KellerWire: Thomas Keller's Luxury Inn Finally Approved

Yountville: A solid six years of negotiations in the making, Thomas Keller's luxury inn directly across the way from the French Laundry has, at long last, been approved by the Yountville city council:

The inn will be constructed on a 3.1 acre site across the street from the French Laundry. The site will retain the culinary gardens currently in use for dishes prepared at the restaurant. The general look of the new inn will be flat roofed buildings with a minimalist, geometric form, built of simple, humble materials said John Frame, the architect. The inn's name was originally submitted as the Aloysius Inn and should break ground next spring.

Given The Laundryman, it should come as no surprise that someone at the meeting called the inn "one of the most carefully planned projects ... in Yountville," and we're thinking that the inn's 20 rooms will probably go as quickly as the 60 seats at the French Laundry do. Also, sifting through the various legal documents online, we see that the 20-room (15,430 square feet) inn includes plans for a 2,775 square-foot "dining and lounge" area. Throw in the burger project, the next wave(s) of Keller madness in Yountville is very much en route.
· Thomas Keller's Luxury Inn gets Yountville Council approval [Napa Valley Address]
· Official Project Statement [.pdf]

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