Six California Kitchens: A Collection of Recipes, Stories, and Cooking Lessons from a Pioneer of California Cuisine

Sally Schmitt: Six California Kitchens is running now through October 2nd at The Napa Valley Museum Yountville. We couldn’t be more thankful to The Napa Valley Museum Yountville for taking an interest in Sally’s story and putting together a fantastic exhibit!

From the Napa Valley Museum Yountville: Explore the life and legacy of acclaimed Yountville chef Sally Schmitt, a pioneer of California cuisine who with husband Don founded the iconic restaurant The French Laundry. Sally Schmitt started a culinary movement built on seasonal local ingredients, inspiring generations of chefs and helping to solidify Napa Valley’s reputation as a food-and-wine destination.

Yountville’s The French Laundry was founded by the Schmitts in 1978, and was sold to chef Thomas Keller in 1994. As Keller wrote in the foreword to her memoir and cookbook “Six California Kitchens: A Collection of Recipes, Stories, and Cooking Lessons From a Pioneer of California Cuisine”: “Kind and generous, forthright, and unpretentious … A culinary pioneer but also a throwback, preparing dishes that evoked the most delicious versions of your favorite childhood meals. That is the Sally we all came to know.”

The exhibit includes rare photos of Sally in her kitchens and with her family, and include tributes by those she influenced and delighted with her culinary creations.