition of placing monetary value on human life. Who's stomach deserves $300+ worth of food stylishly injected into it? Are they worth it? Probably not. Who would be worth it? Are you feeding a soul, or just a stomach with a bunch of money?
At least with a few $2 tacos from an authentic taqueria no customer has to ponder their existential currency. And that makes those tacos taste even better.
109
@Willow At that level it's considered art.
1
@Willow
You sound just like my extremely stingy Father,
"Drinking wine is only drinking money".
As today would be his 104th Birthday, he would most certainly agree with your sentiment!
BTW - We refer EMP to FL
1
@Just Me
Wine is another thing. I drank some very expensive wine once and haven't had anything that amazing run down my throat since then. I'm not sure food can perform at that level. We want food to be fresh and this wine was not fresh. A hundred years old. Time has a flavor on another level. I did have to steal it though, so maybe we are right back to where we started.
This synopsis of three great restaurants really misses the point. Of course the service is excellent. That’s not the point. Of course the rooms are quiet and calm. That’s also not the point. The point is the food. And the point about the food is to _understand_ the way in which the chef has selected, assembled, contrasted and balanced the flavors. This is not food that you stuff in your mouth, this is food presented for your consideration. Clearly not for everyone. Neither is fine wine. Or fine art. The reviewer seems smart, but might be happier at the corner deli or taco truck. I love these also, but I understand that they occupy a basically different category. An entirely different sort of experience. The exciting unpredictability of whether you leave with gross indigestion!
15
@Paul I would say that YOU miss the point. The point is the customer. Not the food, not the chef, but the people who have decided to dine at the restaurant. Too often they are regarded as props to the food. The other point, is that it is the unexpected that can make an unforgettable dining experience; these 3-star restaurants will not surprise and delight, but rather merely fulfill lofty expectations, (or not).
13
@Jeff I've been to all three of these great restaurants, and I enjoyed them very much. The key is to relax, stop worrying about the tab and reflect upon the ingenuity of the presentation and the cuisine. If you _consider what you are eating_, really consider the art of the chef, then it is full of surprises.
Well of course luxury always means dull. The best places are wonderfully non-luxury.
31
Thorsten Vörblen had it right all those years ago. These Edens of excess are the way folks whose principal talent is to make money can reassure themselves. Reassure themselves that their lack of any aesthetic or moral purpose beyond coding or day trading can be washed away by their conspicuously cosseted consumption of these ludicrously overpriced and overhyped palate palaces. Do you want delicious food without the pretension and prices in the bay area? Go to Oakland Chinatown or the Mission in San Francisco or Geary Blvd in the Avenues for starters. There are literally hundreds of restaurants that will feed your belly and your soul without the Versailles trappings.
79
The funny thing about Napa is not so long ago it was just a farm community with a decidedly nondescript downtown and rolling hills. A quick shot down 12 to Suisun/Fairfield will gives a better view of what Napa was like before the tech boom and the desire of the nouveaux riche to wear a newly tailored "winemaker cloak" with their monopoly money. Over the years it has become somewhat of a sterile trope, so stale that the Netflix movies about the place are unwatchable. Sure the wine is great, but is overpriced and truly not any better than many other great regions where better deals are to be found.
The celebrity chef Michelin star culture has only contributed to this in the worst way. What might have once been playful or artistic has now just become rote and, frankly, boring. Having been to a number of Michelin places in California, before and after getting stars, I've come to believe the Michelin people are more interested in fussy overpriced pseudo art than real food. What nearly killed it for me was a ridiculously costly meal at Adega in San Jose (before losing their star) that I had close in time to a much more relaxed, impressive and affordable meal at Kato in Los Angeles (before they got their star.) I'm about done with this kind of food. There isn't a Michelin place I've been to in the last 10 years (other than Kato) which wasn't mostly uncomfortable.
Don't get me wrong, I respect quality, effort and talent, but I respect it more when it's not stuffy and tedious.
64
@rbjd your comment reminds me of a moment in the south of France when I was being served overly fussy, but tasteless food and looked down to see the chef’s name embossed all over the tablecloth. In that moment I realized my food was not made for my eating enjoyment, but it was for the aesthetic showmanship of him and all the other chefs with whom he was competing. Give me bistro food any day.
1
After 30 years in San Francisco, and my entire life in Northern California, I have eaten at such places and many more.
What I would give for a great dinner with a menu that had 50 of items on it, like when I was a kid, and all of them done very well.
