California Wine Country & The French Laundry
On my 49th birthday, in 2025, my husband asked me what I wanted to do for my 50th birthday. I didn’t have to give it much thought, there was something that I’d been wanting to do for over a decade that seemed the perfect fit for this “big” birthday. I first heard about The French Laundry back in 2014 when I went to culinary school. I’d always loved food but once I finished school, a whole new interest blossomed inside me. I’ve always loved watching shows like Top Chef, Ultimate Baking Championship, etc., etc. It was on one of these shows that I first heard about Chef Thomas Keller. Over the years his name came up on many shows, in articles and of course in cookbooks. His name was often linked with The French Laundry, which became engrained in my ever growing bucket list of once-in-a-lifetime experiences. I crossed my fingers and hoped that one day I’d enjoy the three Michelin Star, world renowned restaurant.
My husband, bless his heart, dove in and started researching how to get reservations for The French Laundry. If you want to go, make sure you get online and figure out when you can get a reservation. The restaurant closes throughout the year for various reasons, so you might not be able to go the exact day you want. My birthday is on February 24th but the earliest reservation we were able to get was 7 March. Hopefully you have some flexibility in choosing when you go. It would have been cool to go on my actual birthday but they went above and beyond to make the entire experience incredible, so it really didn’t matter what day we went. You also have to prepay the base price for your meal at the time of reservation, something that isn’t very common in your average restaurant. More on the cost to come.
The closest airport to Yountville, where The French Laundry is located, is in Santa Rosa. Unfortunately, it’s a very small airport, so direct flights are pretty limited. We couldn’t fly directly there from Denver, so instead we flew direct to San Francisco. It was a two hour drive from the airport to Santa Rosa, where we found a spectacular Vrbo. There are tons of little towns throughout wine country. We picked Santa Rosa because we also wanted to visit the coast while we were there and that put us directly between Yountville and Bodega Bay. You can totally stay in Yountville, it’s a lovely little town. It all depends on what you want to do during your visit. Our house was just outside of town, surrounded by vineyards. It was perfect for us, totally private and very quiet. The photo above is from the backyard of the house.
Like any trip, where you stay can make a big difference. There are lots of options in wine country. I’d definitely recommend looking at Vrbo and Airbnb. We prefer having our own place rather than staying in a hotel. If hotels are more your speed, there are a lot of options, including luxury, wine centric resorts. We landed in San Francisco around 4 pm on Friday. We should have arrived around one, but our flight was delayed due to snow in Colorado. I would try and land earlier in the day because we had to deal with bumper-to-bumper traffic getting out of San Fran during rush hour. You’ll definitely want to rent a car to get around. There are tons small towns and vineyards throughout wine country but they aren’t close enough to walk from one to another.
Santa Rosa was a great base as it has lots of restaurants, stores, etc. The next morning we slept in then found a cute diner for breakfast. Santa Rosa is loaded with all sorts of places to eat, super casual spots up to Michelin Star restaurants. We planned for a very relaxing afternoon at the house before we headed to our special dining experience.
Something important to note about driving in wine country is that you are typically on single lane roads. Additionally, you’re out in the country, so it’s a lot of slow and often times very winding driving. The surroundings are beautiful but it does take longer to get around. It took about an hour to drive over to Yountville from Santa Rosa. The restaurant is nestled right in the middle of a residential area, which was unexpected. We found a parking spot right outside the front doors.
My heart was seriously pounding in my chest as we walked up to The French Laundry. I was so excited and nervous. Why was I nervous? I think in the back of mind, I was hoping that I hadn’t built everything up to be more than it might actually be. The outside of the restaurant is so lovely. The main building is covered in lush, green ivy and when you walk through the covered porch, you come out into the most stunning garden. Everything is painstakingly landscaped, just such a beautiful way to start your evening. A friendly hostess met us at the famous blue door and told us to feel free to walk through the gardens and enjoy them before our meal began.
The building that houses The French Laundry dates back to 1900 and originally started as a saloon. In the 1920s it became a French-style steam laundry, hence the origin of its long standing name. Sally and Don Schmitt purchased the building in 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places that same year. They opened The French Laundry restaurant, becoming early pioneers of California cuisine. Chef Thomas Keller purchased the restaurant in 1994. It earned its third Michelin star in the first 2006 San Francisco Bay Area guide and has maintained that status ever since.
