

Summer warms up with events and festivals (and their attendant crowds), so plan on a packed schedule. Spring’s emerging grape leaves turn hillsides a brilliant green, plumed with golden swathes of mustard blossoms. When to visit Napa Valley? Each season has its charms. Napa Valley cuisine has come into its own as well, with dozens of world-class restaurants offering meals on a par with the vintages served up alongside them. Today, the region boasts some of the most coveted wine grapes anywhere, including To Kalon Vineyard, planted in the 1860s, as well as contemporary cult bottlings like Screaming Eagle and Harlan Estate. At the time, France was considered the world’s foremost wine region, but this triumph forever changed the international perception of Northern California’s wines. Long considered California’s most famous wine region, Napa Valley exploded into the global spotlight following the 1976 Judgment of Paris, when a Chateau Montelena Chardonnay from Calistoga trounced nine other Chardonnays in a blind tasting in Paris, including extremely prestigious bottles from France. Don’t miss, for instance, the rediscovered Merlot, whose plush texture and earthy cherry flavour are appealing to a new generation of red wine fans. Roughly an hour’s drive north of San Francisco and boasting more than 400 wineries, Napa Valley is a connoisseur’s paradise, inviting visitors to explore beyond the region’s signature Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Napa Valley reigns as the land of grand estates, luxurious tasting rooms, quaint towns and elegant lodges, many of which line the celebrated Silverado Trail. Insider’s tip: One way to spot Chef Keller is at top food and wine festivals, such as the star-chef-studded Pebble Beach Food & Wine. Just driving through town on the way to wine tasting? Stop by Chef Keller’s Bouchon Bakery for a perfect macaroon or buttery slice of quiche. The menu highlights classic bistro fare, such as steak frites, soupe à l’oignon, escargots à la bourguignonne, and confît de canard. If you can’t snag a reservation (tables fill up months in advance), visit Chef Keller’s neighboring Bouchon Bistro for impressive French-influenced food in more casual surroundings. The tasting menu is sublime, with changing seasonal dishes as well as Chef Keller’s signature “oysters and pearls” (oysters and caviar in sabayon). With three Michelin stars, The French Laundry is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that should be on any fine-diner’s bucket list. You can check forums like this one on reddit for people who are advertising to transfer a reservation.īuyer beware! Some people will transfer at face value while some might ask for a finder’s fee.Though he isn’t a star on a food show, Chef Keller’s fame is almost unsurpassed in the food world, simply based on the brilliance of his food and the quality of his dining experience, both epitomized at this Yountville institution.

Log in to your Tock account, navigate to My Account, select Your Booking and click the Transfer button next to the experience you would like to transfer.
The french laundry how to#
How to transfer your French Laundry reservationĪpparently, it is possible to transfer your French Laundry reservation within the Tock platform at face value. If you have no luck getting a reservation for The French Laundry, you could try adding yourself to the wait list. Tables of 2 are most popular followed by 3 – 6 people. Most dates seem to have only 1 table of 1 available at 4 pm. I have most experience trying to make a reservation for 1 (ie, myself only) and spots are very limited. You might see a reservation available like the screenshot below.īut when you click into it, it might just say that someone else has just selected it and it is no longer available. If you have a bigger group, the reservations might not be snapped up as quickly. I usually see reservations for tables of 1 or 2 people gone within the first two minutes. You definitely have to be there refreshing the page as the reservations open. So far, I have been unsuccessful but I’d like to share some thoughts on the 4 times that I have tried. So for example, July reservations are released on June 1 at 10 AM. The French Laundry reservations are open on the first day of each month at 10 AM PST for the following month. When are French Laundry reservations released? Reservations for The French Laundry are made online through their listing on Tock. Where to go for a French Laundry reservation First and foremost, I have not had any success getting a French Laundry reservation but I just wanted to share my experience in this post. The French Laundry reservations are one of the most difficult to get in the world.
