Sally Schmitt, who with her husband, Don, opened the French Laundry, the now-famous restaurant in Napa Valley in 1978, and in doing so helped solidify the valley as a food-and-wine destination and start a culinary movement built on seasonal local ingredients, died Saturday at her home in Philo, California. She was 90.
The Schmitts arrived in Yountville, about 60 miles north of San Francisco, in 1967 to manage a shopping arcade, and soon Sally had taken over a hamburger-and-sandwich place there. Four years later she opened the more ambitious Chutney Kitchen, which served lunch and, once a month by reservation only, dinner. Soon the dinners were twice a month, and she added theme dinners and more.
The restaurant they opened there in February 1978 also had its own personality. With Don Schmitt curating an extensive wine menu, Sally Schmitt planned and prepared the meals, one menu each night, built around what was in season locally and in supply. Guests had their table for the evening; they were welcome to linger for three or four hours if they chose.
“Some things can’t be improved upon, because they’re so basic and so real,” she told The Chronicle. “I resist the trendy stuff. Sometimes even if I like something, I won’t do it until it cools off somewhat.” She grew up in the Sacramento Valley, where her family had enough land to grow vegetables and keep a cow; as a child she churned butter and learned canning. And kitchen techniques.
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