Chef Keller offers three menus: a five-course dinner menu; a nine-course tasting of vegetables menu; and his 10-course prix fixe menu (which is currently $135). He follows the typical French format:

Amuse Bousche (His signature salmon tartar with sweet red onion crème fraîche)
1. Cold Hors d'ouevre
2. Vegetable or Foie Gras
3. Fish
4. Seafood (or second fish course)
5. Rabbit or Veal
6. Pork or Lamb
7. Cheese
8. Sorbet
9. Dessert
10. Mignardise (petit fours and candies)

Sometime in your life, you must experience this restaurant. It will be the best four-hour dinner of your life!

Now for the book review. The book is presented in a way that shows a lot of planning went into it. While the recipes have many ingredients and details, the instructions are written in a manner that everyone can follow. If you're an experienced cook, this may slow you down a bit.

There is plenty of background to the recipes that you won't find elsewhere; such as big pot blanching and how to handle your homemade stocks.

I've made about 10-15 recipes out of this book. All work... eventually. They require three or four read-throughs, full preparation of equipment and ingredients (mise en place) before starting, an understanding of what happens to food when heat is applied, and better-than-average knife skills.

Keep in mind there are a few bugs here and there. For example, the chive chips in the white truffle oil-infused custard recipe says to bake it at 275F for 20-25 minutes and to, "remove the chips when they are golden brown." This doesn't work. Golden brown is a term meaning that the product has reached caramelization (the sugars are browning). Browning does not begin until the product has reached a temperature of 338F - 350F, which will not occur in a 275F oven. I've had my chive chips in the oven for over an hour and they are, at best, an off-yellow color. Maybe they meant 375F? I've made adjustments by cooking them at 350F, but they don't turn out as nice as they do in the restaurant.

The point I'm trying to make is you have to practice. Don't try these recipes and expect them to turn out the first time. Your skill set, more than anything else, will determine the recipe's success. Nevertheless; if you're a foodie, this is a must-have book.

Of the 400 or so cookbooks I have, this is the one that I enjoy reading the most; it's the one that has the most prominent place in my kitchen bookshelf for everyone to see.

186 of 210 found the following review helpful:

Incredible, but be forewarned...  Jan 02, 2001
By Jack Dempsey
To put it simply, this book is amazing. I'll try to sum it up in a few main points...

Design--the design on this book makes it a work of art. The photographs and layout are literally awe-inspiring. A word of caution...the size is very cumbersome and doesn't exactly make for ease in the kitchen.

Text--Very enjoyable text and it is pleasurable reading. Most helpful are pointers on technique and procedure.

Recipes--Most are difficult, a few are pretty easy. Herein lies the caveat/point of caution. To understand this point, one must understand the philosophy of this restaurant/Keller. Food is a work of art and presentation is everything in Keller's mind. With that in mind, be ready to break out the tweezers and forcepts to get this food to appear as it does in the restaurant/book. It can be painstaking and frustratingly over-done.

On the restaurant--It is a very good restaurant and worthy of most of the commendations about it. It is perhaps one of the best dining experiences I've experienced. However, it is becoming, in my humble opinion, slightly over-rated. The wait on reservations has now hit the 3 months+ mark. (From those slightly less demanding, I've heard stories of a 6 month wait.) In other words, if you would like to dine there in April, better make reservations in January at the latest. To be honest, the experience is not THAT fabulous and such a wait is more of a product of hype than of quality. You would be better off going to Terra or Tra Vigne in the same area. It would likely be more enjoyable as well.

Don't get me wrong. This is a fantastic book and it is a fantastic restaurant. It is just not THAT fantastic if you follow me.

But as for the book, purchase it if you understand what you're in for--it will be a valuable addition.

112 of 128 found the following review helpful:

Lot's of Work but Worth the Time!  Nov 30, 1999
By James R Collins
Keller is, as you have probably surmised from the other reviews, the consumate chef's chef. Food at the French Market is spectacular and the book is worth having if you are interested in cooking at all. However, do not expect to rush home after a busy day and prepare one of these dishes. I would call the ingredient list "Gourmet" and many of the preparations "advanced." Your average main course prep time will be two to three hours (not including shopping). That said, the menus I have tried are accurate and clear in instruction. Guests at your upcoming dinner parties will rave about your culinary prowess.

