French Laundry, take 2

I am not a fan of Valentine's Day. It seems like the most Hallmark-y of all Hallmark holidays. Everything is pink and red and covered in lace, perfectly reasonable people are reduced to rampant sexism, and everyone seems to think it's their business to ask you what you're doing to celebrate. It almost seems like a massive national (global?) conspiracy to make single people feel broken and/or desperate. I much prefer Halloween, when everyone gets to eat candy, dress up in weird costumes, and throw eggs at mean people('s houses).

On the day itself, I tend to avoid restaurants like the plague; the food is generally overpriced, the waitstaff overworked, and people are spending money at upscale restaurants not because they appreciate the food, but because they're out to prove how "romantic" they are.

So then, this year, how did I find myself eating at a very nice restaurant on Valentine's Day?

My dad's birthday is in late February, and my sister's birthday is in early March. A few weeks ago, my mom and I started to look for a suitable venue for us to celebrate their birthdays jointly, since my sister is going back to Taiwan in a week or so. We debated a variety of restaurants, and settled on Michael Mina, since my sister had never been there before. Unfortunately, it turned out that Michael Mina was closed on Sundays, as were several of the other restaurants that we had been contemplating. Between my schedule and my sister's schedule and my parents' schedule, we were having a terrible time finding a reservation at a time that everyone could make. Finally I did an enormously broad OpenTable search on all of the proposed dates, and amazingly, I turned up a Saturday lunchtime reservation at French Laundry! I quickly sent an email to my parents and sister asking them to confirm their availability for lunch on February 14th, and never thought twice about the date.

Later, when we realized what day that was, my sister was enormously amused that I had managed to get a reservation at French Laundry for Valentine's Day. We speculated that perhaps tables for more than two people were not in high demand that day, or that the down economy had affected their business more severely than other restaurants. We finally decided to go anyway, figuring that the price and menu would be just the same as usual, and the service couldn't be worse, given that there are a finite number of tables and they are used to serving a full house.

In the end, we had a great meal, and even had time to stop by the Bouchon Bakery afterwards for baguettes and French macaroons to go. In fact, I quite enjoyed seeing Yountville by daylight. Also, my food photos came out much better than last time; the camera quality really does make a huge difference.

The day's menu (with no repeats from last time):


My favorite salmon cones (a repeat, but not on the menu, and well worth repeating):


A very excellent half-bottle ordered by my dad:


(Skipping the caviar on cauliflower panna cotta, which was delicious but not that interesting visually...)

A beautifully presented artichoke salad:


The other starter, foie gras "au torchon" with oranges:


I chose the tuna tartare fish course (of course):


My mother had the Atlantic striped bass:


Everyone had butter poached lobster (with brussel sprouts and apples):


Onto the meat! I had the duck breast (with a couple bits of candied garlic, and some other veggies):


I was skeptical of the "confit de coeur veau" and had to verify with the waiter that it was in fact, veal heart, but the bit that I tried was actually quite good:


Although it didn't sound all that exciting, the ribeye turned out to be one of my favorites:


The Idiazabel cheese was quite sharp (or "tasty", as the Kiwis say). I enjoyed it until several people tried to give me their portions too:


The sorbet and scone dish that we had as a palate cleanser was kind of bland, even with the kumquat in there, but I suppose that was the point:


My dessert included bits of roasted pineapple, spiced rice beignets, and pepper sherbert:


I also got to try a bite of the chocolate mousse with banana ice cream (but decided I liked my own dessert better):


There were only supposed to be two dessert options, but my sister cleverly asked for one of the desserts from the vegetarian menu. Hers was a piece of Fuji apple with a bit of pastry:


Of course, we wound up the meal with lots of sweets:



We took some goodies home, too. In addition to the normal shortbread cookies, our waiter was kind enough to let us take the leftover chocolates that we hadn't been able to finish. He also gave the birthday people little bags of chocolate bars, and then he distributed special chocolate heart boxes to all of the women, in honor of Valentine's Day. Sigh. It's just too hard to say no to sexism when it's waving large amounts of free chocolate in your face. (They were huge; I ate maybe a fourth of one for breakfast with part of a baguette. It was delicious.)