A Bone to Pick with Top Chef Thomas Keller
Little Missy Becomes a Restaurant Critic!
Thomas Keller, famous chef
It started for Little Missy like this: in 2005, just one year
after Thomas Keller opened Per Se in New York City, my husband took me for my birthday to the French Laundry in Yountville. We stayed in a top resort for a couple of days and dinner at The French Laundry was to be our pinnacle experience, the piece de resistance.
The French Laundry, Yountville, California
Yes, this rustic little spot takes months to obtain a reservation, as most food lovers know. Pat called a week ahead and a table miraculously was available. We ordered ahead a vegetarian tasting menu and my husband ordered a special birthday dessert. We knew that Keller had just opened Per Se, and were certain that this would insure that the chefs and staff would work extra hard to show that The French Laundry was not only the earlier Keller restaurant but the best! Oh my! So not the case! For starters, we were seated downstairs next to the stairway where servers were busily juggling trays to the more desirable upstairs tables. I had a full on view to the kitchen, where a huge wide screen was showing live action at Per Se. The staff was deeply engaged in their viewing, way too engaged in my opinion. In the middle of our second course, a server coming downstairs dropped a tray of empty or half empty wine glasses onto Little Missy's head! Yes, this happened at The French Laundry! But what happened next is even more incredible! The staff was stunned. The response was to pretend this did not happen. Broken glass and wine were all over me, our food and the table! Not one server or manager came to us! We waited in shock for at least three minutes! Finally Pat insisted that someone come to our table and clean up the mess. Luckily, I was not cut or injured, yet no one at the French Laundry thought to ask. They acted like it was no big deal and continued to serve us the tasting menu. And instead of apologising or comping the dinner, the staff, who couldn't tear their eyes from the Per Se action on the big screen, handed us a bottle of wine for "any inconvenience"! Happy Birthday, Little Missy! Even the flowers my husband had ordered for the table had been destroyed in the debacle! March 3, 2005! Go back to your notes if you are such a great restaurant, French Laundry and tell Little Missy what was going on that night!
Now we come to Per Se, Thomas Keller's restaurant in Manhattan.
Per Se, New York
It has just been demoted big time. Here's what Little Missy thinks: good that someone is finally calling out Thomas Keller and his pretentious, unclean and wildly overpriced hell holes.
And this, my dear readers is just one of the reasons Little Missy chose fashion over cuisine. There is justice, and the New York Times is right!
