OMG, I got that French Laundry rez!

Eating Out

OMG, I got that French Laundry rez!

Posted by annien, June 18, 2008 at 2:11 PM

Yes, friends--it was absolutely due to all the helpful advice I received here. I had the phone with the number set on speed dial, plus a watch with a sweep second-hand set to Geenwich Mean Time, and STILL I was getting the busy signal...then I thought of those tables that are always on Open Table...and quickly reserved a table for 4 at 5:30 PM on August 18.

After I had given them my info and gotten the email back and spent a few minutes wandering around my kitchen in a happy daze, I realized that my best friend and I, the diners for this dinner, are only 2. Not 4.

And if I cut down the number of guests in the rez, I have to pay $100 per guest.

But I'm not afraid. I'm going to ask everyone I know in the SF area if they want to come along (and, I should add, pay for themselves.) I'm going to put an ad on Craig's List. Try to sell my story on Grub Street. Ask Wookie if she really meant she and her husband would come along.

And how about any of the rest of you?

12 Comments

12 Comments:

If you have friends who don't still live in their parents' basement and have functioning taste buds on the west coast, you should manage to get two of them to come with you. I mean come on. It's the frikin French Laundry. Shoot the lock!

simon at 5:22PM on 06/18/08

Oh, well, if you're going to put conditions on it...

annien at 10:52PM on 06/18/08

I wish I could go with you! ;_;

roboppy at 11:35PM on 06/18/08

Wonderful! I look forward to reading all about it!

chiff0nade at 5:06AM on 06/19/08

That's awesome! (I'm truly jealous)

I hope you will let us all know how much you enjoyed it!

Brownie at 7:14AM on 06/19/08

Congrats! I am glad that the Open Table option worked out for you! If you cannot find someone on this board to go with you, try eRobertParker or the Wino Depot boards. A lot of the people who post on there either live in the Napa area or travel there regularly.

And if that does not work, let us all know . . .

Mizbee at 3:15PM on 06/20/08

Oh, you're kidding! We would totally do it--but Hubby and I are in Florida in August! :(

I can't imagine that it'll be too hard to find a couple to go with you. Send an email blast to your friends with a link to some of the great things that have been written about the French Laundry and take the first two people who commit.

When you get there, if you should happen to see Thomas Keller, try not to swoon and definitely do not throw your underwear at him...he might be a rockstar, but he's not that kind of rockstar.

wookie at 4:11PM on 06/20/08

Oh! I meant to add, Congrats! and enjoy!

wookie at 4:11PM on 06/20/08

Hope you have a better time than we did, recently. The restaurant is not what it used to be years ago. Keller doesn't even cook there anymore. It has become a tourist trap. The ridiculous cost alone should diswade you. I left feeling ripped off. There are soooo many fabulous restaurants in the San Francisco area. If you must waste your money on FL, please do. But also try Redd (half the cost,at best, but twice as good) while your in Napa and get back to us on which on is better.

V in CA at 4:49PM on 06/20/08

You are so lucky! Please let us know how good the food is and how much you enjoyed it (and whether you think it was worth the trouble/money).

yummydietfood at 10:45PM on 06/22/08

You'd be surprised, V. I don't diswade easily.

annien at 1:54AM on 06/23/08

Please post on here after you eat there. I eat there in mid-September and am in a daze. Also, I think it is great that they have the new policy that if you have less than 4 people it is $100 for each person. I know that sounds stiff, but I heard in the past if you showed up with less than 4 you were flatly turned away, so if my friends fall through my wife and I are going nonetheless! So please, do post! Thanks, Dave R

Leem37 at 5:16PM on 07/19/08

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