(gentle music) Welcome to my world. (energetic music) Two escargots ponte frisee. Two green salads. Okay, (mumbles) here. Lamb chops, steak frites. Shouldn't you be
doing something? Two smoked fillet,
and a pepper steak. Come on, make the dessert. Chocolate tart, please. As a cook, taste and
smells are my memories, and now I'm in
search of new ones so I'm leaving New York City, and hope to have a few
epiphanies around the world. And I'm willing to go to
some lengths to do that. I am looking for extremes
of emotion in experience. I'll try anything,
I'll risk everything. I have nothing to lose. (ambient music) Before I came to San Francisco, I thought it was all
hippies and vegetarians, but it's not like that at all. I'm liking this town, I'm
liking this town a lot. It's a little rundown. Everybody's drunk, I like it. I came here because
I'm on a mission. I'm going to the mountaintop. I'm gonna eat at the world
famous French Laundry in the Napa Valley, about
an hour north of here. It is my life-long dream to
taste the food of Thomas Keller, the owner and chef of
the French Laundry. He's the man. There's nobody
who can touch him. I can't even describe how much I'm looking forward
to this meal. My reservation isn't
until tomorrow, so while I anxiously await
guaranteed bliss, I gotta eat. I just want to keep
it simple, and light, in anticipation of
tomorrow's meal. First stop, Swan Oyster
Depot, for breakfast. A classic seafood
hangout in a town famous for great seafood. The stuff is fresh. [Server] Hey, how you doin'? What's good, what
do you recommend? We've got nice oysters,
clams on a half-shell. We've got west
coast little necks. Oysters man, the perfect food. Don't have to do anything
to 'em, they come great. Okay. A really great oyster
tastes like the deep ocean, flesh, brine, and
there's something there that's just impossible
to describe. The texture, the sense
that it was alive seconds before it
went into your mouth. This is living. You don't have to do
anything to an oyster other than crack it open,
squeeze a little lemon on it, and eat it, that's it. I'm a purist when it
comes to the oyster, but I can't help wondering what Thomas Keller does with them. I guess I'll have
to wait to find out. What's the most
popular item here? This time of year, the most
popular thing that we sell are our dungeness crabs. Really? Yeah, and they're
caught from roughly California-Oregon
border, all the way down to about Monterey, California. We're gonna pick him up a
nice hot one, right now. Comin' up. [Anthony] Lovely. The carapace of the crab
contains the fat and everything. If you take a peek, we
call it the crab butter. I'm gonna give this
to Tony right now. Oh, outstanding. Incredible. Who said back fat
was a bad thing? Maybe if you see it
on some hairy guy in a Speedo at the beach,
but in a crab, it's good. This is the kinda place you
wish you could find in New York. Beautiful, fresh seafood, served
by a bunch of regular Joes who are proud of what they do, and have been doing it this
way for nearly 100 years. [Chef] Thanks, man. Hey, thank you. That was damn near a
religious experience. (laughing) Thanks, Tony. Okay, Tony. Remember, keep it
light, keep it simple. Next, I'm headed
out to the sunset where I've heard
they're whipping up some pretty kooky ice creams. Charlie, hi. Pleased to meet you. You too. Polly Ann's is well-known
in San Francisco, particularly among
the Asian community for their unusual
ice cream flavors. Pumpkin, red bean, interesting. Tarot. You got the American beauty? Oh, it's a rose? Too strong. Yeah. [Charlie] Too strong. Reminds me of
kissing my grandmother. (laughing) Lychee, that's great. Some great flavors. Thank you. These are all very good,
but not strange enough. Hmm. Then, I see it. Durian looks really interesting. [Charlie] You
want to taste that? I think maybe a
little cup of durian. A cup? [Anthony] Yeah. Not a spoon? No no, I think I'll
take a whole cup. [Charlie] Okay. (Laughs) Now I've had durian in Asia. It's a fruit with a smell
so strong and offensive airlines prohibit
bringing it on the plane. Try leaving cheese or a
dead body out in the sun, and you're in the same neighborhood
as the smell of durian. This is durian ice cream. It's the real thing, man. (energetic music) It's almost like a smokey
camembert, avocado flavor. There's just nothing like it. I don't see Carvel's
stocking this. One internal belch
and you've pretty much destroyed the lives of
innocent citizens around you. Charlie, thank you very much. Thank you. It's wonderful. I'll be back. I have some chef friends
coming into town. I think I'll bring
them by for this. Thanks. (Laughing) [Charlie] Okay, bye. I love the wackiness
of Polly Ann's, and the purity of Swan Oyster's, but I can't wait 'til tomorrow
when I head to Yountville to meet my idol, Thomas
Keller, and eat his food. The day finally arrives,
and not a moment too soon. (energetic music) I'm nervous. I feel like I'm
going to the prom. I'm very, very
psyched about this. I mean I'm spectacularly
impressed by this book. I mean I'm really,
