New York Can Wait

The hottest rumor in New York this summer has been that Thomas Keller would open a restaurant in the Big Apple. Keller says it’s premature: “We’re looking at different opportunities, but there is nothing happening right now.”

If something does spin off, it won’t be another French Laundry but rather a clone of Keller’s mid-priced urban bistro Bouchon, which opened in Yountville last year.

“I won’t do San Francisco, because that would cannibalize my restaurants here,” he says. “I’d love to do Los Angeles, but there’s already a restaurant called Bouchon there. Las Vegas? Who knows. New York scares me to death.”

Whatever happens, Keller says it won’t be for at least 18 months to two years. “Until I see something compelling,” he adds, “I’m not going to rush out and do something just for the sake of doing it.”