7
You should visit Los Angeles for a meal at Musso and Frank’s, where the menu is enormous and everything is delicious. While there are a few concessions to modern tastes, Musso’s specializes in things that rarely appear on menus these days: sweetbreads, calves liver, chicken (and turkey) a la king. Whatever you order, the service will be superb and free of pretension. And the cocktails are superb.
7
The French Laundry tasting menu was excellent and overwhelming. Towards the end I almost felt like saying "enough, no more."
9
Great analysis, paired with passion. Thank you. I wonder, however, if you are really calling into question the relevance of the Michelin star system itself?
9
Thank you for writing this. After a few dining experiences that I dreamt about since I was a teenager raised in the East Coast, I realized that these epic restaurants really didn’t live up to the hype. Personally, I don’t find mousse appetizing.
Moreover, the crowd is a bore and many look depressed, speaking in hushed tones.
Ambiance and character of a restaurant is so important and strangely, I guess money can ruin it. I’d love to see more articles about hole in the wall ethnic restaurants that abound in the Bay Area, especially in East Bay and LA. The accessible culinary scene and produce in CA is amazing. Why not write about that?
59
We are truly in a Trumpian era of ostentatious and one per- center performance dining. Visiting the wine country 40 years ago was an adventure, discovering new wines and meeting wine makers in more humble surroundings, plus finding charming restaurants and little grocery stores for a picnic lunch. I remember visiting Stags Leap and Heitz Cellars when they were just finding their footing. These ridiculously expensive restaurants have ruined the wine country experience for a lot of people!
79
@sgc. There are many other good restaurants in the wine country, noted not for their Michelin stars, but for their excellent food. Be adventurous and try off the beaten path....
19
@sgc
This all started and got going well before Donald Trump was elected. Not everything is his fault.
7
@sgc How does the presence of three restaurants that 99+% of the visitors to Napa never set foot in "ruin the wine country experience for a lot of people." For most visitors to Napa, they are just irrelevant.
Since this is a NY Times column it's not surprising to blame everything on Donald Trump, but the French Laundry and the Restaurant at Meadowood were serving very expensive luxury meals long before he was elected.
6
If this review had ended with the word “perfect” it would have been perfect. It was quite good and correct in its assessment.
The first two times I went to the French Laundry I was excited beyond measure, but later it seemed peculiarly oppressive somehow. Meadowood is lovely, but no matter how you describe it...it is the dining room at a golf club, an especially good one, but golf is still the reason it exists. I have not been to the other restaurant. Kaiseki and long tasting menus while similar in form are not the same experience, so am curious to see this place. The kitchen garden across the street from French Laundry is open to all and really is worth a special visit.
$300 is not remotely expensive these days for this sort of dining, as anyone living in NYC, SF or LA can attest; good or ill, that is just the way “ it is”. No, meatloaf at the diner is not as good.
7
@JLxx5 Saying $300 is not "remotely expensive" is a bit odd in a time when a majority of American families report that they wouldn't have $400 on hand to deal with an unexpected expense.
146
@JLxx5And what world do you live in, "$300 is not remotely expensive"??? Last week, a friend and I had a delicious 3-course Chinese lunch in SF and the check came to $28 for the two of us, including tip. Two weeks ago, 3 friends and I had an excellent dinner at a very good restaurant in downtown SF that came to $359 for the 4 of us for 3 courses, including pre-dinner drink, wine and tip. If someone wants to spend $300 pp on a meal, then fine, but it is their choice!
16
@JLxx5
"this sort of dining" is unavailable to most Americans, and writing that $300 is "not remotely expensive" is disgusting to those who struggle to buy groceries for their families!
18
Unfortunately, the French Laundry and Meadowood have become emblematic of everything wrong with the Napa Valley today. Instead of a welcoming destination for wine lovers, it has become a playground for the wealthy, with each new restaurant or winery striving to be the most precious, exclusive and expensive. If you work for a winery or restaurant, you certainly can't afford to drink or dine there. Or, live in the valley. Restaurants here have closed due to their inability to hire staff due to expensive housing. Hence the abundance of interns. And yes, the experience at the French Laundry and Meadowood is boring, with diners sitting in respectful silence or speaking in whispers, wondering why dining has become so intimidating and joyless.
114
You have identified exactly what’s wrong with this picture. It’s not the expense, not the high performance atmosphere, or whether it’s cuisine as true art or pretentious religiosity. It’s that the actual workers, staff, talent, people who create this beautiful and supposedly valuable experience cannot afford to live there, where they work.