really looking forward to this in a big way. You know, I see him as absolutely
the most exciting chef in America at the
top of his game. He's a notoriously
driven perfectionist, and just the book,
it's brilliant. If you read the recipe for
this simple-looking garnish of garlic chips, it
requires a level of skill, diligence, and exactitude one
would expect of a neurologist. I just, I like seeing the
look in other chef's eyes when you bring up
the name Keller, and you talk about the book. Oh yeah, you know,
I want to see that. This morning, I'm
extremely fortunate that Thomas Keller
has invited me to see one of the
local organic farms where he and his staff
get their produce. Chef. Very pleased to meet you. Good to meet you. How's it going? Really good. Been looking forward to this. Thank you for enduring
this, and having this. We'll do our best, we'll do
our best, we'll do our best. How many fruit trees
approximately do we have? We have about
what, seven, eight, varieties of fruit between that? Figs, apples, pears, peaches. [Male] Everything here,
except cherries and apricots. [Anthony] Peter
Jacobson is just one of dozens of purveyors
that Thomas Keller works intimately with
in order to obtain the most exceptional products. The great thing
about the relationship is we're so close to the staff, the cooks get to come
over and actually harvest. While these guys were young,
just getting out of school or doing externship, were
actually coming over here and realizing where all
this stuff comes from. It breathes a different
kind of respect for food that typically doesn't happen
in restaurant kitchens. I'm ashamed to say
that after a lifetime of cooking and banging
around kitchens it's only been in the last year that I've really started to
see where food comes from. You know, I've been ordering
up food over the phone... Comes in boxes. Yeah. Those are our fava
beans this year. They're growing really well
right now, you can see. [Anthony] Now
anybody who knows me knows my indifference
to vegetables, but this guy's got me
drooling over fava beans. And I just love opening that up. Just the way they're
cradled in there. You know, the way
nature just kind of packs them in this cotton. I just love that. He's cool. Isn't he cool? (Laughs) I cannot tell you, there
was like an electric shock of seeing a chef,
and a chef to cuisine yanking vegetables
right out of the ground. It's just mind-blowing to me. I have never, ever
in my life done that, or even considered doing it. The road not traveled. (energetic music) I'm not dining alone tonight
at the French Laundry. I have to say that I've
deliberately made up a guest list in a shameless
attempt to make up for my own deficiencies in
prestige in the business. These are people Keller has
every reason to respect. Michael Ruhlman, co-author of
the French Laundry Cookbook. A writer I really admire. Eric Ripert is the chef of
the four-star restaurant. Le Bernardin, in New York. Scott Bryan,
chef-owner of Veritas, maybe my favorite
restaurant in New York. It is beautiful though. God, look at this. It looks so much like France. It's unbelievable. Even the trees. So you think we're gonna
get the cone, to start? Is that like a signature
thing every time? I think it's just
too well-known now. The cone? Oh yes, I like that. [Michael] I do, too. Yeah, I like that very much. Gives an introduction. I think it's, you know, you
have the one meal of your life that changes forever
how you see food and understand food,
and it happened at the French Laundry
when I first ate there. We must like a
bunch of Goodfellas on a way to meet the boss, only I'm the guy that gets
whacked in the first reel, but at least I'll die in luxury. The one compliment
that I enjoy the most is someone saying,
this reminds me of, and they'll tell you of
this wonderful experience that they had somewhere else. I hope they go
somewhere else and say, this reminds me of
the French Laundry. 'Cause you know,
it's those memories that I think are
the most important, the most important things. We have typical French
Laundry experience. Michael knows a
little bit about it. [Michael] Yeah, we have
the highest expectations. (laughing) [Thomas] Well, we'll
do the best we can. I'm giddy. I'm nervous. I'm excited like
a 16 year old girl on the way to her first date. I just hope I'm up to
the task of appreciating what I'm about to experience. Alright. I'm ready. [Anthony] Me too. Same here. I'm presenting menus for you, but there aren't any decisions
to make at all tonight. Chef Keller's gonna send you
quite a variety of dishes. It starts off with
his famous coronets with salmon tartare scooped on
top, like an ice cream cone. Keller likes his food
to evoke memories. You don't hear a lot of
chefs talking like that. Playing with magical
forces like memory as if they were ingredients. I didn't see this cone on
the menu at Polly Ann's. (laughing) (soft jazz music) Sesame coronet with
marinade salmon tartare. Inside the cone, a little
red onion creme fraiche. [Michael] Great. Thank you. It make you feel like you
want to eat 10 more, you know? (laughing) You're like, wow. Really truly, inspired
