I don't know--that French Laundry menu feels pretentious to me too. For example, many, many items in the description have unnecessary modifiers. If going for simplicity, they wouldn't be telling me it is "Maine" lobster tail, "French Laundry garden" cabbage, "Sacramento Delta" asparagus, "King Richard" leeks, etc. All of that is selling people on the idea it is quality, not simply trusting that the result speaks for itself. If I trust their reputation, I should be able to trust they select a good lobster tail, cabbage, asparagus and leek without them trying to sell it to me. Those sorts of extra food descriptions put me off (in the same way that similar modifiers in a, for example, Blue Apron ad do...)

And throwing in unnecessary french words is just as off putting to my sensibilities (but can be forgiven, given their name). So is omitting dollar signs. Or unnecessary italics. I could go on. My point is they absolutely are trying to put out a perception of quality food/atmosphere with their menu design, just in a different way and with fewer items than they Cheesecake Factory version. They're just doing the humble brag version of the same thing.