Best Domestic Restaurant

The French Laundry Wins the Luxist Award for Best Domestic Restaurant

Filed under: Dining

Few fine restaurants boast a past as sordid as The French Laundry. Even so, the Yountville, Calif. eatery is consistently rated among the world's best, and is the Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice winner in the best fine domestic dining category.

In the late 1880s, the building that currently contains the three Michelin star French Laundry was a humble saloon. When a town ordinance mandated that no alcohol be served within two miles of Yountville, the building was converted first into a brothel, then to a French steam laundry by the 1920s. In 1974, the town's mayor bought the laundry and converted it into a restaurant; twenty years later it was purchased by current owner and chef Thomas Keller.

Gallery: The French Laundry

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The French Laundry: Consistently Ranked Among the World's Best

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Few fine restaurants boast a past as sordid as The French Laundry. Even so, the Yountville, Calif. eatery is consistently rated among the world's best, and makes for an easy choice as a Luxist nominee in the best fine domestic dining category.

In the late 1880s, the building that currently contains the three Michelin star French Laundry was a humble saloon. When a town ordinance mandated that no alcohol be served within two miles of Yountville, the building was converted first into a brothel, then to a French steam laundry by the 1920s. In 1974, the town's mayor bought the laundry and converted it into a restaurant; twenty years later it was purchased by current owner and chef Thomas Keller.

Gallery: The French Laundry

Tags: awards-main, Best Domestic Restaurant, luxist-awards, Napa Valley, The French Laundry

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Four Seasons: A New York Icon

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Most restaurants offer a menu that changes with the seasons; few boast an ambiance that physically changes as summer turns to fall, fall to winter, and so on. The Four Seasons in New York does just that, thanks to a canopy of trees located inside the restaurant-just part of the reason the vaunted eatery is a Luxist nominee in the best fine domestic dining category.

When Four Seasons opened in midtown Manhattan in 1959, it delighted patrons with sprawling dining rooms, opulent décor and a delicious menu. Little has changed, from the furnishings-a grand chandelier, works by Picasso and Pollack, a bubbling pool in the middle of one room-to the seasonally-influenced menu. The affluent clientele remains as well.

Gallery: Four Seasons restaurant

Tags: awards-main, Best Domestic Restaurant, Best New York Restaurant, Four Seasons Restaurant, luxist-awards, The Four Seasons

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Masa: The Creation of a Master Chef

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Masa in New York is nominated for a Luxist Award for Best Domestic Restaurant

In soccer, there's Pele. In music, there's Madonna. When it comes to chefs, one of the most prominent one---name wonders is Masa, owner of the restaurant of the same name in New York. Not only for its proprietor's reputation but for its vaunted menu, Masa is a Luxist nominee in the best domestic fine dining category.

Chef Masa didn't always have just one name---he was born Masa Takayama, son of a family of seven, in Tochigi, Japan. He learned cooking as a child, working for his parents' catering business and fish shop. After high school, Masa found a job at Ginza Sushi-ko in Tokyo, working his way up from dishwasher to sushi chef. He moved to Los Angeles in 1980, eventually opening his own restaurant.

Gallery: Masa

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Restaurant Guy Savoy: The Las Vegas Home of Nouvelle Cuisine

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

When searching for a taste of the City of Lights in the City of Sin, look no further than Restaurant Guy Savoy. The Las Vegas eatery is chef Guy Savoy's only location in the U.S, and with two Michelin stars to its name, it's also a nominee for a Luxist award in the best domestic fine dining category.

At the tender age of 27, Savoy opened his first Paris restaurant in 1980. Seven years and two Michelin stars later, he moved into the current Restaurant Guy Savoy location on Rue Troyon (a Luxist Awards nominee for Best International restaurant). Savoy also helped to establish Nouvelle Cuisine, a lighter approach to French cooking. By the turn of the century, Savoy was one of the world's most famous chefs; he opened his Las Vegas location in 2006.

Gallery: Restaurant Guy Savoy

Pumpkin and White Truffle Soup with poached Egg

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Charlie Trotter's: Innovative Cuisine in the Windy City

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Filed under: Dining

Chef Charlie Trotter at Charlie Trotter's

While most top chefs boast degrees from the traditional powerhouses of the culinary world, Charlie Trotter is an exception. The chef of the Chicago restaurant that bears his name never had a former education in the world of food---but that hasn't stopped him from turning his eatery into a Luxist nominee in the best domestic fine dining category.

Charlie Trotter became a foodie in college after learning a few cooking tips from his roommate. Fascinated by the culinary arts, he took a year off from earning his degree in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus to read every book he could, including a ton of tomes on cooking. After graduation, he went into the catering business, eventually deciding that he wanted to run his own restaurant.

Gallery: Charlie Trotter's