by a Baskin Robbins cone? Most food is an
evolution, or inspiration. There's very little
creativity in anything. The coronet is about as close
to creation as I've gotten, but of course, it was
inspired by an ice cream cone. So, there you go. Cool. This coronet is so
playful, and so tasty. I gotta wonder, what's next? This is a roasted
(mumbles) shallot soup. Braised scallop belly soup. We have the Maine
Lobster consomme. Vichyssoise. [Michael] There's something
in here that I can't identify. Yeah, let me taste soup. [Anthony] The four of us suddenly
start playing detective. Trying to solve a mystery. [Michael] Can we pass? It should be pointed
out that there are four of us at the table,
and that all four of us are getting a completely
different tasting menu of about 20 courses. Which if you're a chef,
will make you shudder with fear and terror
to even contemplate. Of course I'm thinking we're
all gonna get the same, because it would be much
easier for the kitchen to do, okay send out the oysters
and pearls for the four top. [Michael] Right. Who would
deliberately choose to... [Server] We'll do a
sorbet course for you now. It's a yuzu sorbet with
a little bit of coconut. We also have a cucumber sorbet and a roasted red pepper sorbet. Beet sorbet. If I didn't taste it,
I wouldn't believe it. Like you tell me you're
gonna eat beet sorbet, I'm like, (beeping). (laughing) I don't eat beet sorbet. But this is so good. And this is... [Michael] Red pepper. Red pepper. Instantly I realize I'm
in a whole other realm. That this guy is thinking things that wouldn't occur to me
if I devoted my whole life to coming up with just
one of his dishes. What sorta will must
it take to accomplish each of these intricate dishes? Thank you, take your time chef. Make 'em perfect. From the stories I've
heard, there is no extent to which he wouldn't go
to achieve his ideal. If he thought it would
increase your dining pleasure to have one of his staff
cover a leaf of the Acropolis into each and every fava
bean, he might well do it. Please, look at my face. Just so beyond happy that... I think I promised
you stunned silence. So far, so good. I'm beginning to realize
this is gonna take a while. I'd been warned. Keller told me earlier,
don't eat, and I obeyed. I'm on board for the full ride. I'll eat whatever he sends
for as long as he sends it. I wonder if I'll get
a cigarette break. Look at this special
custard for Tony. Coffee and cigarette. [Male] How'd you make it? Marlboro cigarettes
crunched up into a cream. (people talking over each other) Foie gras mousse. Tell him that's
his cigarette fix. We never made that before,
and we made it in his honor. The new custard the
chef came up with tonight. It's a coffee custard infused
with Marlboro tobacco. (laughing) Served with foie
gras mousse, and... (laughing) Good, good. I needed a shot around now. [Server] Cigarette break. Thank you. He knows I'm a
degenerate smoker. This embarrassed
the hell out of me, but it was utterly delightful. (laughing) It's terrific. Marlboro-infused coffee custard. I did get a nice
nicotine buzz off it, and it tasted delicious. Ugh. [Thomas] The Marlboro man? Let me see that. He got a big kick out of it. Did he? Did he like that? Good, good. He got a big kick out of it. I guess I expected the flavors to be a little
shier than they are. You know, they're assertive. He's not shy about flavor. [Eric] No. [Michael] Why would you think... Because the portions
are so refined. God help us, this
is a marathon event. After three hours, we're
only halfway through nearly 20 courses, and
seven bottles of wine. Keller's tasting menu is
many, many small courses of intensely flavored items. Just enough to
surprise and delight, then leave you wanting more. (mumbles) we have the pasta
course of the tasting menu. We're serving the
English pea agnolotti. Here we have the
hand-cut tagliatelle. I'm gonna grate some
(mumbles) truffle on top. Do me a favor. Can you hold that
magnificent beast right up to the lens? Look at the size of this thing. This is amazing. As each course arrives, I'm
nearly giddy with delight, yet still trying to look cool
in front of my chef pals. Squealing at the table
and clapping my hands just wouldn't do. I'm a New Yorker,
for God's sake. I have a reputation for
cynicism to live up to. The garnish. Is this dried, or cut fresh? [Scott] I think it's dried. [Anthony] But it's
hard to stay cynical at the French Laundry,
about anything. I feel like Keller is really
playing with our minds. [Server] Finally we have
the Atlantic salmon chop. [Anthony] Salmon chop. Fiendish. There aren't chops on a fish. He's got the chop. Were you the one
asking about the chop? Don't even look
at my chop, okay? Forget about it. He's made one. Perfect example of
the master at work. Just gorgeous. Who would think of this stuff? I wouldn't. The only criticism I have,
I want like one of each. (laughing) Yeah. Caviar course (mumbles). Chef, for you we
have a panna cotta. Lightly cooked cream,
cauliflower mousse. [Anthony] So this is
what he does to an oyster. [Server] We have a
