Fleur de Lys Restaurant, San Francisco

Cuisine=*(0-20) Ambiance=!(0-5) Price=$(Simple-Full)
Approximate Price per person excluding tax, beverage + tip=$. Simple=appetizer + main course; full= best available multi-course meal.

As We Like It has been serving the gastronomically enlightened community since 1989.

    San Francisco

    Fleur de Lys *(19.5) !(5) $(70-102) 415-673-7779  www.fleurdelyssf.com.  777 Sutter St. at Jones  Dinner from 6:00 P.M. Mon.-Sat.
    Their elegant dining room is definitely the most romantic restaurant setting that we have encountered, and the food is always of the highest caliber, with a mixture of the old classic French technique combined with exotic influences from all over the world. Professional service completes the picture. One can opt for a three to five course dinner chosen from their menu, but we feel that this is one of those places where you can have implicit faith in Chef Hubert Keller and say: “have the chef prepare a tasting menu for the table”. If this happens, usually every other diner can be served a different course, and sharing and switching is great fun. Our starter of white gazpaccho with truffle popcorn and sweetbreads with sea urchin was a visual and gustatory delight. An imaginative trio of chestnut included chestnut soup with osetra caviar, chestnut gratin with sea scallop and chestnut and crab fritters, while the toothsome oxtail and truffle cappuccino with truffle duxelle was paired with a jalapeno brioche for contrast. Next came two marvelous seafood preparations: perfectly roasted lobster on artichoke purée with citrus salad and porcini oil, and roasted sea scallop with wonderfully accented, crunchy hazelnut crust, chanterelles, potato gnocchi and mushroom jus with hazelnut oil emulsion. Their variation of “surf-n-turf” consisted of a delectable, perfectly cooked mini-lobster atop a tender, seared filet mignon of the highest quality accented with a red wine, shallot-thyme Bordelaise sauce and accompanied by truffled mac & cheese. A very rich, but superb, slow-braised Snake River Farm Waygu beef cheek was garnished with cream of celery root, grenadine pickled onions and a juniper berry essence. A generous, enjoyable assortment of French cheeses with rustic country bread was just the right complement to finish our red wine. We are so happy to see the reappearance of a soufflé on their dessert menu; for there is nothing as satisfying as a great Grand Marnier or Chocolate soufflé to finish a fine meal, and they make outstanding preparations of each. The delightful assortment of chocolates and warm madeleines with chocolate dipping sauce at the end of the meal is another special touch. The wine service and selection is superb with something for everyone; corkage is $35.00 if you bring your own bottle. We found our 1990 Latour Chevalier Montrachet and 2000 F. Esmonin Clos Vougeot complemented the meal perfectly. Valet parking is available with a $13.00 charge.