Is there a bona fide “foodie” that has not heard of, dined there or wants to dine there?  Prepare to gain weight just from the vicarious pleasure of going through with me again the finest meal that I have ever had, and perhaps will never be topped.

Thomas Keller has through his acknowledged travails, achieved a hallmark in the restaurant annals hall of fame.  It is the restaurant that I knew that I had to go to, and it was trial just to get the reservation.  You have to book your reservation sixty days prior, not fifty-nine or sixty-one days prior.   They accept one reservation for every quarter hour of time for that evening, as the lobby is small and they do not want crowds forming to make it uncomfortable for the guests.  The first two attempts we were shut out and I knew I had a week’s “window of opportunity.”  Finally our friends got a reservation for a 9:30 dinner, we kept that one book, but I proceeded to see if we could get an earlier reservation for the next day.  The next morning I dialed at 9:00 California time and “bingo” I was able to get a 5:15 reservation, I was already in heaven.  So we had our friends cancel the reservation from the day before.

When we seated at our table, the big decision was which prix-fixe dinner to order.  I went for all the gusto and ordered the “Chef’s Tasting Menu,” my Bride and the other man ordered the “Dinner Menu,” and his wife ordered the ‘Tasting of Vegetables.”   The next decision was to order the wines for dinner.  The first bottle for the early part of dinner would be a Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc.  I was talking to the sommelier for his suggestion of a relatively unknown wine that he enjoys and he suggested Pleiades (and what a great suggestion it was).  Pleiades is a wine from Marin County, California and is a non-vintage blend of different red and white wine varieties – the “Chefs Tasting Menu” of wines, and it differs year after year.  The wine had was Pleiades VIII Old Vines and bottled in July 1999.

Before I get into the menu and its choices, I will let you know that while I was ordering my choice, I informed our waiter that during the cheese course that I have an allergy to “bleu cheeses” and to goat cheeses.  I told him that I presumed that they would be serving some of the finest artisan choices of these two categories and I would not want them to be wasted.  I joked that they cut probably cube up some Cheddar and Swiss and that would suffice.  The waiter informed me that they could work on my request and find a suitable alternative.

And now without further delay the dinner:

A cornet of tuna Tartare with red onion crème fraiche.

“Oysters and Pearls” a sabayon of pearl tapioca with poached Malpeque oysters

and Osetra Caviar.

Crispy skinned Atlantic Black Bass with wilted Arrowleaf spinach, Salsify and

Saffron Vanilla Sauce.

“Macaroni & Cheese” sweet butter poached Maine Lobster with creamy lobster

broth and Orzo enriched with Mascarpone Cheese.

“Rouelle” of Liberty Valley Duck Breast wrapped in Savoy Cabbage and served

with caramelized cabbage.

Filet Mignon of nature fed veal, garden herb risotto cake and a “Ragout” of Forest

Mushrooms.

While everyone received “Le Papillon Roquefort” I received this large wedge of

an Artisan Brie stuffed with black truffles, with more truffles fanned

around the wedge and accompanied with a fresh Fennel Drizzle.  This

was wonderful, but it did create a minor stir in the dining room, as I heard

other diners asked why they did not receive this dish.  I felt like royalty.

“Blackberry Pancake” with Middleton Farms Organic Blackberry Sorbet and

Maple Syrup.

Bittersweet Valrhona Chocolate “Brownie” with Caramelized Butternut Squash,

Bartlett Pear and Toast Hazelnuts.

Coffee

Cognac

And several different servings of in-house assorted chocolate candies.

It was a most wonderful meal, several meals have come close, but none have ever surpassed this dinner.  When we got back to the house we were renting, I had to walk down the steep inclined road and back a couple of times to work off dinner, before retiring for the evening.