For some time, John has wanted to eat at a Thomas Keller restaurant. We tried to switch our Vegas reservations this summer instead of Mesa Grill, but that didn't work out. So, his one request for this trip was to eat at Bouchon Bistro in Beverly Hills. I was more than happy to make that happen.
I had to admit that I wasn't really familiar with Thomas Keller. But then John told me he's the chef/owner of The French Laundry in Yountville, CA. That I did know about. Especially its reputation.
Let me just say that this was the perfect eating experience. It was so good, it was the only meal we ate the entire day. We had accidentally parked a few blocks further away than we needed, which worked out just fine. The weather was perfect and made for a great stroll.
The only hiccup was finding the actual restaurant -- they have a bar, bakery, and bistro all right there together. The bar and bakery were easy to find, but the restaurant is actually upstairs with no signage to point us in the right direction.
The only other challenge was deciding what to eat. John said that they were known for their fries, so that was a must. I had a salad that was shaped like a bouquet, which was as beautiful as it was delicious. John had the steak tartar. For our entrees, I had a pasta dish special and John had the Steak and Frites (despite having steak twice). For dessert I had little muffin-shaped brownies with ice cream and John had profiteroles, both of which were awesome.
Aside from the incredible food and absolutely superb service, we finally spotted someone kind-of famous. Right after we sat down, John noticed a gentleman with rather distinctive hair just a few tables away. It was film producer ( and Ron Howard's partner at Imagine Entertainment) Brian Grazer.
After our amazing lunch, we took a quick stroll through Beverly Hills, which I hadn't done in over a decade. We walked through Via Rodeo, which is like a little slice of Epcot.
Our last stop was Rodeo Collection, which I hadn't been to since my very first visit. Besides being a cool little shopping center tucked away behind the regular shops, Brian DePalma had filmed a memorable scene from Body Double there back in the early 80s, which was why I had hunted it down before.
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