All dessert, all the time

This is my last French Laundry post. I'm a little bit sad about it. No more reliving the meal through blogging and I'll probably never get to eat there again (at least not for 20 years or so). Oh well. All things must end.

We start with the first dessert course - a buttermilk sorbet with what I believe were candied walnuts (or pecans maybe?) and a sour cherry.


I took a little bite of it before I took the picture. Whoops!

We moved on to the choice of what I think was a yogurt panna cotta and berry sorbet with some kind of snow.....


Or some kind of pumpkin gelato and chocolate hazelnut mousse? I'm bad with desserts. Doesn't this one look like a train?


They both were really good. At this point, I got very sad. I was like "aw man, the meal is over. Boo hoo." And then the waiter set this down in front of me:


An empty silver plate. But why? I was so confused. Then he brought out this:


That's right, three tiers of petit fours! All handmade and delicious! My favorite was the salted caramel (that's very hip right now) and the chocolate eclair was great as well (oh yeah, we ate the whole tray. We don't do things half way). To accompany the over the top petit fours were these:


Chocolate covered caramelized macadamia nuts. Oh man. I'm salivating again. It's a good thing there's chocolate in my house now. Or maybe a bad thing.

At this point, we're like, okay it's really really over. No more meal. And then the waiter brought out these:


Handmade chocolate truffles! Coconut, passion fruit, yogurt, pumpkin and.....I forget the last one. But they all very great. And very shiny.

Then, you're really done. But they bring you little bags of shortbread to take home and eat later!


See the little clothespin next to the cookies? That was holding my napkin together. I stole it. It's in my purse.

Then we paid the bill (and by we, I mean Zack), and said goodbye to the French Laundry. Goodbye, blue door!


And back over the bridge we go.


Zack thought the fog was really cool. I tried to explain to him that this is very common in California, but he liked it a lot, so I took a picture. Oh California. I miss you.

The story goes on and on and on

Woo! It's time for the meat (Dad, look away). If you haven't been reading, this is part three in my French Laundry luncheon posting - just scroll down a ways to start at the beginning.

We start with a choice of either corned veal tongue or glazed pork belly. Zack and I both wanted the corned veal tongue, but I let Zack have it, since he loves tongue (isn't that bizarre? But he loves it). Plus, this way, I got to have the frog's legs (see below). Here's the corned veal tongue.


It was really good - very thin sliced. It was served over some Spätzle (it's kind of like tiny noodles or dumplings) and some fruit puree (I forget what kind of fruit). There was a lot of fruit purees with meat dishes in this meal....I liked it a lot. Here's my pork belly.


It was nice and tender, just felt apart in my mouth. It came with celery, prune puree, and something that tasted like fancy egg salad. It was less exotic than the veal tongue, but I still liked it.

Next came the lamb. It was cooked perfectly. We got a nice little chop (medium rare) and then a wonton filled with lamb shortribs. My mouth is salivating thinking about it. It was served with carrots, onions, almonds and another fruit puree. I wish I could remember what kind....


We're now transitioning away from the meat to the end of the meal with the cheese course! I love cheese. I wish all meals had a cheese course (even breakfast). Although my clothes probably wouldn't like that much. They did the thing again where they bring out the garnishes and then pour the cheese over it. Yum!


Little bits of butternut squash, glazed with something sweet and little crunchy bits, perfectly complimented the tangy cheese. It was a cow's milk cheese, very seasonal. I loved it. Plus it came with awesome purple raisin walnut bread!


At this point, the waiter saw me taking pictures and asked if I would like him to take a picture of Zack and me. He looked confused when I said no.

That's all for today....on to dessert tomorrow.

French Laundry, Part Two

Okay folks, I'm back. I hope my pictures don't give me so much trouble this time....

Also, I want to apologize in advance for not remembering exactly what everything is - I tried to take a picture of the menu before we started, but the waiter came back suddenly and I got embarrassed. So, this is from the best of my memory.

We started off with a Cauliflower panna cotta topped with caviar. They brought out awesome pearly spoons for us to eat it with.


It was so cool! The taste was pure cauliflower, but the texture was all smooth and yogurt-y. The caviar had nice salty bite to it. I liked it a lot.

Next came Mushroom velouté with apples and greens.


They did the fancy restaurant thing of bringing out the garnishes and then pouring the soup over it in front of you. I love that. The soup was great! The apples were a nice contrast to the mushroom flavor.

With our soup, we got some amazing fresh baked bread. It was baked with butter inside of it and salt on top - see the salt flecks?


