The French Laundry (***) Black Card Experience - June 22, 2026
I'm back, posting from an alt because it's 2026 and I should've known better.
This post is LONG, so continue at your own risk.
I'm going to address some common questions/feedback I got proactively this time around.
- "This is too long, I don't like it." - Ok, this isn't the post for you then. I wrote this post for people who wanted a review detailing all of the dishes, not just "fud wuz gud"
- "WTF is the black card, how much does it cost, and what do you get with it?"
- The Black Card is an "elevated" dining experience beyond what the French Laundry normally offers.
- it costs $3,000, and is available for purchase online through Thomas Keller's Kitchen store, Finesse.
- It gets you: An 18-course meal for two people (a "normal" meal here is 9 courses, and costs $500; so you're getting 2 times as much food, and it's for 2 people, so it makes up $2,000 of the overall $3,000 price tag), curated wine pairings (included in the price), Car Service to and from your accommodations (within Napa Valley; this was needed after the amount of wine they give us), Included Tax and service/gratuity, and most importantly you get to skip the normal reservation process and work with a dedicated concierge to book your reservation on nearly any night of your choosing.
- **"**Are you crazy? Was it worth $3,000?"
- For me, absolutely yes. Will it be for you? I don't know. I had culinary aspirations as a young man, and Thomas Keller has always been my idol. Getting to have twice as much food as normal, and being able to plan my trip several months in advance thanks to a guaranteed reservation made the $3,000 worth it to me. Getting to meet him and talk to him a little bit (which is not/was not guaranteed) made it extra special for me.
- "Why are you scoring things above 10?" - If Nigel's amps can go to 11, my ratings can go to 12
TL;DR: It was the best meal I've ever had, the experience was better than I hoped for, and to me it was worth every penny. I wouldn't do the Black Card again, but would absolutely come back for another meal given the opportunity. Oysters and Pearls is best 5 bites of food I could ever imagine.
Full gallery can be found at https://imgur.com/gallery/french-laundry-evolution-menu-6-22-26-bHfOWVf
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When we arrived there were 5 or 6 people lining the doorway and along the counter inside to greet us, all of whom knew our names, and took a second to congratulate us on our anniversary and thank us for celebrating it with them in one way or another. I expected at this point to be taken to our table in the courtyard, but we were asked if we wanted to take a quick tour of the kitchen. I've never heard of them doing the kitchen tour right in the busiest portion of service (our reservation was at 6) so we very happily accepted. The kitchen was buzzing with activity, and the smells were just unbelievable. There were sauces being stirred, meat and fish being cooked off, things being breaded and fried, it was incredible to see just how much is happening at once during service. All in all, there must’ve been at least 15 people at their stations, all laser focused and working away. We were told what each station was, what was being worked on, the history of the kitchen and the remodel, etc.
When the tour wrapped up our host snapped a couple pictures of us on my wife’s phone, and as we were being ushered out a secondary exit to the courtyard our driver ran up and told me that Chef Keller had just arrived and asked if we’d like to meet him… obviously we would! I was impressed and maybe even a little moved that he knew our names and was aware that it was our anniversary. He thanked us for spending our anniversary with them, noted that they had some “exciting” stuff planned for us, and then asked us if HE could get a picture with US. It was a special little touch to word it that way, and it didn’t even occur to me until the next day that the pictures were on my wife’s phone so he’d never get them, but it was just a small deliberate effort he made that made both of us feel really special.
We were escorted into the courtyard, to a somewhat secluded table about 75’ from the nearest table where a copy of the The French Laundry cookbook with a message from Chef Keller was waiting for us. Quickly thereafter we were presented an entire bottle of Krug 173eme to enjoy through the first couple of bites. Opening with such an incredible champagne really set the tone for the quality of wines we’d been seeing throughout the night, and while a couple we got were off the by-the-glass list (but were still wonderful) there were some others later in the meal they were very clearly trying to spoil us with. We were not presented any menus at the table since we had made arrangements ahead of time with our concierge, noting that I wanted to partake in the “normal” 18-course Evolution Menu, and that my wife wanted the “A Tasting of Vegetables” version of the Evolution Menu. From what I’ve seen I don’t think going through the meal blind this is the typical experience, but I actually loved not knowing what was going to be coming out and when. The surprise of each dish showing up elevated the experience for me.
