The French Laundry
| The French Laundry | |
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Exterior of The French Laundry
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1978 |
| Current owner(s) | Thomas Keller |
| Head chef | Thomas Keller |
| Food type | French cuisine with American influences |
| Dress code | Jacket required |
| Rating |
 (Michelin Guide) |
| Street address | 6640 Washington St |
| City | Yountville |
| State | California |
| Postal/ZIP code | 94599 |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 38°24′16″N 122°21′55″W / 38.404459°N 122.36521°WCoordinates: 38°24′16″N 122°21′55″W / 38.404459°N 122.36521°W |
| Seating capacity | 60 |
| Other information | Phone: 1.707.944.2380 |
| Website | |
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French Laundry
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| Location | 6640 Washington St., Yountville, California |
| Coordinates | 38°24′16″N 122°21′50″W / 38.40444°N 122.36389°W |
| Area | 0.4 acres (0.2 ha) |
| Built | 1900 |
| NRHP Reference # | 78000728 |
| Added to NRHP | April 19, 1978 |
The French Laundry is a French restaurant located in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. The chef and owner of the French Laundry is Thomas Keller. The restaurant building dates from 1900, and is in the National Register of Historic Places.
The French Laundry is frequently honored by inclusion in the annual Restaurant Magazine list of the Top 50 Restaurants of the World (having been named "Best Restaurant in the World" in 2003 and 2004). Since 2006, it has been awarded three stars in the Michelin Guide to San Francisco. It received a favorable review in The New York Times and was called "the best restaurant in the world, period" by Anthony Bourdain. Since 2007, the restaurant has been the recipient of the Wine Spectator Grand Award.
In July 2014, the Napa Valley restaurant celebrated its 20th anniversary with a "six-hour feast for friends, locals, and luminaries" and temporarily closed for renovations before the end of the year. The restaurant reopened on April 7, 2015 following demolition of a number of buildings on the site. During the remainder of the renovation project, the staff is working out of a temporary kitchen.
The building was built as a saloon in the 1900s by a Scottish stonesman for Pierre Guillaume. When a law was passed in 1906 prohibiting sale of alcohol within a mile of a veteran's home, Guillaume sold the building.
In the 1920s, the building was owned by John Lande who used it as a French steam laundry, which is the origin of the restaurant's name.
In 1978, Don Schmidt; the mayor of Yountville renovated the building into a restaurant. He and his wife Sally Schmitt owned the French Laundry for much of the 1980s, and the early 1990s. In 1994, Keller bought the restaurant.
In 2004, the restaurant installed a geothermal heating and air conditioning system.
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