Napa & New York Guides
They share a chef, a format and a handful of signature dishes. Everything else — the room, the produce, the difficulty of getting in, the reason you are in the city at all — is different.
By The Reservation Desk Editorial Team · Published March 12, 2025 · Last updated · 7 min read
Both serve nine courses across a chef's menu and a vegetable menu, both rewrite daily, both open with the cornet and frequently with Oysters and Pearls.
Yountville is closer to its produce — the garden is across the street — and reads more agricultural. New York has broader access to seafood and imported luxury goods and reads more classical.
The French Laundry is a converted farmhouse with low ceilings and a garden outside. Per Se is a fourth-floor room with floor-to-ceiling windows onto Central Park.
One is a destination at the end of a drive through vineyards; the other is fifteen minutes from a Midtown hotel.
Both release roughly 60 days out with prepayment. Yountville is materially harder because demand is concentrated on a small number of seats in a place people travel to specifically.
Per Se additionally offers salon à la carte dining, which has no equivalent in Yountville and makes New York the easier first visit.
The Reservation Desk Editorial Team — Independent research and editorial team
Our editorial team researches fine-dining access, booking windows and menu formats across the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group. Every guide is compiled from restaurant-published information, official reservation platforms and first-hand dining notes, then re-checked before each update.
This guide is compiled and checked against our verification process and editorial policy.
Availability at Thomas Keller's restaurants moves quickly. Check what is open now, then use our guides to prepare for the release.