To kick things off, we were brought several amuse-bouche. I got the trademark "salmon cornet", which is an incredibly delicate and thin sesame tuile rolled into a cone shape, filled with red onion and shallot creme fraiche, and topped with salmon tartare, with a single little whisper thin slice of chive. My wife received the same thing, but hers was topped with a heavily concentrated beet root and poppy seed jam and filled with horseradish creme fraiche. The tuile was unbelievably delicate and thin. It virtually melted on my tongue like a communion wafer (apropos since this was a religious experience for me) and had the faintest hint of toasted sesame oil. Taken in one single bite, it felt quite similar to lox, given the cold salmon and with the creme fraiche playing the role of cream cheese. (8.5/10). My wife’s was similar but decidedly sweeter, no doubt from the cooked down beet root. It felt more like an everything bagel, and while the horseradish flavor was *incredibly* strong, I couldn't detect a single fiber of actual horseradish in it which was impressive, and there was absolutely of that sinus napalm effect that raw horseradish can have sometimes. If I’m being honest, I liked hers just a tiny bit better, and after getting the tiniest taste of the horseradish in her first bite she insisted I eat the rest so that no one saw she didn't finish her very first offering of the evening. I was all too happy to oblige her (8.7/10).
The next amuse-bouche were presented on a little sterling silver tower with little silver platters on it to hold the food; We both got a pimento cheese cracker and an additional unique bite. The pimento cheese cracker, while being the best pimento cheese I have ever had, was outshined by all of the other bites presented and felt a little out of place (7/10). My other bite was a chicken liver sausage "en croute" and the little breading around it was surprisingly crispy considering it looks like it was going to be gummy. The sausage was beautifully soft and packed with umami. I can most closely liken it to a chicken breakfast sausage, but with no sage in it. I don't know how they cooked both together with neither getting overcooked, but they did it (8/10). Her extra bite was a potato croquette with a Parmesan emulsion on top of it. I only tried a tiny sliver of this one since it was so small, but it was the fluffiest potato I've ever had and was *packed* with butter and cream (8/10).
Up next was our first official dish of the evening …Oysters and Pearls....
Where do I even begin? This was the single moment of the evening I was anticipating the most and dreading the most. I had dreamed thousands of times what it would be like if I ever got to taste this dish, and when the Mother of Pearl spoon was set down in front of me, I started to get a bit overwhelmed because I knew what would follow shortly after. Mine was the classic version with 2 plump juicy, expertly trimmed oysters that had been poached in beurre monte, and a beautiful quenelle of Regiis Ova caviar that had to have been at least 15 grams. They pulled the little lid off and I just stared at it for a good 45 seconds. When I finally took a bite, it was pure culinary nirvana. The tapioca and sabayon combined to form the most decadent, velvety, luxurious bite of food I had ever had in my life. The sabayon held as much butter as it could without splitting, the shallot and chive gave the earthy bite it needed which made way for the vermouth and vinegar to brighten your palate before the caviar and oyster gave up their juices, coating the rest of the bite in just the perfect amount of brine. (12/10) *The greatest injustice of the evening was that it was only 5 bites of food, but it was the 5 bites of food that I will always think back to whenever I remember this evening, or am asked what the best thing I have ever eaten is*. My wife’s version was made with a Vidalia onion sabayon, and red quinoa "caviar" that had been clearly cooked in vegetarian dashi and kombu to give it that "oceanic" feel. She loved it as well, but knowing it was the first of 18 courses and was very rich, opted not to finish it; A situation that I happily rectified. (10/10)
For the next dish, we were both presented with the same thing. Celery Gazpacho with Walnut and Endive relish. Our bowls initially came out with just the relish and some garnish in them, then while our lead host was explaining the dish to us, 2 other people appeared and began pouring the soup in. I don't love celery. In fact, I actively dislike celery unless it's part of mirepoix for something and I dice it really fine, so it virtually disappears as a flavor or texture. As a result, this dish was a challenge, but I was still able to appreciate the quality of ingredients and the technique that went into it. The bites with the relish were better, but bites that were just soup were not great. Still though, I ate over half of it and aesthetically it was as pretty as soup gets. It was electric green and despite my not loving it, it served as a great palate cleanser for the next courses. (4/10)
