French Laundry

Thomas Keller Partners With BMW

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Cars & Autos

We've seen plenty of luxury car makers hook up with hotels to provide fleets for guests but the partnership between famous chef Thomas Keller and BMW is a bit of a surprise. Bloomberg reports that BMW will offer the use of an ActiveHybrid 7 sedan for select customers at the French Laundry as part of the restaurant's concierge service. The idea behind the collaboration is that Keller's restaurants including Per Se in New York City and the French Laundry in Yountville, California are a luxury experience as is the new BMW which has a suggested retail price of over $100,000. It's not a totally disingenuous partnership, Keller does happen to be a long-time fan of the brand and is the driver of a 5-Series wagon.

Tags: bmw, french laundry, per se, per se restaurant, thomas keller

Calistoga Ranch's Exclusive Napa Valley Getaway Package

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spas, Wine

Calistoga Ranch offers the Ultimate Napa Valley Weekend

Looking for the ultimate getaway in Napa Valley? Auberge Resorts' Calistoga Ranch, the winner of the Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award for Best Green Spa has created the "Ultimate Napa Valley Weekend," a two-night, "ultimate" fantasy weekend that includes the best and most iconic experiences that Napa Valley has to offer.

The package includes a highly coveted reservation for two and special menu paired with some of Napa's best wines at Chef Thomas Keller's world-famous French Laundry. Guests will also receive treatments at Calistoga Ranch's Bathhouse Spa, recently named as one of the country's top spas by Conde Nast Traveler. Guests will be treated to a private tour and tasting by chauffeured town car which will take them to three exclusive Napa Valley cult wineries including Far Niente (a Luxist Awards' nominee for best wine), Vineyard 29 and Chappellet.

Accommodations are in a luxurious one-bedroom Spa Lodge, featuring 1,200 square feet of indoor/outdoor living space, including a master suite with an outdoor shower and private garden, indoor and outdoor living rooms with fireplaces and a private hot tub.

Gallery: More from the Calistoga Ranch

Guests who book the "Ultimate Napa Valley Weekend" will also receive a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from the world-famous To Kalon winery and a special French Laundry Welcome Amenity.

The "Ultimate Napa Valley Weekend" package is priced at $4,495 per couple (subject to change and availability, excluding taxes, gratuities and alcohol). The package is only available August 27-29, 2010.

For more information or to make a reservation, call (707) 254-2800 or visit www.calistogaranch.com.

Tags: awards-main, calistoga ranch, Chappellet, Far Niente, French Laundry, luxist-awards, napa valley, resorts, spa, thomas keller, To Kalon, Vineyard 29

Achatz And Keller Cook Three Amazing Feasts

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Those who can spend $1,500 might want to get into French Laundry on December 9. That's when Thomas Keller and Grant Achatz are hosting the third of three spectacular 20 course dinners. The first was held at Keller's New York restaurant Per Se, the second was held at Achatz's Chicago restaurant Alinea and the third will be at Keller's French Laundry in Yountville, California. The chance to have two of the top chefs in the U.S. cook for you is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Those who can attend can expect Keller's exquisite attention to detail and Achatz's inventive cuisine on course after course bound to feature truffles, caviar, foie gras and other expensive ingredients.

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Tags: alinea, french laundry, FrenchLaundry, grant achatz, GrantAchatz, per se, PerSe, thomas keller, ThomasKeller

The 10 Hardest to Get Restaurant Reservations

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

This is the time of year where special occasions and rare visits from family and friends are plentiful, and although home cooking is a big part of the season so is eating out -- because when people are in from out of town you hardly want to take them down to the local "all-you-can-eat for $4.99" buffet to celebrate their visit. But if you don't want to get stuck choosing between either the buffet or McDonald's then you might want to plan ahead, because as we all know everybody else in town is going to have the same idea!

If you have plans to hit the local fine dining hot spot this holiday season you better check to see if it's on this Forbes list of the top ten toughest to score restaurant reservations:

Gallery: Ten of the Toughest Restaurant Reservations

Source

Tags: babbo, dine, dining, elbulli, food, french laundry, FrenchLaundry, gordon ramsay, GordonRamsay, le bernardin, le comptoir, LeBernardin, LeComptoir, little owl, LittleOwl, minibar, mozza, per se, PerSe, reservations, restaurant, restaurants

Forbes' Most Expensive Restaurants 2006

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Using data compiled by the Zagat survey, Forbes has produced two lists naming the year's most expensive restaurants. One list deals with only US restaurants, while the other compares the prices (in US dollars) of places all over the world. For the global list, the final cost was considered to be the price of one main course, one (alcoholic) beverage and tip, while the US list was not limited to a single main course and included options such as prix fixe tasting menus. Both only priced dinner for one person, but due to the difference in standards, there are many prix-fixe only restaurants that didn't make the global list but might be a good deal more expensive, but here are the top three from each list as they stand:

Global

Aragawa (Tokyo): $368
Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée (Paris): $231
Gordon Ramsay (London): $183

Masa (New York City): $446
The French Laundry (Yountville, CA): $254
Alinea (Chicago): $168

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Tags: alain ducasse, alinea, aragawa, expensive, french laundry, gordon ransay, masa, most expensive restaurants, restaurant, restaurants, yountville

Digital Images of the Inn at the French Laundry

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels

Thomas Keller, the chef and owner of the world-famous French Laundry in Yountville, California, has long wanted to add an inn near the restaurant. Keller has no intention of leaving the restaurant business, but instead wants to follow in the footsteps of many great French chefs who have also served as innkeepers at highly acclaimed restaurants. The 20-room Inn is not expected to begin construction until later this year, at the earliest, but Predock_Frane Architects has some digital renderings of what the Inn might look like online. It is described as having "20 idiosyncratic rooms - each with a mirror outdoor room, combine with dining/lounging spaces, spa, and gardens to create a continuous fabric of walls" and it "will maximize the potential for experiential courses beyond dining."

Tags: architech, design, digital, french laundry, images, inn, inn at the french laundry, InnAtTheFrenchLaundry, renderings, yountville

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Thomas Keller Dinnerware

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Eating at Thomas Keller's Yountville restaurant, The French Laundry, is one of the best dining experiences in the world, but is certainly not an everyday one. For the sake of your wallet and your waistline, your best bet is to save a trip out to Napa for special occasions and try to recreate the experience at home with Thomas Keller's line of dinnerware. You can cook up your own gourmet meals, perhaps with the help of the French Laundry Cookbook, or simply add a few presentation points to your favorite chicken and rice dish. The collection was designed by Keller with Bertrand Raynaud, the president of the Raynaud porcelain company, which produces the all-white table and dinnerware. It is named after Fernand Point, certainly one of the most famous and influential French restaurateurs/chefs of the past century. The whole collection, from classic plates to cups and saucers, is available at Gumps. Each piece is beautifully simple, suitable for both casual and formal occasions.