Yes, I ate at the French Laundry. Be jealous.

My only regret from our recent trip to the French Laundry is the lack of pictures - oh, to feel uninhibited enough to use flash photography in a room full of really disgustingly rich people!!!

We do have a few pics, but the camera is currently dead, so I'll post those at a later time.

All I can say is, the hype exists for a reason. As does the cost...though I hesitate to say that ANY restaurant on this Earth deserves a price tag quite as hefty as THAT one, but if anyplace does, it's Thomas Keller's ode to all things delicious.

The menu consists of nine courses. You are actually served something closer to 13 or 14, once you count the two separate bread courses, the amuse bouche, and the plethora of desserts that just seem to keep going and going and going...

There is no set wine pairing menu as some people suggest - the menu changes daily and therefore they don't set the wines in stone - but one of our, oh I don't know, 18 servers was more than happy to make wine suggestions to us for the evening. Actually, I'm fairly certain he was the restaurant's sommelier, now that I think about it, reaching back through the wine-induced haze that ended our evening.

The decor is elegant and not overly stuffy - though some of the clientele certainly makes it a bit more so.

I think I'm going to stop myself from writing about the actual food until I'm able to get at those pictures...but let me just say, if you have a special occasion coming up, and you have a big ol' soft spot for food (and a sizable savings account), you should absolutely, 150% check out the French Laundry.

And if you go, why not stay in the LOVELY hotel across the street that we did - you can walk to dinner and it is a GORGEOUS hotel - one of the best I've ever stayed at. The Vintage Inn in Yountville, CA. Do it. You won't regret it.

(And did I mention that the Vintage Inn hosts a gigantic breakfast buffet EVERY DAY? With a live OMELET STATION? And CHAMPAGNE? Free for hotel guests. I die.)