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The whole experience was top-notch, from beginning to end, and well worth even the considerable price tag.

#French laundry restaurant napa valley reservations full#

To top it off, we were presented with an amazing gift bag FULL of goodies (a box of their gorgeous chocolates, shortbread cookie tins, signed menus, etc.), and one of the wonderful staff members offered us a tour of the kitchen where we chatted with one of the chefs and they took our picture. Overall Experience: We didn't finish our meal until nearly 11:00 pm (started at 7:30!), yet we didn't notice the time pass at all.

Overall, the food was delicious, pleasing to all the senses, and worthy of its reputation. Given how many courses there were-10? 12? we lost track-the stumbles were few in far between.

Oh, and the delicious 'corned beef' course had a pierogi that wasn't very good in my opinion (but I grew up eating amazing Ukrainian food).

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Things that I enjoyed less were the cheese and cracker amuse bouche and the final cheese course (this may just be my subjective dislike of the cheese flavors). So many and so good! I was completely stuffed by this time and still somehow managed to eat a donut, Irish coffee ice cream, and a delectable chocolate-and-banana confection. Standouts for me were the 'peas and carrots' (halibut with peas) quail with the cutest little hidden quail egg oysters and pearls (this from someone who doesn't even like oysters or caviar lol) and oh my god, the desserts. Presentation was beautiful, flavors were interesting and creative but never over-the-top or trying too hard. I read somewhere that Chef Keller's intention for his food is to bring happiness, and he certainly accomplished his goal with us.Out of 5 stars, I'd give everything 4-5. For those who say TFL isn't cutting edge in terms of inventiveness, I would agree.but then again, I don't think it's trying to be. Weirdly, there seems to be only street parking, but this was not an issue for us as we walked from our Food: A delicious haute-cuisine take on comfort food and nostalgic everyday dishes. I would say the interior seemed a bit dated, but well maintained. The restaurant itself is nice, with a pretty garden. According to one of the staff, this was an intentional decision to make 3-star Michelin dining approachable, and I personally applaud this decision. When we approached the restaurant, we were surprised to hear 'Don't You' from The Breakfast Club playing (we were like.is that coming from the TFL lol)? The music choices continued with a mix of 80's, 90's and even earlier classics that created a wonderful sense of nostalgia for my husband and I. One waiter even joined in on our analysis of the latest Mandalorian episode, which was lovely :-)Ambiance: Not quite what we expected, but in a good way. Everyone knew what they were doing, described the dishes wonderfully, answered our questions, and made us feel welcomed and celebrated on our special occasion.

We had pleasant interactions with ALL the staff, which is amazing given how many folks there are. Lots of small touches throughout the night-e.g., when you leave the table, they take your used napkin, replace it with new one perfectly fanned on the table-done unobtrusively and in a way that makes you feel looked after. The staff were friendly, enthusiastic, and worked seamlessly as a team. We had a wonderful experience! Service: Top-notch and not in a stuffy, pretentious way. We're picky when it comes to food-doesn't matter if it's haute cuisine or home-cooking served at a mom-and-pop restaurant, the food has to actually taste good-and we were a bit wary about the hype. We were lucky enough to get a waitlist reservation at the last moment to TFL, and it fell on our anniversary, so my husband and I decided to splurge.