5
I agree with the sentiment of the article. A few years ago we spent a weekend in Chicago. Between a Saturday lunch of deep dish pizza (eh) and a Sunday brunch at a French-Vietnamese restaurant called Le Colonial, we ate a 13-course meal at Charlie Trotter's. It was perfect in every way, and impressive, and we had a wonderful time with our fellow diners. But I only remember one course, an index-finger sized piece of Kobe beef. My wife and I much preferred the exotic setting and beautifully perfumed bowl of pho the next morning at Le Colonial.
17
The difference between Single Thread and the other two restaurants on Ms Rao’s list is not that the chefs/owners are young and restless, but rather that their inspiration is Japanese kaiseki, in which the menu celebrates subtle, day-by-day changes in the growing season. Week by week, what’s growing in their farm changes, with different varieties planted to come into season from early to late. Same goes with local fish-yes, fish have seasons too when you’re not relying on farmed and flown-in global species. If Ms. Rao thinks tony Healdsburg is a refuge from wine-country bachelorette parties and excess, well, she clearly hasn’t spent too much time up here! Still, as a longtime Bay Area resident, food writer and former restaurant critic, I’d love to show Ms Rao the slightly more hidden gems of our bountiful (and hardly “scrubby”) region. And as even a transplant to LA should know, there’s some delicious eating (Vietnamese, Korean, Mexican, Nepalese, Japanese, and much more in my hometown alone) in those strip malls!
104
@Stephanie
It's positively galling to read the incredibly self-referential rationalizations by my fellow Bay Area residents. When you become anesthetized to the $150 per person meal price tag and have sold your soul to the cult of the celebrity chef, you'll go to great lengths to justify your existence. I'm utterly perplexed by how someone from Petaluma can try to argue that the Vietnamese, Nepalese and Japanese foods are representative of anything more than CA strip mall cuisines than what you can find in Milpitas and San Mateo. We've reached the point where the preciousness of Bay Area cuisine has worn off and the days of destination dining may be mercifully over.
1
Ms Rao, you missed the point with this "ready, fire, aim" review. These three destination restaurants are special precisely because they are incongruously located in rural wine country, serving hyper-local food and great wines. If you find such a uniquely special California experience "dull," it may be time for you to return to Manhattan for a 6-seat counter serving one perfect thing all day, every day, in the LES. There's a time and a place for each, and neither is dull for me.
104
@MCV207 You regard Healdsburg as "rural"? You can spend $1,000 a night for a room there; it's not exactly a bumpkin town. And Napa maybe vineyards and scrub, but it certainly does not have a country vibe.
7
@MCV207 Napa is "rural"? Come on, Napa hasn't been truly rural for decades and these three restaurants are not incongruously located at all. Incongruously located would be the French Laundry in some place like Bridger, SD or Dawson, GA.
15
@Jeff & @Paul
Napa and Sonoma are not urban, not suburban, it's lush rural farming country turned wholesale into vineyards, dotted with a few spots like these three restaurants — unexpected, different, special, not dull, and certainly not McDonald's (or even In N Out) — might we dare to say "incongruous?" Quibble or not, it's a 2 hour drive at speed from San Francisco to get to any of the three. And why does rural necessarily mean inexpensive or poor? That's not a fair stereotype. Aspen, Sun Valley, Jackson Hole, Kennebunkport, etc., and lots of our National Park lodges may be destination vacation spots, but they are without a doubt rural.
10
Oh my. All you poor people. Having to suffer through the dull predictability of poached lobster followed by an English muffin with a pool of burrata, and then the mac and cheese served in that oversized gold egg - you could see that coming a mile away - with truffles shaved overtop. I feel terrible for you having to put up with the bowl of seaweed and amberjack that "evoked a tidal pool." I can only imagine how traumatizing that must have been. And dull. And predictable. These restaurants are not dull and predictable. Rather, Tejal Rao and her rarified readers are spoiled, and jaded. Rao said it best: "...I had reached my final form and stepped into the old stereotype of the restaurant critic..." Indeed.
286
@Charles M I'd be horrified at being served seaweed. And what the heck is amberjack?
5
@RMS amberjack is a type of fish that I have caught but most people don't eat it, they just throw it back
8
@RMS seaweed is in much of the food you consume. Carrageenan extracted from red seaweed is a thickening agent used in puddings, chocolate milk, chewing gum, jams and jellies. Algin or alginates from brown seaweed and agar from red seaweed are widely used in bakery products, candies, dairy products, salad dressings, ice creams and creams and jellies, as well as in processing meats, sausages and fish and in clarifying beers and wines, as well as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. You just don't know it!