pickled belon oyster. This is a gratin. Each course is an almost
bittersweet experience. I know I could never have
done what Thomas Keller does. This is decadence. It hurts to look
at other plates. It's a humbling experience
to be confronted with every bite by
one's own limitations. Yukon gold potato blini
with shiitake mushrooms and chive butter. There's an impish humor that
runs through this whole menu. He's using a lot of old,
lumbering, classic terms, with very, very
new presentations. (playful music) Lobster Navarin. Navarin is generally
lamb shoulder. He's coupling a lot
of words with foods that are not traditionally
done this way. Wow. This is like driving a Rolls
Royce naked in mink underpants. (laughing) You're just so over
the top, luxurious. You're eating this
gorgeous food. You can sense his focus
on the ingredients. So we're gonna do two
more meat courses for you. This is the shoulder
of the Bellwether Farm, baby lamb, spring lamb. We'll get these for the next
two months, and that's it. I just think this is phenomenal. Bellwether Farm's baby lamb. We're serving the
rack, the saddle. Braised shoulder, with
kidney, with the sauce. This is lamb reduction. [Anthony] You can
die after eating this 'cause it just ain't
gonna get any better. Selection of salts
here, gentlemen. A couple from the
island of Maui here from the same clay pool there. The darker of the two
has a higher minerality. [Anthony] How much
more luxurious do you get than being offered a
selection of salts? And finally Jurassic
salt from Montana. It's been excavated
from the dead sea there. Said to be 200
million years old. (laughing) Yeah, I'll go with the
200 million year old stuff. [Eric] Maui is where? Color? Mm-hmm. But that one is nice. They're interesting,
but the gray salt is, I guess it's because my palate. The soups, the seafood,
the pastas, the meats. Keller dazzles on every level
physically and emotionally. I almost feel like weeping. I'm not sure how much
more of this I can handle. So, let's guess how
much more is coming. [Michael] Probably
a couple desserts. [Eric] The dessert, and
then couple desserts, and... [Michael] Perhaps, yeah. [Eric] And then some
cookies, and then... (laughing) (soft jazz music) Exceeded my expectations. Amazing. He's not compromising anything. When we were looking at him
in the kitchen from outside, we could see it,
we were far away, we could see a happy man. What is the value of that
feeling of being happy? How many chefs get to
work in a kitchen like this, with a staff like this, with
the products that we have? We're just really
lucky, you know? Really lucky. And I don't forget that. It's all about integrity. Quality to food product. [Eric] Intent and talent. And talent. [Anthony] While
this is all true, I'm just thinking one thing. I can't eat another
bite, and the waiter is setting out dessert forks. I think we're all
thinking the same thing. The stomach is like... (laughing) All extended. (mumbles) I stepped over
the line somewhere. It was a lot of course. No one can eat anymore. We've had enough. We're fini. [Anthony] Which is a problem
because back in the kitchen they're just putting
the finishing touches on a whole fleet of desserts. Doing a bunch of stuff tonight that I've never seen before. This particular course... [Anthony] They
start us off easy. Mini-presentation of
the coffee and doughnuts. His signature dish. It's been on the
menu since day one. [Anthony] But then
they just go nuts. [Server] Chocolate ravioli filled with the sauteed bananas. French Laundry ice cream
with a chocolate tuile. I like the salt on
the chocolate, too. Crepe Suzette with a
lemongrass ice cream. Lime sorbet served
with Hass avocado. I don't get it. It's way over my head. Granted, I'm not that bright. (pleasant music) [Anthony] We've been beat,
but we flew all this way and we're not missing a bite. I wanted to food to look
like it did in the book, and it does. We all agreed the experience
is absolute perfection. Well, not everyone agrees. Perfection is something that
you never actually obtain. It's only something
you search for. 'Cause once you reach
it, it's not perfect. You've lost it, it's gone. Can never be perfect. The stars! (Applauding) You have a very evil streak. That tobacco thing was
very shrewd and brilliant. Thank you guys. Thank you, chef. We had a good time,
we had a good time. Well boy, so did we. We were all like little
kids on Halloween looking in from the
outside for a moment there. Eating here and
meeting Thomas Keller has changed the
way I look at food. It's also bittersweet. It's made me a
little sad to think of all the things I've missed. But mostly I've learned
what's possible. It was great. (energetic music)
As someone who moved to the Bay Area in 2018, it's fascinating seeing how everything was in 2002. It breaks my heart a bit––it's so different. It feels so much more like a community than it does now.
That said, I've been to Bouchon down the street from The French Laundry, but now I feel I need to complete the circuit ;) The tobacco custard is brilliant.
RIP