Home Food & Wine The Hungry Palate La Folies new look matched by evolving artistry of Chef Roland Passot

La Folies new look matched by evolving artistry of Chef Roland Passot

Written by Susan Dyer Reynolds, Northside Editor

Saturday, 30 April 2005

Julia Child once said, “All good cooks learn something new every day,” and if there is a poster chef for this simple but eloquent proclamation, it has to be Roland Passot. After 35 years in the kitchen, nearly 20 of those at his Polk Street gem, La Folie, Passot is turning out some of the most phenomenal food of his brilliant career. It’s tempting to make the analogy between the recent remodel of his restaurant and his seemingly reinvigorated cuisine. Granted, the interior of La Folie has gone from dancing marionettes to NYC chic, but has Passot’s cooking really done a 180 like his walls? One look at the delighted expressions on the faces of his guests and you’ll know the answer: The food hasn’t changed, it has simply evolved, because after 35 years in the kitchen, the chef is still having fun. Passot began his culinary career at the tender age of 15 in his native Lyons, France, where he worked as an apprentice for respected chefs including Pierre Orsi and Leon de Lyons. Five years later, renowned chef Jean Banchet invited him to work at his Chicago restaurant, Le Francais, where Passot remained for four years. He moved to San Francisco to open Le Castel, and then headed south again to work at the fabulous French Room at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, Texas. In 1988, Bay Area food lovers got lucky again when Passot settled in San Francisco and, along with his wife, Jamie, and his brother, Georges, opened La Folie. The restaurant quickly gained critical acclaim but still managed to walk that fine line between high-end dining destination and comfortable neighborhood charmer. Earlier this year, Passot ditched the lighthearted interior in favor of a streamlined setting more reminiscent of Manhattan’s sleekest eateries. Polished wood accents and long, lean mirrors interspersed with earth-toned walls form a backdrop for the deep burgundy banquettes and roomy tables dressed in white linen, while flowing copper-hued drapes conceal the busy kitchen, setting a relaxed but stylish tone for the evening. Say “French restaurant” and even the haughtiest diner quakes in her Manolo Blahniks – it conjures an image of snooty waiters serving overpriced minuscule portions in a stuffy, pretentious setting. But while the menu at La Folie is decidedly French, that is where the comparison ends: Passot’s portions are generous and affordable, and the food, while elegant, has a sense of whimsy that is best described as a culinary Cirque du Soleil. The wait staff gets it, too – our server was capable of floating seamlessly between unobtrusive precision robotics for a table of serious socialites and friendly up-tempo banter with a nervously chattering couple who appeared to be on a first date. The restaurant offers traditional prix fixe three- ($60), four- ($75) and five-course options ($85). There is also a menu jardini&egravere for vegetarians ($60) and a menu l’aventure ($85) for those wanting to veer off traditional paths du cuisine and enjoy frog leg soup, warm pig feet, sweetbread and lobster terrine, and crostini with foie gras, bone marrow and monkfish liver farce. While my dining companion, Jordan, surfs exotic locales all over the world, he wasn’t eager to surf the menu l’aventure, so we opted for the traditional three courses. My first choice, foie gras soup with truffled day boat scallop ravioli, featured a delicately stuffed pillow of pasta topped with a dollop of creamy seared liver. Our waiter poured the hot, rich duck consommé over the ingredients tableside from a tiny copper saucier, which made for lovely presentation. Our waiter’s recommendation, monkfish foie gras and truffle whitefish caviar, set off an explosion of strong briny flavors followed by a bit of heat from a spicy salad of potato and celery root matchsticks. Of everything on the menu, the quail foie gras lollipops seem destined to become a signature, as the dish exemplifies Passot’s ability to infuse a sense of humor into his artistry: Two stripped quail legs form the sticks and the thighs are stuffed with liver and shaped into a ball to create the sucker at the end. As with all of the platings the supporting players are nearly as dynamic as the star, in this case a centerpiece of quail and foie gras, and wild mushroom-stuffed “cannelloni” of leeks that are neatly tied at the ends with delicate strings of chive. The apple gel&eacutee that surrounds the Dungeness crab Napoleon offers yet another illusion: it appears as a pool of liquid, but an attempted dip of the spoon finds a pliable aspic instead. To create the Napoleon, hunks of fresh crab are layered atop crispy pineapple chips that resemble giant lotus root; and the sweetness of the fruit is a perfect complement to the sweet and savory characteristics of the crabmeat. Passot seems to love playing with leeks – they make another appearance as logs beneath the moist snowy flesh of the pan-roasted sturgeon. Velvety oxtail meat and a crispy polenta cake that soaks up the rich red wine thyme reduction prove luscious accompaniments, while baby onions, turnips and carrots line up like multicolored melon balls down the side of the plate. Another of Passot’s gifts is an innate sense for combining intriguing flavors and textures, such as butter-poached Maine lobster with glazed blood oranges and a shiso, scallion, carrot and toasted almond salad – sweet nuts are a wonderful companion to the rich lobster, and you get an unexpected crunch along with the succulence of the meat. In yet another clever use of leeks, the dark green leaves create a thatched roof under which hides a tasty delicacy: the lobster tamale, dusted with paprika, presented atop the claw meat. