Many restaurants claim to be the best in the world and many of these establishments do gain a three-star Michelin rating, which basically proves their worth, but none of them are as prestigious and as awe-inspiring as the French Laundry.
If you’ve never visited the restaurant you really should; it’s a piece of national history. If that isn’t enough here are the top five reasons for anyone to give the French Laundry a try:
It’s in the National Register of Historic Places
This restaurant is literally a piece of history, if you didn’t already catch that. It was built back in 1900 as a saloon but in 1906 it was sold when a law was passed that prohibited alcohol from being sold near a veteran’s home. By the 1920’s it was a French steam laundry, which is where it gets its name. It didn’t become a restaurant until 1978.
Exquisite ingredients
Every day the restaurant will offer two nine-course menus and none of the items from either menu are the same. To make it even more exquisite and fresh, none of the menu items use the same ingredient more than once. That’s pure dedication in delivery a fresh and high-quality meal with each dish.
Affordable for what it offers
On average, it will cost roughly $310 (£217) per person and this is exclusive of specials such as caviar and truffles and also exclusive of gratuity for the restaurant’s base meals.
That might sound like a lot of money and it is but given how highly rated this restaurant is you’d expect to pay so much more. Other restaurants of this caliber easily charge twice the amount so you are getting your money’s worth here.
Home of the best chefs
Every high rated restaurant must have a really good chef, right? Well the French Laundry goes a few steps beyond. Most of its former staff members are globally praised chefs in their own right now, including Grant Achatz, Rene Redzepi and Eric Ziebold.
If you’re even the slightest interested in popular chefs then all of those names may ring a bell. All of them came from the French Laundry.
Literally the Best Restaurant in the World
While many restaurants will call themselves the best establishment in the world, Restaurant magazine really did name French Laundry as the best in the world from 2003 to 2004. In 2012 it was also inducted in the Culinary Hall of Fame.