It’s great to have friends in high places and when it comes to America and restaurants they don’t come any higher or bigger than Thomas Keller.

Thomas is not only the owner of two amazing Michelin Three Star restaurants in The French Laundry and Per Se , but he also has Bouchon Bistro in now three locations and the Bouchon bakeries that produce what I believe is the best bread in America. So when I was asked to do a luncheon in LA for Qantas and Tourism NSW and a cocktail party the day before in New Beach, I knew we needed to get some help, at least with ordering fresh supplies. I emailed Thomas and straight away he told me to relax and that Rory Herrmann, executive chef at Bouchon Beverly Hills would help us and organise everything. What a fantastic help they were. They ordered all the food, helped with all the prep and delivered freshly baked bread to the function as we put the finishing touches on.

They were truly amazing and because of that Phil and I were able to do wonderful Rockpool food at the luncheon. We prepped on the Tuesday, Rory sent us off straight after a great lunch of mussels, chips and the famous roast chicken, Phil drove us to New Beach to do the cocktail party (somehow he didn’t fall asleep and kill us, being horrendously jet lagged) and then the next morning we were up and in the kitchen again.

From there to the Consul General’s home for the lunch and I can honestly say, without the huge generosity of Thomas, Rory and his crew it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good and certainly not as much fun!

Last week, Phil Wood, Executive Chef of Rockpool and I were in LA to do a lunch for Qantas and NSW Tourism. We were lucky enough to be helped by Rory Hermann and his amazing team at Bouchon Bistro, but more about that in a later blog. This is all about the beautiful food we ate at Thomas Keller’s brand new Bouchon Bistro in Beverly Hills, where Rory is Executive Chef. 

This is a stunning, classic looking restaurant that has a wonderful feel about it when sitting there and enjoying a meal. The detail and well crafted finishes make this a special place. Add to that the buzz of lots of people enjoying the ambience, food, wine and service and this really is a great experience. 

The restaurant menu features classic after classic, that Thomas and Rorys’ team have cooked with such passion and craft that it transcends your expectations of a bistro or brassiere. It is opulent and sophisticated, and as usual, everything you would expect from a Thomas Keller restaurant. The guys here are doing approachable food amazingly well. This is the type of food that you could eat every day and keep coming back for more. 

We started with a wonderfully fresh grand platter of seafood, moved on to a generous plate of charcuterie, a blend of house made and best hams in the world, a lush salmon rillette, a light and delicious white bean puree, some gorgeous foie gras, the texture that only Thomas seems to get with pistachio cream, followed by roast figs, sunchokes and blood orange, then a crisp skin snapper cooked to perfection, and to finish, a pave of lam leg with roasted vegetables and panisse. Well we thought we were finished, then Scott the pastry chef spoiled us further with a number of incredibly textured and flavoured sweet treats. Among them, crème caramel, pot a crèmes, chocolate slice, lemon tart, doughnuts and chocolate bouchons. A truly wonderful and indulgent meal – completely looked after by great friends. 

The next day, we returned for a quick lunch before setting off for a function I needed to speak at in Newport…a bowl of mussels with saffron and chips and one of the specialties, Roast chicken. As expected, it was yummy and once again displayed the quality at work in the kitchen.