After wandering around the garden, we were welcomed inside and escorted to our lovely table adjacent to a very old rock wall with a skylight right above it. One of our waiters said it was the best seat in the house. You could see the whole dining room from it. The restaurant seats just 60 people at full capacity and you can expect to spend about 2.5 hours enjoying the meal. Now the part that I sort of cringe to tell you, the cost. Currently the price is $425 per person. I cringe because I know that some people will read this and just be flabbergasted or disgusted. Yes, it is very pricey and yes, I know there are so many other things that $425 could buy. When going to a Michelin Starred Restaurant, you have to look at it as an experience. It’s not just about the food you’re consuming. It’s about the building, the seating, the ambience, the extremely well trained and courteous staff, the incredibly fresh and sometimes hard to get ingredients, the expert cooking of those ingredients, and the artistic presentation of each and every plate that comes to your table.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us, not something that we’d repeat, that’s why we were willing to pay this price for an incredible evening. Having said that, you can pay a lot more than $425 depending on what beverages you order and if you select add-ons to some of the dishes they offer. They have some very, very expensive bottles of wine and champagne, along with decades old liquors.
The 9-Course Tasting Menu Plus Extras
As I stated earlier, the menu is constantly changing, which is a good thing. That means you’re getting food that is at the peak of freshness, and in season. If you’ve never done a tasting menu, you should expect much smaller portions but a lot more courses. We were absolutely stuffed by the end of the meal, so don’t worry about going hungry. When I get to experience a tasting menu, I like to savor every course, taking small bites and really paying attention to the flavors, textures and smells of everything. A tasting menu isn’t meant to be gobbled down like a burger and fries. You set the pace by how quickly you finish each course, so try not to be in a rush. I was thrilled when they gave me a personalized menu at the end of the meal in this lovely watercolor rendering folder, signed by the chef.
We were thrilled that we enjoyed every single course on the menu. That isn’t always the case. Some chefs try some strange, and sometimes not so delicious things on their menus. The first time we did a tasting menu was in New York, nearly 15 years ago. The chef was known for molecular gastronomy, and he put some downright gross tasting things on his menu. Happily, everything at The French Laundry made sense on the menu. While everything was good, there were definite standouts, dishes that I would have gladly eaten a couple more servings of. For me this was surprisingly the Oysters and Pearls, the Sea Scallop, the Bread & Butter. I’ll go into more detail about the desserts later, I was in heaven.
I said surprisingly because I’ve never been a huge fan of oysters or caviar, but the way they prepared them was absolutely delicious, something I never thought I’d say about oysters or caviar. It was totally indulgent, buttery and not overly fishy which is what usually comes to mind when I think of caviar. The scallop was plump and cooked to perfection and the melted fennel was silky and seasoned just right. Now you might be saying what’s so special about bread & butter. This wasn’t just any bread. It was the most delicately laminated brioche bun that was just wonderfully soft & buttery. I’m a total sucker when it comes to freshly baked bread, so this absolutely hit the spot.
As you might have noticed, there were more than nine courses. The very first bite is their long standing extra course to kick things off. It’s a crunchy, savory cone filled with a sweet minced salmon. Such a delicious couple of bites. The next plate was a couple, bite sized amuse bouche sent as compliments from the chef. The tiny beet meringue was almost too pretty to eat. It was a leisurely paced meal, sometimes we would linger over some dishes. All the while they kept our glasses freshly topped with a delicious Extra Brut Blanc De Blancs from nearby Modicum in St. Helena. Because we were celebrating my birthday, the sparking wine was complimentary. They also sent me home with an extra bottle specially engraved with my name on it.
By the time we’d gotten through all the savory courses, I was already filling quite full. But if you know me at all, you know I have a massive sweet tooth and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE dessert. What happened next was beyond anything I expected. I figured they would bring me out some sort of dessert, maybe with a candle in it for my birthday. They did this first, presenting me with a massive slice of the most delectable Gâteau Marjolaine. Truth be told, I wish we could have taken that entire thing home with us. I’d never had it before and it was so good. I mean, hazelnut dacquoise, chocolate ganache and praline buttercream…YUMMMMMM.
