Journey to the Promised Land

I think that I should inform you that I am starting a pretty serious training regimen for my upcoming travels. The holy book tells me that I am instructed to go to mecca at least once in my life. My haj starts the first of February.  I shall travel to Yountville with fellow seekers of the divine food truth and sup at the holiest shrine in the western kingdom, the French Laundry.

Approaching it from the south we are instructed to circle the building six times in a counter clockwise fashion, all the while chanting our personal mantra to the food god of our choice, in my case Bocuse or Beard. Hopefully we will not get trampled underfoot like the poor souls at that other mecca.

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We are being treated to a once in a lifetime dinner by some very dear friends, who have been to the Laundry several times. The occasion is a very special birthday. This will be my first trip to the cleaners. I am going to start making flash cards so that I will not appear the total rube.

Sous-vide (pronounced /suːˈviːd/), French for "under vacuum", is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath for a long time—72 hours is not unusual—at an accurately determined temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 60 °C or 140 °F. The intention is to maintain the integrity of ingredients.


I have been informed that the French Laundry, the brainchild of one Thomas Keller, has two menus, a standard and a vegetable menu, that while not vegetarian, is lighter with the flesh. I went on line and downloaded the menu posted today.

Sounds pretty wonderful. Truthfully a meal beyond my palette and station. I had to look up vacherin to find out that it was a special cheese, served here with bacon, walnut bread and what I am assuming is a flowering quince spread like a jam or chutney. The guinea hen sounds out of this world. Think I will pass on the urchin, thanks.

Vacherin is a cow's-milk (French vache, "cow") cheese. Two main types of French or Swiss Vacherin cheeses exist.One is a soft, rich, seasonal cheese made from cow's-milk in Switzerland or France, usually in villages of the Jura region (an origin that has been officially controlled since 1981), and has a grayish-yellow washed rind and is called Mont d'Or, or Vacherin du Haut-Doubs, from France, or Vacherin Mont d'Or from Switzerland(though it tends to just be called Vacherin in the local shops). It typically contains 45 to 50 percent milk fat (in dry matter), and is produced between August 15 and March 15, and sold between September 10 and May 10, and the Swiss Vacherin Mont d'or is generally made with pasteurised milk, while the French Vacherin du Haut-Doubs is unpasteurized.

Keller was one of the leading pioneers of the "buying the finest ingredients available locally" school, making a habit of supporting artisan food purveyors and also the author of the law of diminishing bites. He is the only American Restauranteur to simultaneously have two three star ratings from Michelin for separate restaurants.

It takes a tremendous amount of luck to even get a reservation at this place, they must be made 60 days in advance and I once spent two days calling with no luck. If you go light, dinner and a wine pairing is a little over five hundred bills per head. So the enormity of my friend's gift to us is mind boggling. We are driving and will hopefully stop at a few of my own favorite culinary sacred and secret spots along the way.

“One of our overriding philosophies is the law of diminishing returns, which is: the more you have of something the less you like it. We establish our compositions based on the view that when you are finished with a dish, you wished you had one more bite. That way you have reached the highest flavor for that dish and it becomes memorable.” Thomas Keller

So I sit and try to remember when to leave my fork on the plate and hope that I am able to casually discuss the fact that the serrano ham eats a chestnut diet in his waning days and talk about the comparative virtues of aioli versus mayonnaise in a remoulade. Which I know will leave myself wide open to a large heaping of snarky comments from certain individuals who have already informed me that I am sounding quite bourgeois of late.

Sachet d'épice: A traditional French seasoning for soups, stews and meat dishes that typically consists of peppercorns, bay leaves, and thyme, a mixture which may also include mace, parsley, garlic, and onion. The ingredients at times are placed directly into the foods being prepared but typically are combined in a cheesecloth bag referred to as a sachet bag and placed into the food as it is being cooked, similar to a bouquet garni.

I think that you could safely call me a critical person. I go on Yelp and there are nearly 847 gushing reviews of this restaurant. That alone gives me concern. It is clearly a cult offering. I have friends who have ran out of there screaming and other friends that absolutely treasured the experience. I can't wait to see for myself! I travel to this culinary mecca only expecting the best.

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Speaking of food, there was a great article in the New York Times yesterday regarding the microplane graters that the Grace Co. is making that foodies have appropriated for their kitchens.

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I am almost finishing reading David Kamp's book The United States of Arugula which traces foodism and food lunimaries from Careme and Escoffier through Soulé and Delmonico. They gave way to Franey and Le Pavillon, who had this delicious quote in the book, "The menu was in french of course, and most of our educated and wealthy customers could work their way through it with at least some comprehension, but if they did not understand a particular term, I am certain that they would hide the fact for the fear of seeming gauche." It gives you a great timeline of the state of food in this country and especially New York, places like Lutece, Le Cirque and Le Cote Basque.

I borrowed this book from Dixon and I am sure that he thinks that he will never see it again. I need to read it one more time. It charts the food stars of this country, from Julia, Soltner to Waters and McCarty and also dishes on the critics, people like Craig Claiborne and Mimi Sheraton.

We were the weird kids on the block, my mother being a gourmet before her time. We were the only family in the neighborhood that would eat eggs and calves brains. My mother lunched at Le Veau d'or weekly in New York and one of my old friends was sous chef at Lutece for ages. But I am certainly no gourmet. Actually, I am quite content with a simple chop and a glass of strong red wine. Fussy and pretentious don't necessarily cut it with me. But when all is said and done, say what you want about expensive food, even at its most expensive, it's still a hell of a lot cheaper than drugs or divorce.