20 years of dreaming and I finally made it to The French Laundry. The staff knew how important this was for me and made it very special.

Well….it was amazing. They knew ahead of time how much this experience meant to me so they gave us some extra courses and halfway through the me, the man emerged like Count Dracula. He immediately came to our table and already knew my name. We chatted for a bit about his favorite spots in Atlanta (home to me) and told us after our meal he would love to give us a tour of the kitchen which we did of course. After the kitchen tour one of the Captains said, “Mr Johnson, before you leave we have a few gifts for you and a couple little suprises.” He then handed me a gift bag and inside was a Keller cookbook, a book called “Chasing Bocuse: America’s Journey to the Culinary World Stage”, a travel book and signed menu customized to me, and of course some French Laundry Cookies. Keller himself then asked us to take some photos with him then encouraged us to hang out in his garden. I took a moment to tell him, “sir, congratulations on all your success, really, all this was so wonderful and amazing”. He looked at me a little funny and said, “Wow, thank you. That really means alot. I have a great team behind me.”

I never thought I’d be here to experience it but I’ve worked really hard and I made it happen. When it was all done I kinda got a little emotional. Being able to dine here has shown me how far I’ve come and it just kinda all hit me at once and I got a little teary eyed.

by kevinspoonie