39k

Amount (in US$) that the original owners of the French Laundry—Sally and Don Schmitt—paid for it in 1974. (The building was in fact once a laundry). Four years later, Sally (a chef) opened the French Laundry as a restaurant. In 1994 chef Thomas Keller bought the French Laundry from the Schmitts for $1 million. The current cost for a guest to buy-out the French Laundry for one evening: $100,000.