"French Laundry" news and stories

Endorsements are usually left for top-tier athletes and movie stars, but now chefs are in the mix too, endorsing things like stock pots, muffin tins and...automobiles? Yup. Thomas Keller, chef-owner of the revered French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley, has signed on with BMW to enlist a fleet of the company's new ActiveHybrid 7 car (priced at $102,300), for the restaurant's new concierge service, reports Bloomberg.

The partnership is also being honored with a BMW-inspired menu at the restaurant, featuring a Four Story Farm apple-fed pork loin with bratwurst, braised red cabbage, apple dumplings and grain mustard sauce. It's German, get it?

While the restaurant-automobile deal is new, it isn't entirely out of left field -- the French Laundry and BMW share a similar (well-to-do) clientele. "Our guests at the French Laundry are people who have BMWs or are looking at BMWs," says Keller, as reported by Bloomberg, while BMW is vying for the top spot against Lexus, which "remained the sales leader through August," above BMW and Mercedes, Bloomberg notes.

Plus, Keller does have a couple in his garage -- a 5-Series wagon for daily use, and a 1978 BMW 320i, the first car he ever owned, which he lovingly restored four years ago.

Another day, another list. This time, it's Anthony Bourdain's "13 Places to Eat Before You Die," which appears in the June issue of Men's Health. Bourdain's article shouts out restaurants and stores across the globe, from New York's smoked fish shrine Russ & Daughters to Spain's gourmand ground zero, elBulli.

Bourdain acknowledges that as "any seasoned traveler can tell you, the 'best' meals on the planet are the result of an ephemeral confluence of circumstances," and makes convincing arguments for each of his picks, which also include Kansas City, Kan.'s Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue, Tokyo's Sukiyabashi Jiro and London's St. John.

But even with the disclaimer and rationale behind Bourdain's choices, plenty are as likely to find fault with his logic (and apparently abundant frequent flier miles) as they are with a list proclaiming, say, the best pizza places in the U.S.

We have the text of the article so you can weigh in on Bourdain's hits -- and misses -- after the jump.

• Lamb shoulder has it all -- affordability, flavor and tons of tasty variations.
• We always hear about diners' complaints, but here's a report about the crazies (um, that'd be us civilians) the restaurant staff has to deal with.
• Gluten-free noodles from Italy's Rustichella d'Abruzzo are here. The verdict: The rice is not so nice, but the corn is totally sweet.
• The Cupcake Kit: An "all-encompassing" kit to make cupcakes a bit more festive.
• Berkeley's Sea Salt offers a revamped bar menu with nibbles including devilled duck eggs and ahi tuna mini-burgers.
• French Laundry gets a new chef de cuisine; Corey Lee heads out on his own and Timothy Hollingsworth takes over.
• Tom Colicchio (head judge of "Top Chef") and sous chef Sisha Ortuzar have cooked up a new book of "'Wichcraft."
• Did you know that there are a myriad of olive oils to suit different needs in the kitchen? A new book might help enlighten you.

Because I'm fascinated by food, it should come as no surprise to any of you out there that I read a lot of food blogs. There are a bunch that I've been following a long time, and some that are relatively recent additions to my RSS reader. One that has become a new favorite of mine, is French Laundry at Home.

Carol started her project back in January and has been steadily cooking her way through Thomas Keller's cookbook ever since. She not only prepares his recipes, but documents each step along the way with pictures and notes about her progress. She is not shy admitting where she deviates from the written recipe and lets her readers know how she and her tasters enjoyed each dish. In addition to being a pretty able cook, she's an entertaining writer, and when I read her posts, I begin to feel like she's a friend of mine.

The picture above is from one of her latest posts, when she made Nectarine Salad with Green Tomato Confiture and Hazelnut Sabayon.

Could you imagine waking up at dawn each morning to knead and shape dough, letting it rise for a few hours, then take it to a centrally located oven where it is baked alongside everyone else's? This is the norm for many families in places like Morocco, though with modernization the tradition is beginning to fade.

In Pixar's latest film Ratatouille, Remy the Rat learned his culinary skills from the best of the best - Thomas Keller, owner of French Laundry in Yountville, California.

Is your organic food really all organic? The Department of Agriculture is preparing to approve a list of non-organic ingredients that could make the cut in food stamped with their organic seal

Eric Asimov takes a look at the delights of Beaujolais in 'The Pour'

Frank Bruni asks some of the more prominent names in the food industry which meals or moments in their pasts were "pinnacles of carnivorous gluttony." Yes, pig snout made the list.

This week's recipes:

Lamb Schnitzels With Mint-Horseradish Pesto, Confit Byaldi, Lamb and Bulgur Kibbe With Garlic Yogurt Sauce, Chicken With Couscous, Moroccan Anise-Flavored Bread (Khubz), Tagine of Fish, Pea and Crab Salad

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