Apparently it has a really short shelf life - you have to eat it within a few hours out of the oven or it gets really stale. It comes with butter, even though there's butter inside.


One is salted, and the other is not (obviously, I guess). They were so good and creamy. To quote Amy from Little Women, "Isn't butter divinity?" It sure is.

Two fish courses came next - we got a choice of Frog's Legs or Cobia. I got the frog's legs because Zack got to have the veal tongue (more on that later). Here's my frog's legs with grapefruit salad.


They were awesome. I mean, deep fried frog's legs? Who wouldn't want that (besides vegetarians and hardcore Kermit enthusiasts)? But I maintain that they would be wrong. The salad was a nice light accompaniment to it as well. Mmmmm, maybe I should get some grapefruit.

The cobia was a good choice as well.


It was a "meaty game fish" or so the waiter said, and the cranberries were a nice touch on top.

The final fish course was a smoked lobster tail with saffron foam and artichoke hearts.


It seemed very Spanish influenced to me, what with the saffron and all. The textures all played off of each other well.

On to the meat next! Until then....

I'm just getting started

Alright guys, I've had a superproductive day. I'm feeling good. I've been to the gym, an audition, a job interview and had some secret meetings and done some secret paperwork. I've cleaned and unpacked and I am ready to do my French Laundry post. Aaaaah! I hope you like it.

First of all, The French Laundry is a destination. You drive all the way out to Yountville, which is basically Thomas Keller town. You dress up nice, which is kind of comical when you're with Zack and it's the middle of the day and you're surrounded by quasi-farmland. This is not your average restaurant, people. Here I am in front!


I am so excited, I don't even care how dorky I'm being, or that I'm wearing makeup and pantyhose in the middle of the day. Here's the famous blue door.


Did you know that the blue door is famous? Because it is.

Right from the get go, the service is incredible. The staff is so nice and helpful and not condescending or rude to the weird young folks in black jeans with wannabe Tina Fey glasses. That's how it should be! Our table wasn't quite ready, so I checked out the bathroom.


I'm obsessed with the lighting in the bathroom. It makes my hair look pretty (and yes, I know this photo is sideways. I can't get it to work. All the pictures used to be sideways and I managed to fix those. This has been driving me nuts for a whole day and now I'm saying screw it. Just turn your head). Also, they have real towels that you use and then they wash. How great is that?


We get a great table right next to the window (good for natural light for my pictures) and I am pretty much bursting with excitement. See the pretty roses?


The waiter comes and explains the menu to us - we can have the chef's tasting menu or the vegetable tasting menu. The tasting menu is more of a traditional French meal, with fish courses, meat courses, cheese courses, etc. The vegetables are self explanatory and we didn't get them because we're not paying hundreds of dollars for just vegetables. We opt not to get wine (we're wined out from the day before - more on that later), but we do get some non-alcoholic sodas. I get pomegranate and Zack gets Kiwi. Mine is very fruity and his tastes like tonic water, but he likes it.

We get started with a little pre-first course or amuse-bouche. These are some famous iconic Thomas Keller bites - gougeres and salmon cornets.


They are both so good. Gougeres are little bites of cheesy amazingness that are nice and crispy on the outside and then just melt away in your mouth. Salmon cornets look like mini ice cream cones but taste like a little perfect bagel with lox - a crunchy cone, smoked salmon, a little bit of creme fraiche....This is making me hungry. Dammit.

At this point, I'm realizing how long this post would be if I did it all at once - I've got about a bazillion pictures (or 42). So I'm leaving you here so that you can wait in agony for my next installment. Happy waiting! Don't be mad.

I'm a chicken

My French Laundry post is very intimidating to me (just like the actual French Laundry itself). There were 12 courses of food! 12! How can I do justice to Thomas Keller if I rush it? I can't. Weak justification, thy name is Lena.

You know what's not intimidating? The Old Spaghetti Factory. It's so non-threatening that my dad was able to bring all of his weird screaming children there for years and years without fear of being glared at by other diners (because they all had weird screaming children as well). Plus, as an added bonus, it is quite the deal. My family went there for literally every birthday, graduation or any major event of our collective childhoods. There was a location right in Oakland near Jack London Square. If you brought a movie stub from the Jack London Cinema, you got an Italian soda in a collectible glass for free! Now you have to pay for them - but we got some anyways. You still get to keep the glass.


There is no more Old Spaghetti Factory in Oakland anymore, so we drove out to Concord, CA instead. We lived it up like it was 1990, eating our favorite meals of spaghetti with mizithra cheese and/or marinara.


