This was visit number six (and fourth as a solo diner) to The French Laundry, and as much as I enjoy the food, it's the front of house's hospitality that keeps me coming back.
During this most recent visit, I was torn between the chef's tasting menu and the vegetable tasting menu with my eyes shuttling from left to right more than usual. Without missing a beat, my primary server — a young man who was deservedly lauded in Alexander the Guest's video about the restaurant — stopped by and said, "Pick whatever you want," allowing me to mix and match dishes across the two menus.
Then following a delicious but potent play on sour cream and onion flavors, he brought a pot of tea to the table as a palate cleanser, explaining, "I asked myself, what would I want to drink after a course like that? Rosemary tea."
There are plenty of other examples I could cite, but I'll mention one more. After finishing the umami-packed beef and broccoli main course, he strolled over with a mischievous grin and asked, "Are you still hungry?" Before I could even utter a full sentence, he was already walking back to the kitchen and said "Don't worry, I got you." A few minutes later, out came the second main course on offer that evening, an extra large portion of herb-roasted lamb sitting in a pond of its roasting juices.
For several years during the 2010's, Eleven Madison Park was my favorite destination restaurant. Then when I moved to California, it was The Restaurant at Meadowood until its closure in 2020 due to the Glass Fire. Over the past two years, The French Laundry has cemented its status for me as the successor to those two restaurants.
by sacrunner916