69 of 78 found the following review helpful:

Reflections on America's Culinary Philosopher King  Jan 06, 2004
By B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold"
I always like to see the Yankees win the World Series and Tiger Woods win a major tournament. This confirmations that there is someone who is certifiably the best at what they do. For the same reason, after reading the pieces about Thomas Keller and the French Laundry written by Tony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman, I am happy to believe that Keller is simply the best chef there is in the United States.

Reading `The French Laundry Cookbook' by Keller, Ruhlman, and the French Laundry staff and `family' does nothing to detract from that opinion. Keller's words enhance my opinion of him as the ultimate culinary artist.

Most successful culinary educators from Martha Stewart to Alton Brown to James Peterson deal primarily with technique. Even major successful chefs who write or demonstrate on TV such as Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali, and Jaques Pepin deal primarily with techniques with a background doctrine of using fresh, high quality ingredients. The occasional references by Mario or Sara Moulton or Emeril to smells and sounds and tastes often get lost in the woods of prep and firing techniques.

Keller is all about smell and taste and what may seem like totally over the edge concentration on respect for materials. One example is when he insists on storing fresh fish on ice in the same position as they swim so the muscles in the flesh are not stressed out of shape. He is all about providing service and pleasure to his patrons by excellence in the kitchen. One professional observer says the French Laundry kitchen is as quiet as a watchmaker's workshop. This simply fits into Keller's need to have an environment where his staff can experience their preparations with as few distractions as possible.

This, for example is one of the things which separates Rocco DeSpirito from Jamie Oliver in their shows on the opening of their respective restaurants. While Rocco was in the front of the house smoozing with customers, Jamie was in the kitchen at the expediter's table keeping tabs on the quality of what was leaving the kitchen. It was a revelation to see the superficially sloppy Oliver exhort his staff to use gentleness in cooking and plating and his focus on tastes and smells. Needless to say, Rocco has redeemed himself when he did a book, which focused on taste. But, with Rocco, it was reduced to a system understandable by the layman. Keller remains the ultimate empiricist.

This book contains the very first aesthetic justification for small portions at high-end restaurants. The theory is that the patron's first taste senses something wonderful. The second bite confirms the initial reaction, but the reaction is less dramatic. The third bite simply confirms that more of the same is on the way. Keller would rather provide a large number of dishes, each of a few bites, and each providing an exquisitely prepared experience. His doctrine with luxury ingredients such as truffles, foie gras, and caviar is to not skimp on the amount placed on each serving. The rationale is that without that second confirming taste of truffle, the patron may not really know what all the excitement is all about. (I have no idea what the French Laundry charges for a dinner seating, but I'm willing to believe it is pretty expensive. From the evidence of this book, I believe it is worth every penny.)

The book contains recipes actually prepared at the French Laundry. They include all of the whimsically titled dishes reported by Ruhlman and Bourdain, including `Bacon and Eggs', `Macaroni and Cheese', and `Coffee and Doughnuts'. In spite of the fact that some of these recipes are some of the longest I have seen in print, Keller says there is no guarantee this is exactly how they prepare them every day. This harks back to his primary doctrine that the soul of cooking is attention to the individual material in front of you and it's qualities, rather than what is written on a piece of paper. That doesn't mean these recipes will not work in a home kitchen. Madame Keller has in fact, tested them in a home kitchen by her own staff. The recipes in fact elaborate on a number of techniques I have seen before and introduce some which are new to me. The most important is the use of the beurre monte emulsion of melted butter in a very little amount of water. The technique and its uses appear very similar to the beurre fondue technique reported by Tom Colicchio. Both are media for holding or conditioning food in the kitchen rather than sauces used during plating. (I guess it's time I finally read Escoffier). Keller's techniques for shellfish are totally new to me as well. His discussion on cooking lobster is a demonstration of extraordinary sensitivity to his raw material. It easily equals the fussiness of Paul Bertolli in his latest book.
The cuisine is almost entirely based on classic French technique, so it will not be totally foreign to someone schooled by Julia Child and Jaques Pepin. While many recipes are daunting, most are doable by a dedicated amateur and even those recipes which may be beyond ones patience will contain useful techniques.

This is an early celebrity chef coffee table book format, and the photography is worthy of the price. The index is very good and the book includes a good list of sources. The editors have also included a complete list of recipes. The publisher did Eric Rippert's book and with this book they did not make the same mistake of using a font too small. The book also contains a lot more than lip service to the restaurant's suppliers, as it includes several two page essays by Ruhlman on some of the French Laundry's more interesting purveyors.

This book is one of the most lucid characterizations I have seen of the chef's art. This is one source for reading about the very best in American culinary thought and skill.

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