Yes it's over the top and expensive but everything was done so well. I enjoyed the evening with my husband and another couple who are chefs. The service is excellent but very uptight, (this is California it isn't France). You also pay for every service you are rendered so the meal you order will be substantially higher than you could ever expect. My husband who is not a foodie found it very pretentious and his review would be very different than mine, but I thought it was a once in a life time dinner and not much else has come close in comparison. If I ever have the chance to go back I would but I would enjoy it with someone who understands nuance and food so as not to spoil the event.

It's not a meal, it's an experience.

Wow! They are in some serious need of air conditioning on their 2nd floor!

I ate at the French Laundry with two other couples over the 4th of July weekend. I will admit that it was over 100 degress in Napa that day. However...A place of this level should have a properly working air conditioning system.

I got to hear about how there is no art work on the walls to distract you from your experience. They gave me the same story about the lack of music. "No distractions". How ever I get very distracted when I started sweating on to my food...how ever nice the food is.

I also got to hear about their new $50,000 water filtration and carbonation system that removes the impurities and leaves in the local minerals. I would have rather had them spend $40,000 on the water filtration system and spend $10,000 on a Whisper Cool Air Conditioning system for the 2nd floor. Better yet, $50 on a good fan. Then I would have been impressed.

I should mention that the staff was nice. They opened the windows about four hours into our dinner to cool of the area. They also refilled our water glasses about 25 times.

Having dined all OVER the world--Paris, Munich, London, Amman, Sydney, etc., I can honestly say this restaurant is average if not BELOW average. The Oysters and Pearls, Foie Gras, Halibut, Pork Belly, Veal Tongue--are NOT up to par with gourmet nor the hefty price. Four hours of average food with the price of a small automobile (over $600)--I would rather go to Johnny Garlic's and then enjoy a good action flick! If you can't get in, consider it a blessing. You are NOT missing out at all...