On the Way to Bora Bora II
Yesterday afternoon I delivered a closing keynote in Sonoma to the conference of Caldwell Partners on “Accelerating Growth.” The CEO introduced me. A room full of tough, bright, highly assertive partners in the search business. My kind of people. We had a great time.
Maria and I celebrated with a limo and dinner at The French Laundry, the famed sister restaurant to Per Se run by Thomas Keller. (My co-author of The Global Consultant, Omar Khan, was able to land us this reservation inside of four weeks, which even American Express Black Card couldn’t do. Sometimes the reservations wait is several months.)
The restaurant has only about 15 tables, which I estimated were each to be filled for two seatings. The service is impeccable, and the food ridiculously well prepared and presented. I opted for wine pairings, since it’s impossible for me to settle on a single wine from such a magnificent list.
The sommelier asks for your wine preferences, then uses them to match wines by both the dish and the diner’s personal tastes. Thus, instead of Montrechet, which I love, I was presented with a wonderful Mersault. I also has a white Rioja, which I didn’t know even existed, until the sommelier educated me that about 10 percent of Riojas are white.
There were nine courses, plus several intermezzos and amuse bouche tossed in for good measure. Just to give you an example: The foie gras paté was served with a choice of three kinds of salt, one of which was 40 million-year-old Jurassic salt. (I AM NOT making this up!)
After a three-hour dinner (I estimated that those arriving for the second seating wouldn’t be leaving until 1 am), we were graciously offered a tour of the immaculate kitchen, and met the chef and his assistants. We saw the same closed-circuit TV of the Per Se Kitchen in New York, which, when we had that tour, showed us the French Laundry kitchen, so that Mr. Keller can keep his eye on both, wherever he may be. The kitchen reminded me of one of those British war rooms in old movies—everyone in motion, low key communication but not conversation, all knowing their jobs, somehow managing not to bump into each other in a confined space. And the chef graciously posed for a photo!
The car returned us, we walked by the Fairmont’s open “fire pit” near the entrance, and this morning we’re in the Admiral’s Club waiting for our flight to LA and the Marina del Rey Ritz-Carlton. The following day we’ll start our journey to Bora Bora.
© Alan Weiss 2010. All rights reserved.
Linda Popky
Hi Alan. Sounds like the French Laundry met your expectations. Sounds like it really deserves its ranking and reputation .
As I think I’ve told you, my sister and I are probably the only two people alive to turn down an opportunity to eat at the French Laundry–on a night eight years ago when they actually had room for walk-ins. This is something I won’t ever let her forget. Maybe we should be in the Guinness Book of World Records, next to the pitcher who just missed out on the perfect game this year–since we managed to just miss out on the perfect dinner.
Enjoy Bora Bora!
Linda