Ad Hoc — Restaurant in Yountville

There’s a bit of a trend of very successful, famous chefs opening restaurants to be more accessible to a broader public, themed around more… universally known and appreciated dishes. Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc is such a place, as is, for example, Grant Achatz’ Roister.

There is a difference between the two though; Roister, itself a Michelin-starred restaurant, built a menu that has fried chicken at its center, but the quality and refinement of the food, as well as the service, is still centered around a very high aspiration when it comes to experience.

It seems that Ad Hoc has also tweaked the experience elements to be more geared towards the masses, and while not a bad thing per se, we had to adjust our expectations a bit.

One of their gimmicks is serving soft drinks strictly in cans - which is kind of a fun element for sure. The unclean tables and sticky floor were not as great an element though, and really not what we expected. Part of what didn’t give us the best possible experience was the fact that we sat next to a family with three small kids, who were loud and very active/running around, and whose parents didn’t seem too interested in keeping their volume somewhat under control.

Service was friendly, but a bit more hands off than I would’ve expected and not super engaging.

The food was spectacular - not because of how refined it was, but definitely because of how it tasted. We were somewhat disappointed that the famous fried chicken wasn’t on the menu the night we visited, but the potato salad, pork chops and the brats with sauerkraut more than made up for it - absolutely stellar.

What was rather odd was the portion sizes. The brats were an optional add-in to the menu and because I love sauerkraut, I really wanted to experience those. I expected them to be modest and “refined” in style and size, but after a huge bowl of absolutely delicious potato salad, followed by a gigantic plate with two massive pork chops and a mountain of mashed potatoes, they brought out a humongous plate of French fries and two massive hotdog buns with giant brats covered under a pile of sauerkraut. Three dishes in a row with potatoes, and enough in total to feed a small orphanage.

They were the best brats I’ve ever had bar none, but at that point I was already so completely stuffed full of carbs and we still had a cheese course (with pretzel buns) and dessert to go.

All in all, I can’t recommend the food enough - though we’d still have been super content with less than a third of the quantity, and maybe a slightly better balance in the menu when it came to carbs.

The ambience wasn’t exactly what we had expected (although we may have had a bit of bad luck contributing to it) but not terrible in any way. Clean tables and floors would have added to a more positive experience. We also felt rushed through - we had all of the above-mentioned five courses in an hour and were out the door in 70 minutes. It did give a strong vibe of “trying to turn as many tables...

My first Thomas Keller experience and a big personal moment.

Chef Keller has long been my favorite American chef. I’ve read two of his cookbooks cover to cover, and his philosophy around precision, produce, and the farm-to-table ethos has shaped how I think about food. Ad Hoc, in particular, felt like the perfect entry point. Casual but rooted in the same ethos as The French Laundry, with ingredients sourced from their farm next door. Apart from the iconic buttermilk fried chicken and maybe the French onion dip, everything else on the menu changes daily.

The brunch was a three-course meal with two optional add-ons. Since there were five of us, we decided to try everything, and just as I’d hoped, every dish was delicious.

French Onion Dip + Kettle Chips – A staple for a reason. The house-made chips had that rustic crunch with a slight (and pleasant) bitterness. But the real highlight was the French onion dip. Ultra-savory, creamy without being heavy, and topped with an unapologetically generous layer of chopped scallions. Possibly the best version I’ve had.

Garden Salad – Most of my friends thought it was plain. But knowing the backstory made me appreciate the details. The strawberries, for example, were unbelievably sweet (never had one this sweet in the US). Chef Keller writes about harvesting before sunrise to preserve natural sugars. It’s one of those dishes where simplicity is elevated through sourcing and intention.

Çılbır – Poached eggs over yogurt with chili oil. Probably the most subdued dish of the meal. But the sourdough that came with it was phenomenal.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken – Hands down the best “American-style” fried chicken I’ve had. At first glance, it looked ordinary, something between Popeyes and KFC. But the brining made all the difference. Moist, tender, and evenly seasoned throughout. Even the breast pieces, which I usually leave behind, were perfectly juicy. I’d come back to Yountville just to take home a box of this.

Vanilla Soft Serve – Texturally flawless. So smooth it almost looked like shaving cream (in a good way). The hot chocolate sauce hardened on top just slightly, and flavor-wise, it felt like an elevated version of the nostalgic McD’s...

We were excited for ad hoc because we had heard so much about the fried chicken and also because we had a magical experience at French laundry a few days before. When we got there, we had to wait 15 mins even though we had a reservation. Then we found out that they only charge for the set menu per person - I wasn’t really hungry and had come specifically for the chicken but had to pay the 52 for food I didn’t want PLUS the 30.00 for the chicken. The waiter was unapologetic and since I wanted to try it, I just went with it. When the first course came, it was a watery salad, with some brown edged apples and very wet leaves with salad dressing. I would have let it pass if I was at a diner but this was a Thomas Keller restaurant and I had already experienced excellence at French laundry so this was a huge disappointing start. Then came the steak and greens - we asked for medium well and they overlooked it to the point where it was the texture of leather. The fact that they had to cut this up before putting on sauce I’d expect even a basic chef to be able to tell this wasn’t medium well. I sent it back and the waiter Jarom explained away the mistake, “did you want it more on the medium well side?” He asked. Well yes, that is what I ordered… then came the chicken which was good but again, I had higher expectations but was glad at Least one thing was done well. The table beside us had to send their chicken back because it was cold and I heard our waiter explain away the mistake as well by saying they dont make this every day and there’s a different menu but did offer to get them a warmer plate. It’s absurd for a restaurant of this calibre and price range to get mediocre service AND food. Then the dessert came which was a coconut sorbet with a chocolate cake thing, which was good but way too sweet. I guess it was worth it to satisfy my Curiousity of the chicken and to remind myself that a Thomas Keller restaurant experience is highly dependant on waitstaff and chef which is hit and miss unfortunately. Again, at this price point and with the TK name, you’d hope that they would train staff to create the best experience possible and with...