Next up was a seafood course, for which they actually brought us 4 separate dishes at once. My dishes for the seafood course were: Langoustine Tartare, Bluefin Tuna Sashimi, Sea Urchin Panna Cotta, and fried San Francisco Bay Black Cod. The Panna Cotta is where I decided to …dive… in, and it was the overwhelming star of the 4 dishes for me. I love uni, and next to caviar I think it's the "purest" presentation of what food out of the ocean should taste like. There was a little tuile "blunt" on top was packed with more Regiis Ova caviar, and it made a great scoop for the panna cotta (it really felt like the *** version of the JR dipper cheese and breadsticks my mom used to put in my elementary school lunchbox.) The combination of caviar and panna cotta was pure sea brine bliss (10/10). The Langoustine Tartare had a nice acidic relish on top of it that cut through the fat of the langoustine nicely. The 2 together were greater than the sum of their parts (9/10). The Tuna Sashimi was my least favorite of the 4; Not because I disliked the fish, but the shiso verge it was presented with was quite a bit too aromatic for my tastes, and it felt a bit like eating perfume or potpourri. Unfortunately, the fish was resting in a bed of the vierge so it was unavoidable (6/10). The black cod was the most immaculately fried piece of any protein I've ever been presented, and the cod was perfectly flaky. There was an "English muffin" on top was a bit of a question mark for me, it didn't seem to add anything, but I think they just didn't want to send out a piece of fried fish with nothing on it, although I don't think I would have objected. (8/10).
For her "seafood" course the missus received: Compressed Cucumber-Celtuce, Charred Haricots Verts, Eggplant "Royale", and fried Brokaw Avocado. She started on the Eggplant Royale, which was her second favorite dish of the evening. It tasted *exactly* like eggplant Parmesan if you were to top it with pesto instead of marinara. This one was a visual surprise to me because it looked like a 2-bite slice of purple cheesecake (I thought it was ube until the explained it), and came swimming in a black truffle cream sauce, with a float of Basil Oil around the rim. The Italian in me loved this dish a lot (10/10). The haricots verts were beautifully smoky from the char, and had been grilled just long enough to soften, but retain most of their bite. They had a tempura shiso leaf on top and taking a little bit of each together was a delightfully bright and smoky combination (9/10). The compressed Celtuce when eaten without the shiso verge was bright and vinegary and had a supremely satisfying snap to it. As “pickled” things go, it was the best pickled anything I've ever had in my life. When the shiso verge got involved though, it fell to the same fate my sashimi did. (9.5/10 without verge, 8/10 with). Interestingly, a bit of her Celtuce taken with my Tuna Sashimi ended up bringing out flavors in one another that completely changed the taste of both dishes and was better than either dish on its own. The fried avocado was exactly what you imagine a piece of fried avocado would be like, and it had the same English muffin my black cod did (7/10).
Next up was another Thomas Keller classic - Hen Egg Custard with ragout of Périgord black truffles, hers had Truffle Butter in place of the ragout. This was my second favorite course of the evening and at any other restaurant I believe this would be the best thing on the menu. Pure luxury and decadence... Rich, velvety Demi-glace, what seems like pounds of truffles, silky smooth steamed egg... If a chasm had opened up and swallowed me whole at this point, I would have died smiling. This was another that I got to have 2 of thanks to my wife thinking it too rich. (11/10 for mine, 10/10 for hers)
Our next course was again the same for both of us and was clearly intended as a palate cleanser. Fig Leaf granita with Pandan oil. I still today don't know what to make of this dish... It was cold, creamy, herbaceous, velvety, salty, umami, astringent. My palate was a bit fried after the first bite of this, and I wondered wtf they were doing as it felt a little like licking a 9v battery, but by the time I got the end it had cleared out my sinuses, refreshed my palate, and ended up actually being quite delightful. (7/10)
For the next course, which was a salad, we were again presented with virtually the same dish, except that mine had "faux gras" (they can't serve the real thing in California, so this is an enriched chicken liver mousse that they made taste 99% like foie gras). This was hands down the best salad I have ever eaten, and the baby fennel and Meyer lemon vierge were just the right acidity to cut through the fattiness of the “faux gras” gateau. The standalone cherry presented on the plate had been soaking in what I assume is a reduced Kirsch liquor syrup, and brought out a whole different set of flavors when paired with a bite of the gateau. I would have happily eaten another or 4 platefuls (10/10). She absolutely loved hers and said it was her 3rd favorite dish of the night. To replace the gateau in hers they gave her a few dollops of Comte infused creme fraiche (10/10).
