Thomas Keller Plans to Open a Hotel at The French Laundry

The French Laundry’s super duper $10 million renovation is almost done, and with its completion comes a new tidbit of news from WSJ. Magazine: chef Thomas Keller has plans to build a small hotel on the property, too.

Given the nearing completion of this project, it makes sense for Keller to leak out news of his next phase. Similar to Single Thread’s model of a fine-dining restaurant with a matching guest house, the chef has apparently purchased an inn adjacent to his property where he plans to build a small hotel. “It’s just a natural extension for the restaurant to have rooms available, too,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “My goal is to be able to retire from my other stuff and reimmerse myself in the French Laundry—even more than in the past.”

According to the article, the current project was originally focused on remodeling the wine cellar; four years later it’s a complete rebirth of the three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Yountville by Snøhetta, the Scandinavian firm that also redesigned SFMOMA.

That means a fancy new 1,981-square-foot kitchen that looks like a spaceship (or a museum, or a spaceship-museum), expanded office space, a butchery area, space for 16,000 bottles of wine (hopefully with a good lock this time), and 9,000-square-feet of new gardens and landscaping.

Snohetta/Curbed SF

As Eater recently reported, the kitchen’s renovations are coming to a close and the dining room’s refresh will begin, with a grand unveiling of the new and improved French Laundry scheduled for late spring/early summer. Stay tuned for more.

• One of the World’s Best Restaurants Gets an Update [WSJ. Magazine]
• The French Laundry’s Makeover will Soon Be Revealed [ESF]
• Inside The French Laundry’s New Snøhetta-Designed Kitchen [Curbed SF]
• All Coverage of The French Laundry [ESF]