Dining at Augusta National? This is how that ‘extraordinary’ experience is

Thomas Keller is the most decorated American chef chef in history. He is also a golf junkie who has stayed and played with Augusta National more than once. Among the many functions he likes the club: he doesn’t have to worry about how they will treat his toast.

Keller is mainly about many dishes, including toast. He loves his well-done brown, just shy to burn. Many restaurants make him disappoint that front.

“You ask for your toast well,” says Keller. “What they bring forward is actually hot bread.”

As a precaution against that lukewarm practice, Keller has taken a page from the Playbook of Jim Nantz, whose preference in Toast is comparable to that of Keller. A few years ago, the famous CBS broadcaster told the famous chef that he is wearing a photo of well-tanned toast on his phone, which he shows to waiters wherever he goes, so that they can convey his wishes to the kitchen. A smart tip from one golfer to the other. Keller started to do the same.

Throwing away a mobile phone at Augusta National is of course a no-go. But Keller knows that it is not necessary.

“If you ask for your toast well done at Augusta,” he says. “That’s exactly how they prepare it.”

The same applies to every order. If you think that the course maintenance of the club is meticulous, try to sit a meal.

“It’s an extraordinary experience,” says Keller. “Everything is done just right.”

Not that all meals in Augusta are the same.

Toast is a breakfast item. And during breakfast, unlike lunch and dinner, there is no printed menu. Think of a request and they will oblige.

“It’s almost like they play a game with you and challenge themselves,” one Golf magazine Course Rater says. “It is, like, see if you can punch us.”

Eggs Benedict? Chicken and waffles? Asparagus frittata? Done, done and ready. When the waffles (or pancakes or French toast) arrive, a sharp eye will notice that they are subtly branded with the iconic logo of the club. The same applies to every piece of silverware.

At breakfast, most dinners wear their golf clothing while they are on their way to the track. Ditto during lunch in the grill. However, dinner is served in the large dining room and it has a different dress code. A jacket and tie are required.

No green jacket unless you are a member.

“If you look through the room,” another Golf magazine Course Rater says: “They are three blue blazers and a green jacket on each table.”

Most tables are four tops, evenly placed apart with sufficient space among them, covered with white tablecloths and ringed by wooden chairs with upholstered seats. The decor is modest. Two portraits are on opposite walls – from Club -founders Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts – aligned so that they look directly at each other.

Service is perfect but simple. The dining menu corresponds to that aesthetics. Nothing flashy.

“It’s classic American cuisine,” says Keller. “Perfectly executed.”

Steaks. Pork chops. Wedge salads. Soups. The fried chicken recipe dates from generations; The keeper is an old kitchen employee who has been around for almost as long as the recipe itself. The kitchen is equipped in the way the world’s best restaurants, says Keller. Many of the employees have trained in such places and are endlessly adjustable.

A vegetarian menu is ahead. During a visit last year, one Golf magazine Course Rater enjoyed cauliflower as a vegan steak. Off-menu orders are also permitted. There is not much that you can think that they cannot prepare.

Ask for a lobster thermidor, and they can or may not have it.

But if they don’t do that, Keller says, “It will be something close and it will be delicious.”

There is no fixed time for dinner. But evenings tend to unfold in a well -known rhythm, starting with cocktails, often in the hut where you stay with your host. The wine list is delivered there, so the member can view it before meals.

While Golf is controlled by written regulations, dining is largely due to unwritten rules of etiquette. It is understandable that first timers in Augusta are worried about coming out of the row.

“I was petrified that I could pick up the wrong fork,” another Golf magazine Course Rater says.

However, the truth is that you can get away with it without being thrown away. You just can’t get stuck in the dining room if you are a member, there is no.

After dinner, a tour of the wine cellar is in order. A lift brings you underground. Your host will be with you, together with a club employee like your guide. The collection that you will browse is one of the most extensive on the planet. Burgundy. Bordeaux. Napa. Tuscany. La Rioja. No valued region is not represented. Many years ago the basement had the attributes of a chic home collection. It has since been renovated. Shiny and glasses, it could now pass, one GOLF Course Rater says, for “something that you might see in a five -star hotel.”

And then the tour is over, and with that, the evening, an experience that is different from any other, which is followed the next morning by a round that you will never forget. It is a lot to digest, and some details can escape you later.

No problem.

“You just have to appreciate it,” says Keller. “Just embrace it as an extraordinary moment in your life.”