Now, onto the proteins! For my first protein I got a pan seared Atlantic Snapper with some smashed yellow potatoes and sauce Americaine (a lobster and tomato based sauce, reduced waaaaaaay down). The fish was of course cooked absolutely perfectly, and the sauce was incredibly rich and balanced, while the lobster flavor really popped. Thanks to being so heavily reduced it coated my whole mouth with every bite. Paired with the White Burgundy the fish really shined through and became the prominent flavor, but with the Barbaresco, the deep "red" flavors of the sauce really came through (9/10). Her first "protein" was her favorite dish of the night by far, and for me it was the most special thing they did for us the whole evening (and continued to do for us for a few days afterwards, you'll see why soon). When they brought hers out, they informed us that they had never done the evolution menu as vegetarian before that night, so Chef Keller and the team wanted to do something special to commemorate it. The resulting dish she was presented (Oregon Morel Mushroom a la Kiev) was something they had never made before... She was literally the first person in the 32 years they have been open to taste this dish. They poached the Morel in black truffle beurre monte, stuffed it with black truffle, diced morels, and butter, then breaded and fried it. It was presented in a Manchego cheese foam, with a sauteed head of little gem lettuce from their garden. No mushroom in the history of mushrooms has ever mushroomed more than this mushroom did. She offered me half of it, but I took the tiniest bite possible so she could enjoy it all. I gave it an 11/10, she gave it 100/10. In fact, we both raved about it so much, that it was on the "a tasting of vegetables" menu for almost a week after we ate there. It blows my mind and gets me a little teary-eyed thinking about what they did for her, and that she was so over the moon about it that she influenced the menu of one of the best restaurants in the world.
The next course again the same for us both, and was a pasta dish, which I was REAAAAAAAAAAAALY hoping we would get, so I was agog when they brought out the fattest raviolo I have ever seen in my entire life (it was easily the same size as my S25+) and was packed to the rafters with Brentwood corn cheese. It was topped with a gorgeous Parmesan crisp, and it all sat in velvety rich cream sauce made from the same corn. Before we got a chance to pick up our cutlery they brought out the truffle box and shaved what felt like an almost unreasonable amount of Australian Black Truffle onto our plates. Somewhere around half of a golf-ball sized truffle was shaved onto our 2 plates. The Ravioli and corn sauce were already incredible on their own, but the addition of so much fresh truffle was just… divine. Unfortunately for my wife, the truffles proved to be a bit too “musty” for her, so she did not finish hers. But again, I was willing to take one for the team, and I finished hers before any of the term serving us was the wiser (11/10).
To continue building on the momentum they had established heading into the final courses, we were both presented with a tartare course. Mine was Miyazaki A5 Wagyu, tossed in nuoc-cham sauce, and topped with the juiciest, brightest slices of manila mango I have ever seen. It was the first time I've had tartare prepared in a way other than traditional French way, and the Asian twist on it was refreshing and inspired. The nuoc-chom brought the acid and brine you'd normally get from the capers and Dijon to the table, yet it was subdued enough that the Wagyu remained the center of attention. The mango was a beautiful accent to the acidity, and together it all served to open the palate for the star of the show nicely. I was a little surprised it wasn't presented with a bread or cracker of some sort like tartare often is, but once I took a bite, It was clear that no carrier was needed (10/10). Hers was 99.9% the same, but instead of Wagyu her "tartare" was diced and marinated hearts of palm and mango (9.5/10).
