And there have been innumerable awards and honours, including, of course, the No. It is a measure of Keller’s talent and drive that this comparatively quiet approach gave rise to a gastronomic empire: there are two Michelin three-star restaurants (The French Laundry and its New York counterpart, Per Se), making Keller the only American chef to achieve that distinction, plus nine Bouchon bistros and bakeries, and the casual Ad Hoc restaurant.Ī new retro-classic American restaurant in the Hudson Yards development in New York City is slated for 2018. “Guests come to our restaurant because they feel they know what to expect and there are reference points to everything,” he says. Indeed, evolution is a watchword – but for Keller, evolution comes in thoughtful, often subtle ways. Over the years, the cornet has subtly evolved. You’ve got a napkin, you dab your mouth, take a sip of Champagne, and it’s a wonderful, complete experience.”

It’s an ice-cream cone: two bites and you’re done. “It is an opportunity to put people at ease,” Keller says. It’s a completely beguiling morsel, but to Keller, it is much more – the perfect opening gambit, an experience that diffuses tension and sets the tone for a luxurious evening. From the day The French Laundry opened, every diner has been greeted with a single, sublime bite: a tiny cone filled with a scoop of cool salmon tartare and a touch of crème fraiche, and finished with a jaunty chive. One dish encapsulates Keller’s approach more than any other. In an era of pop-up restaurants and rough-edged change, he has been resolute in creating a consistent experience that involves pressed linens, fine china, and touchstone dishes such as the oysters & pearls, and butter-poached lobster. Keller is a master of that sensitive balance between classic and modern, French and American, refined and witty. That juxtaposition of the historic and the contemporary was something I wanted to achieve here, too.” Pei changed the whole dynamic of the Louvre with the glass pyramid. “The Louvre is historic for its time and place,” Keller continues, “the same way The French Laundry is, but I.M. Keller’s intimate Napa Valley restaurant now encompasses the original 1900 stone building, a new modernist structure sheathed in dark wood and housing a private dining room and a 16,000-bottle wine cellar, and less obvious touches such as soft landscaping and geothermal and solar energy systems. “The Louvre was the inspiration,” Keller says, with a gesture that takes in the kitchen-with its billowing white ceiling, meant to mimic an unfurled tablecloth-as well as the other components of the renovation. Apart from a woman bearing armloads of fresh flowers to replenish the dining room, there is no trace of the night before: the sabering of a bottle of 2006 Dom Perignon, the salmon cornets presented in polished sterling silver holders, and the 85 diners-the usual full house-making their way to their tables for a leisurely evening of nine delicate courses.Ĭhef Thomas Keller takes a seat just outside the wall of windows enclosing his new kitchen, the centrepiece of The French Laundry’s $10 million renovation, while inside about a dozen cooks smoothly begin preparations for evening service, when the performance will begin all over again, as it has for 23 years. On a Monday morning, the grassy courtyard of The French Laundry is as serene as a cloister garden. In the sixth instalment of our Best and Beyond series, presented by Miele, we meet America’s ultimate culinary mentor. After a major refit of his iconic restaurant The French Laundry, Thomas Keller continues to fly the flag for evergreen evolution.

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