Anybody Got Any Dirty Clothes They Need Washed?
We are going to the French Laundry this week, so if anyone needs something steam cleaned let me know. The world-famous French Laundry is a foodie mecca, which is what scares me. Not just because of the dumb phrase 'foodie mecca' (which completely undercuts its aura of a serious gastronomic sanctuary). But, because Keller does take chances, and creates sometimes bizzare flavors and textures to satisfy the tastes of culinary clowns with too much expendable income in their pockets.
After borrowing against our home equity loan, I have extremely high expectations, and yet, I've heard the phrase 'hit-or-miss' with the French Laundry, too. Amid it's spectacular renown, there have been occassional mutterings of misfired ideas, or at least, poorly executed ones. I've heard the presentation of the waitstaff can be tedious and over-orchestrated. Eh, we had the 'simultaneous plate placing performance' at Emeril's, it doesn't bother me.
It's the Pulp Fiction Effect. Once you've been subjected to years of hype about something being the absolute friggin' best motherf'ing something it inevitably cannot live up to the overhype. It is good at what it does, and it does it phenomenally, but it has been crippled with such a herculean reputation, that nothing could ever achieve it. That was Pulp Fiction, and it could be the French Laundry.
But, even though I am lessening my expectations from Divine Intervention to Superhuman, the price will be the same, so I'm kind of screwed in that essence.
2 Comments:
I bet it will be great, particularly b/c you're in the gorgeous NoCal countryside instead of a mall. I had a snack at Keller's Bouchon Bakery in NYC last week, and though my fancy-pants oreo was delicious, the pleasure was significantly diminished by the fact that I felt like I just bought it at Mrs. Fields.
By
Erin S., at 2:36 PM
Uh oh. What you are alluding to is precisely what I am afraid of. Regardless of the quality, the thought of Keller whoring out the Bouchon name (which I was severly underwhelmed by, it wasn't even that good of a restaurant), then he is on the slippery slope to Wolfgangdom. Next we'll see Keller brand bacon bits or Bouchon Cafe's pop up in bus terminals and airports around the world. I fear I may be eating at the last possible moment before selling out...I'm crossing my fingers that my six million dollar meal will be worth it.
By
Steve Wasser, at 2:46 PM
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