What’s So Great about French Laundry?

Someone at the San Francisco Chronicle had a great idea: send one of their staff writers — Sophie Brickman, a culinary school graduate — into a series of four-star kitchens and publish the results. The first, on Thomas Keller’s French Laundry, was published on September 12; the second, on Coi and La Folie, appeared on the 17th.

There are some really fascinating tidbits of information in the pieces, especially this one about the way that French Laundry prepares for its guests:

Reservationists Google all customers who make a reservation, which is why you might get a candle in your dessert even if you don’t tell anyone it’s your birthday, or a glass of Champagne to celebrate that merger. Extras are all in an effort to keep a diner’s experience as exciting as possible.

“Minimum” VIPs might be people who have visited many times - they receive a few extra courses in addition to the regular menu. Maximum VIPs, Hollingsworth said, “might be a chef coming in, or someone who is well regarded in their industry, someone we have a relationship with.” If the kitchen has the time, these special guests get a completely off-the-menu menu, created that day especially for them.

I’m curious, now, about whether other fine dining restaurants take similar measures with regard to learning about their guests. Hard to say, really, as my personal celebrity status doesn’t yet qualify me as a VIP at any of my favorite spots in Chicago — not even a minimum VIP yet.

That said, I definitely felt that I was being treated like someone particularly special when I dined at Piccolo Sogno with my family last year — including two trips to the table from the chef — due in no small part to the way that the restaurant’s staff is using Twitter. The restaurant was recommended to me by Rick Bayless, via Twitter; the recommendation resulted in a discussion of the restaurant’s excellent food amongst a number of Twitter users; and the restaurant staff then communicated with me via Twitter prior to my arrival in Chicago that weekend.

Of course, none of it will ultimately matter if the food isn’t fantastic. That, at bottom, is surely the story in these San Francisco Chronicle articles, just as it is whenever we plan a trip to our favorite fine dining restaurants in Chicago.