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Renowned San Francisco chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller holds more Michelin stars than any other American chef (and he’s eighth in the world, behind luminaries like Gordon Ramsay and Alain Ducasse). To be precise, Keller wields seven stars, spread across three restaurants. He has three stars for The French Laundry in Napa Valley and another three for Per Se in New York City. Then, his bistro Bouchon, right near The French Laundry, rounds things out with one star. The double-whammy of restaurants with three Michelin stars also makes Keller the only American restaurateur to hold two three-star ratings simultaneously.
So what can you expect if you head by these acclaimed dining establishments? Let’s start with (arguably) Keller’s most famed restaurant, The French Laundry. The restaurant is located in Yountville, California, about a 60-mile drive from San Francisco. It opened in 1974, but Keller took it over 20 years later, in 1994, offering classic French cuisine with a Californian twist. If you manage to land a reservation, you’ll have a choice of two tasting menus — one vegetarian and one omnivore, with a hefty $390 per person price tag (wine or other drinks not included). The menus change daily, but one thing stays the same: No single ingredient is ever repeated across the menu. Some dishes that have appeared in the past include a tomato tart with burrata mousseline (a little like pastry cream), roasted lamb prime rib with potato dumplings and boudin noir, and toasted hay ice cream with berry compote.
What’s it like to eat at Per Se and Bouchon?
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Thomas Keller’s other three-star restaurant, Per Se in New York, is regarded similarly to The French Laundry, particularly relating to its general attitude and approach to food, although in literal terms (for example, the dishes on the menu), it goes its own way. That said, it offers a similar approach with a choice of two nine-course tasting menus, one omnivore and one vegetarian, no repeated ingredients, and a similar price tag. The setting is very different — instead of the tranquil countryside, Per Se is right at Columbus Circle with views of Central Park. Dishes also vary daily but have included slow-poached foie gras with pickled fennel bulb and Greek yogurt chiffon, veal piccata (a cutlet with lemon-butter-caper sauce) with asparagus and fava beans, and a peppercorn pavlova with hibiscus-poached rhubarb.
Finally, there’s Bouchon. It’s located just across the street from The French Laundry in Yountville, in California’s Napa Valley. A little more casual than French Laundry, it’s closer to a classic French bistro. The menu is à la carte (not tasting) and centers around traditional brasserie fare: Think oysters, salmon tartare, buttery sole meunière (a Julia Child favorite), and steak frites, to name a few dishes. You should be able to spend significantly less at Bouchon, too: Prices start around $23 for appetizers and $30 for entrees, although you can certainly go all-out on options like a $150 caviar.
Dining and Cooking