McLaundry

In DINING AT MCLAUNDRY travel writer Mark Vanhoenacker of the Guardian compares a meal he ate at the famous French Laundry in Napa with the other "most internationally renowned" American restaurant: McDonalds. I found his article hilarious. A few highlights:

Both restaurants have a set menu. At McDonald's, they call this their Value Meal, which comes with a soda-pairing. Their Dollar Menu also essentially works as a tasting menu, letting diners sample widely on smaller portions.

...At McDonald's one is not likely to be served such French Laundry delights as a Tajine of Sweetbreads or Confit de Coeur de Veau. ... Yet these are just the sorts of animal parts that fast-food restaurants have long been accused of stuffing into their burgers. Why is offal okay when Thomas Keller uses it? Both restaurants serve impressive pommes frites.

...This is not to diminish the thoughtful criticism that is often lobbed at McDonald's. Many accuse the fast-food chain of enslaving diners with precision-engineered, high-fat, high-salt food that is nearly drug-like in its power to induce a delirious, short-lived “high”, followed by an uncontrollable desire for more. It is just that this pretty much describes the food at the French Laundry, too, just at a considerably higher personal financial cost.