The next course was a real surprise for me. They are obviously a French restaurant primarily (duh), and as you've seen with some of the things we have been presented, they have taken on some Asian influence. But I have never seen them do anything Mexican inspired, which is what I got next. I received smoked quail al pastor which was absolutely divine. When I asked them to tell me a little about the preparation, the told me that before it hit the smoker they pulled the skin away from the breast meat and stuffed the space between with chorizo, then as it was being smoked, they treated it like Peking duck, but they were dripping fortified pineapple juice on it to crisp the skin as it smoked. The skin was glossy and crisp, just like on really high-quality Peking duck, and it shattered like glass between my teeth. The grilled pineapple and pickled radish that accompanied rounded out each bite with the acid and brightness needed to cut through the smoke and the breast so was incredibly moist and shining from all the fat still within it (11/10). My wife received Artichoke Rockefeller with wilted arrowhead spinach, and a ramp hollandaise. Imagine spinach artichoke dip, but if someone spent their whole life perfecting their recipe. The balance between the herbaceousness of the spinach, the savory cream, and the rich ramp hollandaise was absolutely perfect. The only problem I had with this dish was that the ratio between hollandaise and the main ingredient was off, and there was a lot of leftover hollandaise, and it was just too rich after everything else she had already eaten to try to finish by itself. (10/10)
For my final protein I got an herb roasted veal tenderloin, stuffed with boudin Blanc, served on a saffron jus. As one would expect, the veal was perfectly prepared and cooked. The herb crust helped balance out the richness of the jus, and the cognac in the boudin Blanc pulled that sort of ethereal and earthy feeling only aged spirits can bring to the table. The little parcel of lightly cooked garden summer squashes was a nice mini palate cleanser between bites and kept the perfuminess of the saffron from overwhelming the palate (10/10). She got a riff on ratatouille which was set in a consommé of tomato vine and had green tomato and summer squash oil dropped into it. This was the winner of the night as far as presentation goes and wouldn’t feel out of place in a museum. This was all the flavors of a vegetable garden distilled into a few bites of extremely concentrated flavor. It was 5 spoonfuls of summer and sunlight captured in food form. (11/10)
With our final main dish under our belts, were both presented with a cheese course, which for both of us was a cave aged Comte tartlette with differing toppings between each presentation. To be honest, at this point I had a buzz from all the wine (we consumed the volume of 4 whole bottles before we left) and neither of us really liked the tartlette, so there are no pictures of this, and it was the only dish that neither of us finished all night. My tasting notes for this dish are: “I do not like super aged Comte cheese.” If I’m being honest, it broke the spell a little bit for a few minutes. They offered to bring us the gougeres from the "normal" menu to replace these, but we declined as we had already eaten so much, and we both wanted to have room left for dessert.
For dessert we both received: Coffee and donuts, "Not-Hershey Kisses" with special "Happy Anniversary" message in them, Chocolate covered roasted macadamia nuts, German chocolate macarons, Black truffle and chocolate gateau, and for the “main” dessert, Mixed berry "pavlova" - which was nestled in a Vanilla Chantilly cream, lemon verbena crema, and all topped with mixed berry sorbet and assorted berries from the garden. The desserts were all incredible and sooooo rich and decadent. With all of the truffle and chocolate around the table, the bright acidity of the sorbet was a much needed contrast and it was my favorite of all of the dessert offerings. Coffee and Donuts was incredible as well and lived up to the hype. Overall, for all desserts, 10/10.
We were offered a tour of the wine cellar on the way out, which we accepted. It was jaw-dropping seeing literally millions of dollars in wine, but we got to have a really nice conversation with a few of the somms about their experiences in the wine world, what their “epiphany” bottles were, and what life in fine dining is like. As we were leaving we were presented with a French Laundry logo bag full of goodies for us that included 2 tins of shortbreads, 2 K+M chocolate bars, our cookbook, our menus and wine pairings for the evening, and a bottle of Chef Keller's private label (produced by Schramsberg) BdB Extra Brut with a laser engraved message to us on it
All in all, it was an incredibly magical evening, and the best way I could ever imagine spending 5 hours of my life. After 24 years of waiting, my wildest dreams were exceeded, and the team at the The French Laundry gave us the best night of our lives.
Final rating - 1,000,000/10