Long before Ellen Eats In had a name, I was already planning trips around food and coming home thinking about what I’d eaten.
When Brandon and I got married in 2010, food was a big part of how we planned our honeymoon. Chef Thomas Keller’s restaurants were high on the list, and The French Laundry was the meal I was most excited about.
I had read about The French Laundry for years, so finally getting to go felt incredibly special.
What I remember most now is how thoughtful everything felt. The pacing, the service, the ingredients, the presentation. It was the kind of dinner where you paid attention because there was always something interesting happening on the plate.
A Meal I Still Remember
I’m glad I have the few photos I took that night.
Back then, I wasn’t thinking about content or lighting. I took pictures because I wanted to remember the meal.
Some are dark. Some are grainy. I definitely didn’t photograph every course.
I kind of love that now.
The pictures aren’t perfect, but the memories are still there.
One of the courses I still remember was the ribeye cap. I’d obviously had that part before in a ribeye steak or prime rib, but I’d never had the prized cap served on its own. It was so rich and tender, and tasting it that way was something else.
That one definitely stayed with me.
What Followed Me Home
A great restaurant meal doesn’t usually make me want to recreate the entire dinner exactly.
Usually, it’s one thing.
A flavor combination I hadn’t thought about before. An ingredient used in a way I hadn’t considered. A texture. A sauce. Or just a dish that was so good I started wondering what my own version could look like.
The ribeye cap was one of those discoveries.
I’ve been doing that for years, long before Ellen Eats In existed.
I’ve loved cooking and baking since I was a kid, and restaurants have always been part of what inspires me. The same is true of travel, family meals, things I grew up eating, and random dishes I find myself thinking about years later.
Where Ellen Eats In Comes In
When I eventually started Ellen Eats In, I realized I was really just giving a name and a place to something I had already been doing.
Some recipes start with something I ate at a restaurant and couldn’t stop thinking about. Others come from travel, a memory, a craving, or wanting to make a really good dinner a little easier.
But I come back to the same question a lot:
How would I make this at home?
That’s really where Inspired Out. Made In. comes from.
The French Laundry isn’t the reason I started Ellen Eats In. But looking back at our honeymoon now, it feels like a pretty perfect example of the kind of experience that has always influenced how I cook.
Sixteen years later, I may not remember every course we ate that night.
But I still remember how much that meal made me want to keep tasting, learning, and cooking.
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