The French Laundry

California's been good to Thomas Keller. Though he made his name in New York at La Reserve, Restaurant Raphael and Rakel, it was really since 1994, when he took over The French Laundry in Yountville, Napa, that his reputation as a perfectionist and as one of America's finest chefs went global. The rock and timber Napa Valley property was ideally suited to the chef's reinvention. In the 1920s, it housed a steam laundry, called the French Laundry on account of the high levels of skill and quality finish there. Under Keller's stewardship it has gone from country inn to internationally renowned gastronomic mecca.

Aided by Chef de Cuisine Corey Lee and a top pastry chef in Brit, Claire Clark (latterly of London's the Wolseley), Keller's cuisine, despite the 'French' moniker, is contemporary American cooking through a sunny Californian lens. Pick from either of the two daily-changing nine course menus, the Chef's or the Vegetable Tasting Menu There are three menus daily. Each is $240 (as of 2007) including service. One is a prix fixe menu; the second is a tasting menu, and the third is a vegetable tasting menu. During the holiday season, the restaurant may offer special dishes that would not otherwise be on the menu.Tasting menus consist of between five and eleven dishes, often with some optional courses (for example white truffles, foie gras or Wagyu beef or black truffles) for about $30 to $100 more - a "supplement." Unadvertised, but available by arrangement, is a special tasting menu with approximately twenty courses at about $400. Thomas Keller's per se in New York shares a similar menu and pricing structure.

Behind the stove: Thomas Keller, Chef de Cuisine Corey Lee and Pastry Chef Claire Clark

Always on the menu: Oysters and Pearls, Sabayon of Pearl Tapioca with Beau
Soleil Oysters and White Sturgeon Caviar

Random fact: The French Laundry sold 24,000 Oysters and Pearls last year,
going through 200kg of caviar in the process

Wine list: $35 - $7,900 (£17 - £3,947)

6640 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599, USA
++1 707 944 2380 www.frenchlaundry.com