27
This might be the most depressing article I have read recently. The image of these uber wealthy couples sitting in silence waiting for course after course of beautifully crafted art posing as food only reinforces my belief that all the money in the world cannot buy class. Am I right about that, Donald?
340
@Peter Turner
Best comment!
11
This all sounds dull to me. Too much money chasing finite pleasure. Meanwhile, San Francisco and the peninsula get worse by the month; dirty, crowded and severely lacking in spontaneity or originality.
Maybe macaroni and cheese brings pleasure to those who can spen $300 for the pleasure, but I’ll stay home.
45
Affluenza is reaching epidemic proportions.
256
Thanks for the writing; probably as close as I will get to these three. As you noted, we do the calculus regarding getting there, and from LA, the meal cost more than doubles. But, if I were to be in the area anyway, and somehow had the chance, I would go to the French Laundry. An article about Thomas and his father, Ed, in the NYT years ago caused me to regard Mr Keller as a better person than he is a cook. And a one-off experience, at great cost, is something we all do. That said, [however imperfectly], I can have more good experiences when they cost less.
Then, this: you drove to these places from LA? By choice? Then I wondered, did you drive with the photographer? So I googled; you drove up alone. Preston Gannaway is from SF. Her photos are all great, but google more; her earlier work is wow. Q: did she get to eat, also?
13
Very good read.
Interesting that the author mentioned the fact that many will go far and wide for food that are much more humble than what was served at these three places. A nice kid (Canadian) I know who is doing a postdoc in the UK is back in town visiting, he mentioned that he would take the bus for 2 hours to visit a Tim Hortons (a coffee chain that is dearly loved by many in Canada). So I was sort of joking that Tim Hortons is like a Michelin starred place for him.
We sometimes go out of our way for unique and extraordinary experiences, but we also do the same for simple comfort. Both are nourishing for the soul.
19
@Albert I know what you mean. My husband and I have been known to make a 90 minute drive to Blackie's Hot Dogs in Cheshire, CT.
3
A couple of years ago I dined at The French Laundry with a group of friends. It was all perfectly professional and well executed and exceptionally dull. The room was almost funereal with somber pairs of diners awaiting course after course and not really speaking to one another. The pacing of our meal was protracted and rather forced. Ultimately, the food all just tasted rather...expensive. We were assaulted with multiple dessert courses and sent away each with a bag of cookies. It was all rather forgettable. Although I do recall one moment of brilliance: a young couple (possibly recently engaged or married) was sitting across from each other with looks of wonder, anticipation and excitement on their faces (the only ones in the place that night). One of them discreetly pulled out a phone to photograph the soup course but the phone slipped from grasp and landed in the bowl. Splash. Horror and stifled giggles overcame them both as the server attempted to help them fish out the phone from the bowl. It was a moment of pure delight and spontaneity. Unlike the endlessly dull meal we endured.
180
@Desert Rat
Well for goodness sakes, FL is not TGI Fridays. Quiet repose is called for as you're being invited to experience food on a level maybe you'll get to enjoy once or twice in a lifetime. It's OK. You can be quiet. Most of the meaningless banter I hear in restaurants where the decibels are off the chart is just awful.
If you're going to hear a performance at Carnegie Hall, you sit in silence, to allow yourself to be immersed in the music. If you don't like that experience, forego it. But don't critique Carnegie Hall as if it's a rock concert at Madison Square Garden.
16
Having been to the older two restaurants a couple of times each I, too, would agree with Tejal. Wonderful tastes, beautifully presented, gracious and knowing service (bless those young and eager international interns - I fixed the angle of a spoon !) amounting to not much of anything, really. Too much. Too much. Worship, not dining.
22
@Wilder-ultimately it is all, and it is only, food. The pleasure can be very real, but it is all too evanescent.
7
@Wilder Yes. This reminds me of a restaurant we go to in Pasadena that sometimes has wine tasting dinners. The "wine makers"are treated as if they were the priests of some higher calling, the wines described in words that are truly over the top, the patrons properly respectful. Makes me want to call out, "Hey, it's just booze, people!"
11
I agree with the author. At The French Laundry, the pace between courses was too slow, the atmosphere too somber, and the food too scarce. There are other restaurants in the area with equal quality cuisine but way more affordable and way more fun.
27
We did our once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to French Laundry five years ago, an experience that I liken to eating at the Vatican in the presence of the Buddha.
Yes, the dishes were an awful lot like they have been for 20+ years; yes, there were more servers (most of them likely interns) than patrons ; yes, it took hours (a fair amount of which were waiting for yet another course); yes, it cost more than I ever expected to pay for dinner.
