the french laundry

Luxist Awards' Winners for the Best in Fine Dining

Filed under: Dining

Auberge du Soleil is nominated for a Luxist Award for Most Romantic Restaurant.

Luxist readers nominated and voted for the restaurants that they believe are the best of breed. Below, are their favorite places to wine and dine within such categories as Best Steakhouse, Best Seafood, Best Romantic, Best Domestic and Best International restaurant.

Best Romantic Restaurant: Auberge du Soleil (Rutherford, Ca.)
Enjoying a glass of wine at sunset in California's Napa Valley is one of the best ways to start an intimate evening, and the restaurant at Auberge du Soleil offers a chance to do just that.

Founded in 1981 by San Francisco restaurateur Claude Rouas, the eatery helped spawn the wave of popularity currently enjoyed by the entire Napa area. In 1985, Rouas and business partner Robert Harmon opened the inn---in French, auberge---to host visitors to the California wine country. He envisioned both the restaurant and the inn as a tribute to his beloved Provence, and, true to form, both continue to be exactly that.

Guided by executive chef Robert Curry, the restaurant remains one of America's most delicious---and most romantic. The best way for lovebirds to enjoy the seasonally-changing menu is at La Pagode, the restaurant's private dining area for two. Here, the evening begins with a bottle of champagne, followed by a dozen oysters and a four course dinner, with wine pairings included. This type of romance comes with a $1,495 per couple price tag, plus an optional $550 for two hours of solo guitar accompaniment.

Tags: auberge du soleil, awards-main, best in fine dining, best restaurants, Guy Savoy, Le Bernardin, luxist-awards, Restaurant Guy Savoy, Strip House, The French Laundry

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The French Laundry Wins the Luxist Award for Best Domestic Restaurant

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 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

Tags: awards-main, best domestic restaurant, best restaurant, luxist-awards, michelin, michelin guide, michelin stars, Napa Valley, The French Laundry, thomas keller, winners-fine-dining, Yountville

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The Nominees for the Best in Fine Dining

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Luxist readers nominated and voted for the restaurants that they believe are the best-of-breed around the world. Below, are their favorite places to wine and dine within such categories as Best Steakhouse, Best Seafood, Most Romantic, Best Domestic and Best International restaurant.

Best Steakhouse
The first nominee is a classic steakhouse with a contemporary twist while the second nominee is a bonafied New York institution, having been in the business since 1887. The third nominee is the quintessential steakhouse that dry ages its beef on the premises while the fourth nominee is both seductive and sophisticated. The final nominee was designed to evoke the elegant supper clubs of 1940's Manhattan.

Cut
Peter Luger Steak House
Smith & Wollensky
Strip House
The Prime Rib

Best Seafood
The first nominee is a landmark for Boston's best seafood while the second nominee is one of the most celebrated seafood restaurants in the world. The third nominee has been a famous destination for its stone crabs for nearly 100 years while the fourth regularly offers fresh seafood that is flown in from around the world. The last nominee is known for its innovative cuisine with a Japanese twist.

Atlantic Fish
Le Bernardin
Joe's Stone Crab
L20
Nobu Miami Beach

Best Romantic
The first nominee offers seasonal American fare that is locally grown while the second features classic creole in one of the country's most romantic cities. The third nominee is so romantic that marriage proposals are commonplace there. The fourth nominee offers award-winning dining with small town charm while the final nominee is a culinary destination in the heart of the California wine country.

Blue Hill New York
Emeril's Delmonico
One if by Land, Two if by Sea
The Inn at Little Washington
The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil

Best Domestic
The first nominee offers innovative cuisine in the Windy City while the second is a New York icon as famous for its cuisine as it is for its stunning decor. The third nominee is consistently ranked among the world's best restaurants while the fourth is an award-winning restaurant named after its owner who is a world-renowned chef. The final nominee is the American outpost of a Parisian star that is known for its innovative nouvelle cuisine.

Charlie Trotter's
Four Seasons
The French Laundry
Masa
Restaurant Guy Savoy

Best International
The first nominee offers an eclectic menu in a breathtaking 14th century former convent while the second nominee offers world-class dining in a stunningly beautiful location. The third nominee is the finest restaurant down under while the fourth is the Paris home of one of the world's most celebrated chefs. The final nominee is among the most famous of restaurants in the world and is a star in the city of lights.

Il Canto (Siena)
Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's (London)
Quay (Sydney)
Restaurant Guy Savoy (Paris)
Taillevent (Paris)

Tags: Auberge du Soleil, awards-main, Cut, luxist-awards, Peter Luger Steak House, Smith Wollensky, Strip House, The French Laundry, The Prime Rib, winners-fine-dining

The Five Best Restaurants in the U.S.

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Luxist readers nominated the restaurants that they believe to be the best and most luxurious restaurants in the country. From Napa Valley and Las Vegas to Chicago and New York, here are their top five favorite places (in alphabetical order):

Charlie Trotter's (Chicago)
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.

Tags: awards-main, best restaurants, best restaurants in the u.s., Charlie Trotters, four seasons, luxist-awards, Masa, Restaurant Guy Savoy, 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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James Beard Award Winners 2010: Marea, Daniel, Craft and French Laundry

by Carrie N. Culpepper (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Events

It's no surprise that New York and Napa Valley restaurants dominated the top spots at Monday night's James Beard Awards held at Lincoln Center. Foodies of every stripe -- from Food Network stars to French Laundry chefs -- were in attendance at the black-tie event. A red carpet was even set up in the new courtyard outside Avery Fisher Hall so the truly food-obsessed could catch a glimpse of chefs like Wolfgang Puck, Lidia Bastianich and Alton Brown, the evenings co-hosts. (Pictured above is Brown, JBF president Susan Ungaro, Bastianich and Ted Allen arriving on the red carpet.)

The big awards of the evening went to New York's Marea for Best New Restaurant; Tom Colicchio of the Craft restaurants (and a regular "Top Chef" judge) won the Outstanding Chef Award; Daniel Boulud won the Outstanding Restaurant Award for Daniel, another New York restaurant; the Outstanding Pastry Chef award went to Nichole Plue of Redd in Napa Valley; and Timothy Hollingsworth of Napa's famous The French Laundry, won the Rising Star Chef of the Year Award.

Backstage, talk turned to to food trends -- something fine-dining chefs don't look kindly on -- and the seemingly omnipresent locavore movement. And we even found out where these top chefs are excited to eat.

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El Bulli is Still the World's Best Restaurant

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

What does it take to be the best restaurant in the world? Ask El Bulli, who holds the honor for the second year in a row according to Restaurant magazine's ranking of the top 50. Last year El Bulli squeezed out Fat Duck for the top spot, and this year all top six spots remain the same. The United States made a respectable showing also, with two restaurants in the top 10: The French Laundry and Per Se, and among others Alinea in Chicago made the list for the first time this year at #36.

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Tags: alinea, dine, dining, el bulli, ElBulli, Fat Duck, FatDuck, france, french, per se, PerSe, restaurant, restaurants, spain, the french laundry, TheFrenchLaundry