The building was built as a saloon in the 1900s by a Scottishstonesman for Pierre Guillaume. When a law was passed in 1906 prohibiting sale of alcohol within a mile of a veteran's home, Guillaume sold the building. In the 1920s, the building was owned by John Lande who used it as a French steam laundry, which is the origin of the restaurant's name. In 1978, Don Schmidt, the mayor of Yountville, renovated the building into a restaurant. He and his wife Sally Schmitt owned the French Laundry for much of the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1994, Keller bought the restaurant. In 2004, the restaurant installed a geothermalheating and air conditioning system. In July 2014, the Napa Valley restaurant celebrated its 20th anniversary with a "six-hour feast for friends, locals, and luminaries" and temporarily closed for renovations before the end of the year. In December 2014, while being temporarily closed for renovations, The French Laundry wine cellar was robbed of an estimated $500,000 of wine. Most of the wine was subsequently recovered. On April 7, 2015, the restaurant reopened following demolition of a number of buildings on the site. During the remainder of the renovation project, the staff worked out of a temporary kitchen.
Cuisine
Every day, the French Laundry serves two different nine-course tasting menus, none of which uses the same ingredient more than once. During the holiday season, the restaurant may offer special dishes. As of October 26, 2015, the prix fixe menu was US$310 per person, including gratuity for the base meal, although not including additional supplements such as Russian caviar and truffles. The food is mainly French with contemporary American influences, giving rise to such unique specialties as Cuisse de grenouilles sur un bâton.
In February 2004, Thomas Keller opened the East Coast version of his Yountville restaurant, which he named Per Se. The kitchens of both restaurants are connected via a real-time video feed on a television screen. Thomas Keller opened a pop-up restaurant in the Silverado Resort & Spa during the renovation of The French Laundry. The restaurant, which serves American classics, is called Ad Lib. This is not the first pop-up restaurant that Keller has helmed, previously popping up at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong and at Harrod's in London.
Awards and accolades
The French Laundry has been frequently honored by inclusion in the annual Restaurant Magazine list of the Top 50 Restaurants of the World. Since 2006, it has been awarded three stars in the Michelin Guide to San Francisco. It received a favorable review in The New York Times and was called "the best restaurant in the world, period" in 2005 by Anthony Bourdain. Since 2007, the restaurant has been the recipient of the Wine SpectatorGrand Award.