They have whole wheat and gluten free pasta options now. I appreciate it greatly.

With your meal, you are entitled to bread, garlic butter, salad, a main spaghetti dish, milk, tea or coffee and spumoni ice cream. In 1990 it cost about $2.95, now it'll set you back about 7 bucks a person. But still! A steal. Plus, look at the snazzy decor.


It's like you're in an old time trolley car. With crazy lighting. And my mom. Plus, they have a fabulous new addition to the menu - broccoli with mizithra cheese.


I don't really know what mizithra cheese it. It's salty and yummy and I've never seen it anywhere else. My siblings really dig it. They also dig the ice cream.


Who doesn't like spumoni? It's all sorts of funny colors.


Actually, my dad doesn't like it that much. But it never stopped us from going there. Until we grew up and stopped embarrassing my dad in restaurants. Then he figured that he could take us nicer places. Or I could cook for them. Either way.....

I've got to work my way up

The French Laundry is a big deal. I took a zillion pictures of it and it was amazing and fabulous and I wouldn't want to phone it in on this blog. I want to have time to really pull out all the stops. This is not that time.

When I was younger, Fenton's Creamery in Oakland was the place to go. After every show, my friends and I would pile into the car of anyone who could actually drive and celebrate with ice cream sundaes (because we couldn't go to bars yet). Then, sometime while I was in college, it burned down (by some disgruntled employees). It was sad. A few years later it reopened, but I haven't been there since. My friend Miranda worked there as an ice cream scooper last summer and asked if I wanted to go get ice cream, and really, who wouldn't? Ice cream is great. Here's my friend Miranda.


She's the blond one (you probably know that already). Isn't she pretty? She lives in New York now too. Here's the ice cream.


The ice cream is really good here. It's old fashioned and yummy. They have a ton of flavors and the sundaes are the best. I got a "petite" sized one, which I appreciated, because one can really only eat so much ice cream at once. You could also get small, medium or large, plus they have black and tans, banana splits, all that good stuff. It's a nice warm up to the French Laundry....

Last Holiday Post

Ok all, it is officially the new year and time for the holiday season to end. That's right, no more merry lights and candies, no more presents, just the slow endless crawl of winter and horrible slush for months and months on end.

However, I have one more holiday food post to do, and I'm-a gonna do it. So there.

Latkes!

Everybody loves latkes. If they say that they don't, then they are lying. Who doesn't love fried crispy potato pancakes? Nobody, that's who. They're a bit of a pain to make, especially at my mother's house, because she doesn't have a food processor like I do. So there's a lot of peeling. And grating. And more peeling. And more grating. Here's my sister Allison, peeling away.


She's a good peeler. Plus, she has awesome orange fingernails.


Once you've peeled and grated however many potatoes will feed your family (we used about 2.5 pounds or half of a 5 pound bag), you soak the potatoes in cold water (at least, according to this recipe from Gourmet that I used).


Then you drain them and add some chopped onion (I picked this recipe so that I wouldn't have to grate any onions - I hate that). Then comes the crazy part that I forgot to take a picture of.

"Spread grated potatoes and onion on a kitchen towel and roll up jelly-roll style. Twist towel tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible." This would not have been possible at my home in Astoria, as I have no clean kitchen towels. My mom has plenty though, so it worked out fine.

Then you mix it in a bowl with a few eggs and some salt. I think I used two eggs? Maybe three. I can't remember.


Then you just heat up some oil in a frying pan (not expensive imported olive oil that your dad orders special from Italy, just regular heart healthy canola oil will do). Put a spoonful of mixture in the pan and flatten it out with a fork (or your hand). Don't put too many latkes in the pan at once or they won't fry properly. Here are mine, frying away until they turn golden brown on one side.


Then you flip them and wait another few minutes or so....don't poke at them in the pan, just let them be.


Drain them on paper towels....


And keep them warm in the oven while you fry the rest.


This will take a long time. You'll add more oil as you go. Your dad will complain that he's hungry. You will tell him to go away and let you cook as he is vibing you and you don't like that. Finally you will eat latkes for Christmas/Hannukah dinner and feel very Jew-y because you are eating latkes on Christmas. Or you could just add more oil and forget about the rest of the paragraph. That may be specific to my family. When you're all done, eat them with sour cream and applesauce. If you're with my sister, she'll refuse to let you make homemade applesauce and insist on the jarred kind. You may as well agree because your family makes you tired and it's easier just to go with the flow.

More exciting blogging to come!