Ad Hoc is a family-style comfort food

Comfort food

Comfort food is food prepared traditionally that may have a nostalgic or sentimental appeal. Comfort foods may be foods that have a nostalgic element either to an individual or a specific culture...

 restaurant

Restaurant

A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

  in Yountville, California

Yountville, California

Yountville is an incorporated town in Napa County, California, United States. It is in the North Bay portion of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 2,933 at the 2010 census. Almost one third of the town's population lives on the grounds of the Veterans Home of California.The town's name...

. Owned by Thomas Keller

Thomas Keller

Thomas Keller is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996, and the Best Chef in America in 1997...

 in the fall of 2006, Ad Hoc was meant to serve as a temporary cafe until Spring.

Early years

Thomas Keller opened Ad Hoc in 2005 to serve as a temporary cafe. His intention was to have Ad Hoc serve as a six-month venture while preparing his new restaurant for the space, which would focus on hamburger

Hamburger

A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...

 and wine pairings. Ad Hoc was opened quickly, with little changes to the decor in the temporary space, and serving a nightly single four-course meal at a flat price. One menu allowed Ad Hoc to limit problems with finding and stocking ingredients, and menus were planned loosely about a week in advance, and finalized 48 hours before. Occasionally the menu would change based on seasonal ingredients or last minute ingredient availabilities.

In 2005, Keller was interviewed by food critic Michael Bauer from SFGate and was asked if the venture would really be temporary. In response, he stated that he did not know and that if it was to go beyond the six month time period they would need to change the name and "...Maybe we'd call it Ad Lib." Bauer stated that the restaurant would become a permanent establishment, and described it having a "Chez Panisse

Chez Panisse

Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California restaurant known for using local, organic foods and credited as the inspiration for the style of cooking known as California cuisine. Well-known restauranteur, author, and food activist Alice Waters co-founded Chez Panisse in 1971 with film producer Paul...

 sensibility."

Ad Hoc becomes permanent

Keller decided to make Ad Hoc a permanent venture in 2007 due to the success of the concept. The menu continues to serve a one menu four-course meal. Foods offered by the restaurant include fried chicken

Fried chicken

Fried chicken is a dish consisting of chicken pieces usually from broiler chickens which have been floured or battered and then pan fried, deep fried, or pressure fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior...

, duck leg confit

Confit

Confit is a generic term for various kinds of food that have been immersed in a substance for both flavor and preservation. Sealed and stored in a cool place, confit can last for several months...

, short ribs

Short ribs

Short ribs are a popular cut of beef. Beef short ribs are larger and usually more tender and meatier than their pork counterpart, pork spare ribs...

 and other similar comfort foods.

External links

• Official website for Ad Hoc
• What's New, San Francisco Chronicle, September 20, 2006