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Here is the money. The French Laundry is a restaurant in Napa California that is called by some the greatest french restaurant in the world. In this video, chef/author/tv personality Anthony Bourdain takes his chef friends Scott Bryan and Eric Ripert and foodie author Michael Ruhlman to visit this temple to gastronomy.
Yes, Thomas Keller actually cooked their meals. Yes, he does still cook at the french laundry... from time to time.
Yes, Thomas Keller actually cooked their meals. Yes, he does still cook at the french laundry... from time to time.
I hate to think how much this would cost though. Oh... I just found out $240 for nine tiny courses.
I won't say I wouldn't like to try this, but I can also say that there are other dining experiences I might like to spend $240 a head on... I mean... wow... half a grand for two people... WOW!
Another thing that I find really amusing is Anthony Bourdain is a heavy smoker... which kills your sense of taste and smell... and yet he's a chef and here, food critic to some degree. I find it hard to take advice from someone who knowingly kills off the main senses required to cook and enjoy food.
I've already enjoyed a fabulous meal once at The Herbfarm Very delicious. And the many tiny courses do not leave you hungry. If anything, they satisfy unlike any "supersized" meal you get in the restaurants who attempt to convince you that what you're eating is "food."
Yeah, I can see how many little dishes can do wonders, and I've never been a fan of the 'uber huge' portion places, but then there is always a place for a nice sized, steaming bowl of paella or other such dish.
I can indeed see the attraction in dining in a place like this, and would love the idea that all decisions are made for me by people who know better as to what drinks and foods go best with each other.
But $240 per head. I had a hard time paying that much for us as a couple a while back, let alone per head.
If I become uber rich and am in the Napa Valley again, I'll definitely go there.
You know... IF I become rich... and just happen to be in California...
So, if this is the case then any more than a few bites and all the extra effort that you spent making something the absolute best possible flavour has gone to waste. If you serve portions that are larger, the nuance, the elegance, the speciality is gone.
Instead of wasting your effort and your guests' time, why not give them only these first few almost excruciatingly exquisite bites?
The upshot of this is that you can set up a flow, a poetry, almost a storyline of flavours as the meal progresses. A tasting menu is very similar to a DJ set. Any half decent DJ can create a set that flows, but the very best create a journey that his audience will never forget. The best chef's tasting menu should be the same.
Just to let you know, I've never created more than 9 courses for a menu, but I feel like I have at least a rudimentary idea of the concepts. Certainly in a broad sense anyway. I hope to be able to try 24 at Alinea or the French Laundry or 31 at El Bulli sometime. I'm sure that an experience like that would help my career greatly.