The French Laundry Sets Reopening Date; Tons of Reservations Available

The French Laundry has been on pause since the holidays, and in that time, a lot of things have happened: a $300K stash of their high-end wine was stolen, then recovered; their old kitchen was completely demolished; Thomas Keller opened a hot Napa pop-up to temporarily employ the staff, then extended it all the way into the fall; and their sad excuse for PR continued to ignore Eater's calls and emails. But Inside Scoop learned that the three-Michelin-starred icon is ready to return to business with its snazzy new shipping-container kitchen, which is set to commence cooking on Tuesday, April 7. And for the first time, it's super-easy to get a reservation there: the restaurant's book has been released for two months in advance, which means that you can go on OpenTable right now and score one of the most notoriously difficult tables on the planet without breaking a sweat. (Of course, with tasting menus starting at $295 a head, you'll need to have plenty of cash on hand.)

Interestingly, though Keller promised that the French Laundry's return would be accompanied by a move to Nick Kokonas' ticketing system, Tock, that doesn't appear to have happened; the restaurant is asking for credit cards to hold reservations on OpenTable, but it looks like the bill will be paid the old-fashioned way for now. The complete kitchen renovation is likely to extend into the fall, but diners won't notice any difference on their end: the dining room has been given a reprieve from the ongoing construction chaos.