Yet the menus I had on my three visits came off like the kitchen, led by longtime chef de cuisine David Breeden, was playing it safe. While the dining room used to be silent before the 2018 renovation, the soundtrack became progressively poppier during my visits, culminating in a “Chef’s workout” playlist of Taylor Swift, the Goo Goo Dolls and the Plain White T’s. The pandemic has left marks on the restaurant, including new outdoor tables in the green courtyard and a complete abandonment of the dress code, which once famously required men to wear jackets throughout dinner. And it’s become even more casual in recent years. Fortunately for you, I don’t mind committing a bit of sacrilege now and then in the pursuit of honesty.Ī pivotal restaurant in the history of American cuisine and a symbol of fine dining’s evolution away from its Europhilic roots, facets of the French Laundry experience seem geared to upend convention, albeit in a very transparently American way. In the French Laundry reservations Facebook group, questioning whether the experience is worth it amounts to sacrilege - or at least, accusations of sour grapes because of the questioner’s inability to get a reservation. In the Facebook group, many people get into the restaurant this way, with the thought that any social discomfort is a small price to pay to get into the club.Īll of that lead-up only heightens expectations, and that’s a lot for one restaurant to carry - even one as lauded as the French Laundry. Ultimately, it was fine - even if I was intruding on a stranger’s 10th wedding anniversary dinner. I was essentially playing roulette here, in the hope that my dining companions wouldn’t be too awkward (and vice versa). And from how quickly those tickets vanish, that fee clearly isn’t too high.įinally, I got in by connecting with a couple on Reddit looking to share their four-top. On the Wild West of Reddit, nearly every two-person reservation being sold includes a finder’s fee of about $300 on top of the $700 that the meals actually cost. I scoured third-party websites like Facebook and Reddit, where there are pages (including a private 11,000-member group) devoted to buying and selling French Laundry reservations. So I began my descent into the darkness: the online black market for French Laundry tickets. (On Tock, these reservations are like concert tickets: transferable but not refundable.)Īfter the pandemic hit, grabbing a seat became noticeably harder. Later, in the comments section of a now-defunct blog post, I scored my second visit in early 2020 from a person who couldn’t make their date. I secured my first visit pre-pandemic somewhat normally by putting my (fake) name on the waiting list for just about every date I could access on Tock, the reservations website favored by high-end restaurants. You can’t simply go to the restaurant you have to work hard for the privilege of spending $350 on dinner. The nearly 30-year-old, three-Michelin-starred restaurant - for years, the only starred restaurant in the United States - continues to be one of the hottest in the American restaurant scene, releasing tables at 10 a.m. You might not be near them, but you can feel them palpably in the tense seconds between the opening of reservations and the quick slamming of the gates as you realize every table for a month has just been snapped up. The legions of hopefuls squatting online to score seats at the French Laundry are a formidable group.
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