I Sold The French Laundry. Then It Became ‘the Best Restaurant in the World’

---

By Ben Proudfoot

When my father died, he held disappointment in his heart. He was 66 and had only just retired from a life of 80-hour workweeks as a successful lawyer, and this next chapter promised everything he had skimped on since deciding to go to law school: family time, creative pursuits, fun.

His liver paid no mind, however, and he died on the morning of May 1, 2020. Four days later, I interviewed Sally Schmitt, bathed in golden Californian light, via Zoom, from the damp and shadowy basement of my parents’ home in Nova Scotia. As a filmmaker and entrepreneur, I had always admired and studied the chef Thomas Keller, a walking pinnacle of craftsmanship, refinement and success — my father’s kind of guy.

I had only recently learned about Ms. Schmitt, a pioneer of the Napa Valley culinary scene and the creator of the French Laundry, the restaurant Mr. Keller made world-famous. Talking to Ms. Schmitt that morning, I learned she held a different kind of wisdom: that success may have other definitions. Ms. Schmitt died on March 5, 2022.

But in “The Best Chef in the World,” she shares with delightfully coy candor a message about the rewards of balance and the trap of ambition. I made this film for all of us who struggle “to stir and taste the soup” that already sits in front of us. Perhaps with time and Ms. Schmitt’s example, we will.

Credits Director: Oscar® Award winner (Queen of Basketball) director Ben Proudfoot

Editors: Nick Garnham Wright Featuring: Sally Schmitt

Cinematographer: Brandon Somerhalder, David Bolen

Original Score Composition and Orchestration: Katya Richardson Supervising Sound Editor and Re-Recording Mixer: Sean Higgins

Colorist: Stephen Derluguian

Senior Post Production Supervisor: Dillon Brown Post Production Supervisor: Laura Carlson

Co-Producers: Beatriz Browne, Abby Lynn Kang Davis, Gabriel Berk Godoi, Rachel Greenwald, Brandon Somerhalder

Associate Producers: Elizabeth Brooke, Sarah Stewart

Archival Producer: Sarah Stewart

Online Editor: Tyler Ten Haken

Assistant Editor: Cody Wilson

Second Unit First Assistant Camera: Jordan Scott

Story Reporting: Kirstin Falk

Archival Digitization: Hannah Auslander

Sound Effects Editor: Tom Boykin Foley

Services: POSTRED

Foley Artist: Biko Gogaladze

Foley Mixer: Giorgi Lekishvili

Foley Editor: Alexander Sanikidze

Scoring Mixer: Shachar Boussani Musicians: Dominic Flynn, Ian Gottlieb, Vasilije Katanic, Nick Kennerly, Katya Richardson, Jonathan Schlitt, Niall Taro