But: they were incredibly hospitable (we arrived late due to traffic, and they insisted that we take five minutes to relax); the food was prepared and served with care (even though we didn't spring for the truffles); the wines were interesting (even though we ordered from the bottom of the price range).
The whole experience cost less than a round of golf at Pebble Beach, or a night at many New York hotels. As the article says, three stars means "worth a journey." It's a different criterion from what we usually use to pick a restaurant.
154
@Frank
Wouldn't you be eating at the Vatican in the presence of the Pope?
3
I thought it was just me. I actually disliked the French Laundry, and the author put his finger right on the problem: terrible pacing. Each dish was delicious, but the succession of little two bite wonders didn't go anywhere. It was just a rambling, poorly structured, ultimately frustrating, series of set pieces with no relation to each other. It wasn't a meal.
41
@Kaleberg
...did you like most of us upon leaving rush out to find a hamburger to feel satiated..?
5
Sorry but I always felt FL was, well, perverse. I much preferred the rustic charm of Chez Panisse when enjoying the bountiful cuisine of the bay area.
The old adage was that Rome burned- now our whole planet is burning- who any longer has the stomach for luxury food and gross consumerism?
If you are very very lucky- while it is still summer- go outside and find a fruit tree a plum or an apple. Take a bite, look up at the sky. Maybe there will be a few bees or butterflies, watch them dance as they have for millions of years. Close your eyes and maybe you will hear birdsong. Taste the sweetness and crunch. Hold that moment.
Enjoy a priceless, ephemeral moment which too soon no amount of money will buy.
413
@Marika H
Very well said. All this over the top consumerism is highly overrated. Stop. Look around. The world has beauty in every moment.
We learned to cook and find going out to eat often disappointing.
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@Marika H Yes! That is the height of luxury, sitting in my back yard eating a ripe peach from my tree, feeling the sun on my face. I’ve been to the French Laundry and it doesn’t even come close.
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@Marika H
......beautiful....thanks for that marvelous experience....!
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I prefer roasted chicken, a simple salad, and a great bottle of wine. No tweezer food for me, thank you.
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@Chris Then off to Zuni Cafe for a great roasted chicken though easy (if long prep.) to do at home.
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@Mary T. I’ve been there and made it at home.
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@Chris Bingo!
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I fully share the perplexities of the previous commentator, because, for reasons of work before, and then for cultural education, I came to agree with LVBeetoven and L. Feuerbach, when they both came to the conclusion that "" YOU ARE THERE THAT YOU EAT "", meaning to eat, the use of the five senses to discriminate what is admitted to be part of ourselves. Given the need to arrive at a meaning from the information received, I personally believe that the lack of consideration that most people attach to food is an exclusively cultural fact, connected to excessive submission to the world of work. From my point of view view, you work to live better, you don't have to live to work more. I went to Galicia for the percebes, in Micronesia for the coconut crab, in France for well-known and tested dishes, discovered when I was a curious young man, every time in trembling expectation of confirmation.
I profoundly disagree with the hypothesis that food can generate boredom, especially when it comes to the food that deserves to be given the three stars, a distinction between the olympic pleasure of the forgotten gods and the chaos that forces us to take refuge far away.
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I’m trying to figure out why the word “dull” was in the headline (except that some condescending copy editor in NYC thought that's what this experience would be). I have known about French Laundry since its beginning but never had the opportunity. But colleagues in the Food section of the LATimes years ago found it extraordinary. The other two sound fantastic.
So yes, people make once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimages to all sorts of places, including restaurants, and they don't return. I asked a friend, who had gone on about his amazing week at a Tuscan villa, where every night was a different extraordinary meal, if he'd do it again. He said he couldn't improve on perfection.
But people go. What’s the alternative? A dull life?
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@nacinla I think your friend in Tuscany and the author would have something in common. The point that I got from the article was that the endless parade of luxury, absent challenges, surprises, provocations, deconstructions, upending of rote format, (or whatever you want to call it) dulled the senses, lulling people into a womb of expected comfort instead of the wonder of discovery. If your friend extended his Tuscan experience, he would just become picky, bored, and callous to the efforts presented to him, perhaps like the idle rich who frequent these places.
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@nacinla I had no idea that the alternative to grotesquely precious conspicuous consumption was a dull life. Who knew?
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@nacinla the alternative is what it has always been, turning your face away from narcissistic self-indulgence and paying attention to the massive suffering of your fellow man and possibly the decline of the species. Some people get this, and some never will. The latter will continue to shave truffles into a giant golden egg while Rome burns.
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