Thomas Keller Likely Opening Yountville Ice Cream Parlor

Yountville has become something of a Thomas Keller theme park these days, as wine country tourists who can't scrape up the dough for a meal at The French Laundry, Bouchon, or Ad Hoc instead get their culinary kicks via a Bouchon Bakery pastry, Addendum fried chicken, and aprons from the Finesse gift shop. Now, it looks like Keller is adding another affordable taste of star power to his arsenal: last night, Yountville gave its approval for him to open an ice-cream shop, Bouchon Creamery.

As Inside Scoop reports, the proposed project will take up a 900-square-foot space near to Finesse, the former home of Ras Gallery. It's supposedly not a done deal yet, due to ADA compliance issues that will necessitate a pricey sidewalk makeover, but we can't imagine that access to capital is too much of a concern at the TKRG these days. If it opens, Bouchon Creamery will feature 12 kinds of ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet made on site (Cap'n Crunch, red velvet, and thin mint are some of the proposed flavors), as well as cones and toppings from Bouchon Bakery like homemade Oreo crumbs and walnut streusel. Perhaps it'll be a nice side project to work on during that pending French Laundry renovation that TKRG inexplicably keeps saying may not happen this year, but is totally going to happen this year.

· Keller gets Yountville approval for an ice cream shop [Inside Scoop]
· Keller Opens Finesse, A Yountville Gift Shop [~ ESF ~]
· Watch Thomas Keller Get Sunk in a Dunk Tank [~ ESF ~]