Chef Thomas Keller’s renowned Yountville restaurant, The French Laundry, has been named California’s ‘best cult-favorite restaurant’ by food review site LoveFood.com — a nod to the enduring appeal of the three Michelin-starred establishment despite its famously steep prices and a recent string of lukewarm reviews for The French Laundry and Keller’s Per Se restaurant in New York City.
According to the U.K.-based food review and recipe website, The French Laundry “changed the game of modern American fine dining back in the 1990s — and people still talk about (it) in admiring tones.”
The LoveFood list was compiled based on a combination of user reviews, industry awards, accolades and firsthand experiences by the site’s editorial team. California landed two additional entries on the list: Chez Panisse in Berkeley and The Ranch House in Ojai.
From glowing reviews to recent criticism
Operating under Keller since 1994, The French Laundry has long been considered a pinnacle of American fine dining. The Michelin Guide — which awards the restaurant its highest three-star rating — defines such establishments as offering “exceptional cuisine worth a special journey.”
The restaurant, originally opened in 1978 by Don and Sally Schmidt, features a daily-changing tasting menu, often updated twice a day based on what’s freshly harvested from its culinary garden.
Following decades of mostly glowing reviews, The French Laundry and Keller’s Per Se restaurant have received some biting criticism over the past few years.
In 2016, The New York Times critic Pete Wells described a mushroom soup at Keller’s New York restaurant Per Se “as murky and unappealing as bong water.”
A recent follow-up review by Times food columnist Melissa Clark, published Nov. 26, 2024, echoed Wells’ concerns, calling both Per Se and The French Laundry overpriced and past their prime.
Clark’s critique gained particular notoriety after she confirmed to multiple outlets, including the San Francisco Chronicle, that she had been served mushroom soup from a bong during her visit to The French Laundry — a wink to Wells’ earlier comment.
Then, in a May 19 San Francisco Chronicle article, food critic Mackenzie Chung Fegan recounted a recent visit to The French Laundry, during which Chef Thomas Keller initially asked her to leave — apparently unsettled by recent negative reviews, including a 2022 critique by her predecessor Soleil Ho, who wrote the restaurant was “no longer worth the splurge.”
After a 30-minute conversation, Keller invited Chung Fegan back, and she rejoined her party for the full tasting menu. Keller later attempted to comp the meal — an offer critics are prohibited from accepting. “It’s the ultimate display of power,” Chung Fegan wrote of the chef’s gesture; in the end, her party paid the full bill.
In a statement nearly a month after Chung Fegan’s visit, Keller said, “Ultimately, it was my responsibility to feed and nurture them. I think we did that, and they had a wonderful time from what we could tell.”
See the full list of restaurants at lovefood.com.
You can reach intern Rosemary Cromwell at rosemary.cromwell@pressdemocrat.com. On Instagram @rjc.img.