Great Food/Great Design: Thomas Keller/Adam Tihany

I read a great restaurant review in the Los Angeles Times yesterday by critic S. Irene Verbila, which you can read in its entirety here.  She starts of the article with "Ladies who lunch: On your marks:  Bouchon Beverly Hills...…"

The review is quite good and she goes on to lavish praise on Thomas Keller.  Having eaten at the French Laundry in Napa and Bouchon in Las Vegas, I would agree that he is one of the best restauranteurs we have in the United States.

What makes his restaurants so special is in addition to superbly plated and presented food, are the venues themselves; always a perfect compliment to his total vision

The French Laundry in Yountville in the Napa Valley epitomizes that vision.  The restaurant

 invites you in with the wonderful gardens and gravel pathways from the moment you arrive.  You can read more about The French Laundry here.  He spends a lot of time reflecting on his philosophy about the total experience of a great meal and his goals as a chef.

All of his restaurants were designed with the help of Adam Tihany.  Mr Tihany is well know for his work in the hospitality industry  He has a remarkable way with his use of lighting and understated colors.  I think one of the goals is to make the customer look really good, sipping champagne at the bar...how nice!  The sleek metal  bar at Bouchon Beverly Hills is no exception.

Bouchon Bistro Las Vegas

What is interesting about restaurant design and more specifically restaurant kitchen design is that it is often the inspiration for many home kitchens and eating areas.  You would think that a restaurant would want us to feel like we are dining at home but in fact it's the other way around...when dining at home we want to feel like we are at a restaurant.

Ad Hoc, which literally means "for this purpose" is one of my favorite restaurant interiors

Thomas Keller has designed his own line of white porcelain dinner ware which can be purchased through Gumps in San Francisco and Adam Tihany has his own line of flatware for Christofle.

Per Se Restaurant New York City

The cookbook collection is really wonderful, especially The French Laundry cookbook.  Both would make a great gift.  You can also down load the daily menu's from their web site which is really fun to do.  Here is the menu from Ad Hoc for today
 I think I need to take a trip to the market, my fridge is looking a little shabby after all things Thomas Keller
Have a great day~*~kelley