Ad Hoc

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 as possible”.

Daily pri fixed menu. Our night it was very dairy heavy, dairy in the sides, entree, and dessert. It is a classy resturant but the menu is the menu so that could dissuade a picky group.

Great food, service, and management. We didn’t think we’ll be full but we were stuffed. The cheese board was the best part with the wine pairing.

Extraordinarily mediocre. Our group of five dined in for lunch. The only option given is a prix fixe menu for $45 pp + a $30 fried chicken addition.

The arugula salad was heavily salted, while the rest of the entrees and sides weighed us down. They are known for their fried chicken, but it’s just like any other fried chicken you get with lot of breading. The sides were quite forgettable; your local soul food restaurant will be better. The brisket was okay but I wish we had the option to cut portion in half since it was excessive.

The saving grace was the lemon meringue tart!

I am lucky enough to have been to French laundry (best meal I ever had) and Bouchon and I know this is not meant to be on par with those, but I was disappointed nonetheless. The cavier was the most memorable part of the meal (one from Russian river -saltier- and one from china- smoother- both great). The steak and fried chicken were both cooked perfectly but again nothing better than some restaurants I’ve been to in Sebastopol, Healdsburg, or SF. And the dessert was ok but to me tasted like a breakfast cereal from my childhood. The wine pairing was ok but a little surprising only because none of the 3 wines were from Napa. The waitstaff is very good although the presentation is not airtight and the aesthetics of the food is a little bit lacking , could use more pizazz. I will probably wait awhile before trying this place again as I’m sure it will grow better.

We decided to forgo another reservation so we could hang out with Thomas Keller. It was a good decision assuming you like the fixed menu. Our night it was chicken and dumplings served with a salad before and a cheese plate after. The desert was make your own sundaes because it was Sunday! There were additions to the fixed menu that you could order if you wanted. But we had more than enough just with the fixed menu.

This might have been the best meal I have ever had. That fried chicken! Wow! Wow! Wow! They accommodated a dairy allergy beautifully adapting each course so one of us had the original menu and one of us had the dairy free option.

Couldn’t have picked a better spot to celebrate my birthday! The spinach salad with the lemon dill dressing was delicious! We added half an order of the Mac and Cheese, which was also to die for. We were absolutely stuffed when we left. Will be back next time we visit Napa!!!

We ordered to go from Ad Hoc after a long day of wine tasting. Instead of going out to dinner we planned on ordering the famous fried chicken and truffle Mac n Cheese and it didn’t disappoint. I highly recommend this experience if you’re looking to eat in your room but still want to experience a world famous restaurant.

We came here for the buttermilk fried chicken, but they don’t serve it everyday, so make sure to visit at the right time if you are here for the fried chicken. We had the pork chops instead and it was still perfectly cooked, the service was also amazing!