Thomas Keller: Travel . Destination . Where to Eat

Thomas Keller, an American Chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author answers the question, "Where do you eat in the Napa Valley?" On Washington Street on the stretch of Hwy 29, in Yountville, CA begins an extraordinary culinary journey starting with the gorgeous organic kitchen garden of Chef Thomas Keller, where everyone stops and takes pictures, followed by one award-winning restaurant after another, The French Laundry, Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery, where the patrons happily wait in a perpetual line out the door, and ad hoc + addendum, chronicling years of the art of cooking... leaving you with the only real question, "Which one?" The restaurants are so beautiful, the scenery so perfect, the service excellent, the recipes so good, you'll want to pack up and move to Yountville... or at least plan a destination trip. Recently my husband, the Italian and planner, asked me, "What do you want for your Birthday in February?" I smiled and answered simply, "I want to eat at Bouchon." Enjoy!

"I used to joke that I opened Bouchon, styled after the bistros of Paris, so that I'd have a place to eat after cooking all night at the French Laundry..."

"The truth of it is that bistro cooking is my favorite food to eat. Roast chicken and a salad of fresh lettuces with a simple vinaigrette..."

"Every Morning in Paris when I was twenty-eight, I lived on the top floor of 15, rue de Vouille. On the ground floor was a tiny boulangerie..."

"Every morning I woke to the smell of baking bread." "Bread is the reason Bouchon Bakery exists. I conceived the bakery to make bread for my restaurants."

"I try to get better each day, to do my job just a little better everyday. Not a lot, but a little. Everyday."

"The pace of life today is so quick,

and we often feel so rushed and disconnected from one another..."

"To be able to sit around the table, passing food, sharing stories of the day, with the sense that for an hour or so, with the sense that for an hour or so, is a gift to embrace."

- Chef Thomas Keller

The French Laundry's Organic Culinary Garden

I hope it's lovely where you are...