The French Laundry Family Tree

Not only is the French Laundry one of the most influential restaurants in America, it serves as a training ground for chefs who go on to open their own restaurants and raise the culinary bar across the nation. Plus they have brought international recognition to the U.S. at the Bocuse d'Or. Beverly Stephen interviewed a half dozen alums about the part they played and where they are now.

The French Laundry: Training Ground for Top Toques

In 1994, self-taught chef Thomas Keller purchased a little restaurant, housed in a former French steam laundry in tiny Yountville, California, from Don and Sally...