A special journey to The French Laundry
Having retained its three-Michelin-star status for the past six years, The French Laundry is quite the experience — mastering the technique of serving the finest quality of ingredients in each dish, creating a story as each course is served. A purist’s Mecca, you won’t see any molecular gastronomy in here; instead what you see is what you get, but at the highest of standards.
Our trip to Napa was one of those last-minute ideas that didn’t get us the table. (With a three-month waiting list, it was a sure miss!) Luckily, my brother was able to get us a table through a good friend and business partner who even got the manager, Larry Nadeau, to take care of us.
The cuisine is one thing but the immaculate service, which was a show in itself, was the icing on the cake as they synchronized each course that was placed on our table, completing the French Laundry journey. Never mind that one of the servers flubbed his line, forgetting briefly the “bourbon maple jus” — he’s lucky that the tender Liberty farm duck was more than enough penance!
Attention to detail is quite key to any Michelin-starred restaurant. Imagine having three distinct varieties of salt to satisfy your salty palate, the first being proudly Filipino, the Pangasinan Deep Sea Salt, the saltiest by far; the medium-salty Jurassic salt from Montana (similar to Himalayan salt, which has a tinge of pink); and lastly, hand-harvested Brittany salt from France, quite coarse yet mild and delicate in flavor.
Two kinds of aperitif were offered, Champagne or sparkling grape juice made with Riesling grapes together with the amuse bouche. The first were several pieces of gougere, which were light pastries made with Gruyere cheese, while the second was a cornette filled with red onion crème fraiche and topped with salmon tartar. This reminded me of the cream cheese-filled barquillos topped with ebiko from Cibo di M’s private dining.
My tasting started with the Royal Ossetra Caviar from Shanghai (yes, even caviar has the “made in China” mark already) that was served with uni, coconut powder, and cilantro. The star of this dish was the Ossetra caviar, which I never knew could go so well with the sweetness and richness of coconut.
The rest had the oysters and pearls — medium-size Island Creek oysters enveloped by a creamy sabayon together with pearl tapiocas that had a silky-smooth texture, topped with white sturgeon caviar that I must admit was a tad better than my starter.
The hen egg custard with a ragout of Perigord truffles was something that’s copied quite often by other chefs; however, Thomas Keller’s version had quite a generous amount of truffle and had the right amount of richness that was not overdone. It was actually so good that my brother broke the delicate eggshell container while trying to scrape it clean! Next came the Moulard duck “foie gras en terrine” served with young fennel, field rhubarb and green almonds (slightly pickled) and a dash of yogurt and aged balsamic vinegar, all of which had a sour note that cut through the fullness of the foie flavor and created a wonderful balance of taste.
The seafood course consisted of sautéed fillet of Gulf Coast red snapper with black trumpet mushrooms and green garlic, which had a simple, clean, and refined palate. However, the Hibachi Grilled Alaskan King Crab with Catalina Island Abalone was more than amazing! The crab was so delicate and light yet it had a smoky essence and was served with sauce Japonaise, which definitely had a touch of soy sauce that brought out the flavor of the crab. The last seafood course was the Sweet Butter-Poached Maine Lobster Fricassee. I’m not particularly fond of lobster but this was my favorite in the whole tasting. It was extremely tender yet firm and had this slightly thick butter glaze that went so well with the crunchy pine-nut croquette that accompanied the lobster.
Next came the tete de cochon served with boudin noir (black sausage), which was okay, unlike the Liberty Farm Pekin Duck that was definitely a topnotch version of our usual Peking duck! Forget about the hoisin sauce, this was served with bourbon maple jus and apple butter that went extremely well with the super-crispy skin and tender meat of the duck topped with deep-fried okra, which didn’t have the usual bitterness and slimy texture. That duck made me wish I could order it a la carte if it were possible.
Leo Po, Richie Santos and Michelle Lim at The French Laundry The last of the meats was the Elysian Fields Farm Lamb Saddle served with deep-fried ravioli, which was quite tender but was definitely a runner-up to the Pekin Duck. Then came the cheese course called Acapella, made with goat cheese topped with an apricot gelee — it looked like a cheesecake, the crust of which was made up of black olives. White Verjus Sorbet was then served to cleanse our palate for the dessert, which was the to-die-for Coeur de Guanaja chocolate soufflé served with vanilla bean ice cream and citrus caramel. It didn’t end there as they served crunchy coffee crunch macadamia nuts from Bouchon and their own version of coffee and donuts, where the donuts were more like beignets and the coffee was actually cold, rich mousse, like chocolate coffee topped with milk foam.
The French Laundry’s chef de cuisine, Tim Hollingsworth, with the author, Marielle Santos-Po Of course, our experience wouldn’t have been complete without a tour of the kitchen and meeting chef de cuisine Tim Hollingsworth. More than a good meal, The French Laundry was an emotional experience. As no single ingredient is ever repeated throughout the meal, each dish, each bite, was uniquely its own. I can’t wait until my next trip to Napa. As they say in the Michelin Guide, a three-star restaurant means “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.”