I was not prepared for what they did next. After I blew out my birthday candle, they whisked the cake away and replaced that one dish with seven desserts, yes, you read correctly…SEVEN! Every single dessert was absolutely delicious, and I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to anything sweet. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Gâteau Marjolaine. That combination just works so well together, nutty, chocolatey perfection. The Lemon Meringue Pie and the Pistachio Ice Cream were also spectacular. Believe me, I tried every dish and I would have eaten every last bite of them if I hadn’t been so full. They clearly pulled out all the stops for me since I was celebrating the big 5-0!
In addition to those three desserts, there was also their signature dessert of Coffee & Donuts (Coffee Semifreddo & freshly fried donut holes), German Chocolate Cake Macarons and Macadamia Nut Truffles. But wait, there’s more. The pièce de résistance was the arrival of their assortment of handmade chocolates. They have a box full of wonderfully flavored bonbons. We chose the peanut butter & jelly confection for our final bite. After we’d eaten as much as we possibly could without feeling sick, they offered to take us on a tour of the kitchen. Another amazing touch to an already incredible evening. The kitchen was so clean, so calm and so efficiently run. From there they walked us back through the garden and brought us once more to the front of the restaurant. Here we were met by several members of the staff that presented me with the bottle of wine, two tins of brown butter shortbread cookies, a large bar of dark chocolate made special for the restaurant and the lovely menu and watercolor, all neatly packaged and bagged up for me.
Another very special touch during our meal was the presentation of hand crafted steak knives that were made by a local veteran. They are only offered for use by veterans that dine in the restaurant. At that point they also presented me with a coin designed by Chef Thomas Keller as a token of appreciation for military veterans that dine in his restaurant. What a thoughtful gift, I was so touched. They really made me feel so taken care of.
Now, as I’ve reflected on the whole experience, I do wonder how different it would all be if you went there without celebrating a special event (birthday, retirement, engagement, etc.). I know the food, ambiance and service would all be impeccable. I think because I was celebrating a big birthday and they also knew I was a military veteran and that I went to Culinary School, I think they really pulled out all the stops. Our experience was unique in that regards, so it is something that I will always cherish. I offer my heartfelt thanks to every single person who played a role in that amazing evening. It is certainly one that I’ll never forget.
It took us about an hour to drive back to Santa Rosa and we were both spent after the excitement of the evening. We slept in the next morning and had a big breakfast before we headed to the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve. It was less than a 30 minute drive from Santa Rosa. It was a beautiful spot, very chill and without a ton of people. It’s the perfect spot to revel in the beauty of such massive trees. We really enjoyed wandering the trails that weaved throughout the park, with very little foot traffic from other people. It would make a great spot for a late afternoon picnic. You can easily spend a couple hours there enjoying nature. After our morning in the woods, we stopped at The Russian River Pub for some lunch on our way back to Santa Rosa. I highly recommend this place for a delicious French Dip sandwich and crispy fries. It sits right on the river with plenty of covered seating outdoors.
The following day we made our way west to check out the coastline. It took us about forty minutes to make our way through the countryside. We first went to a newly opened area called the Estero Americano Coast Preserve. Hundreds of acres that were previous privately owned have now opened for public use. There’s a great hike that runs right along a residential area that leads to Shorttail Gulch. The hike was mostly shaded and opened up on a beautiful, quiet beach. We saw one other guy with his dog, but that was it. We explored the beach for a bit before we made the return hike. From there we headed slightly Northwest until we came to Bodega Bay. We drove along the coast and found a beautiful scenic overlook to enjoy an impromptu picnic. The views were stunning.
The fabulous house we rented welcomed us home each day when we returned from our adventures. I can’t say enough about how important it is to have a comfortable place to stay during your travels. Sitting out on the back patio watching the sunset over the vineyards was a perfect way to end the day. The next morning we got up and packed for the trip home. We really enjoyed driving over the Golden Gate Bridge on both our arrival and departure day. There’s just something really special about seeing iconic landmarks in person. Just a quick flight home and our short but fantastic weekend getaway was complete. California Wine Country seems a world away from the bustling cities elsewhere in the state. It’s a very different experience from visiting any of the other popular destinations there. I truly loved every minute.
The rolling green hills & forests, the endless vineyards and the turquoise coastline will always hold a special place in my heart and I imagine, if I’m lucky enough, I’ll visit them all again somewhere down the road.
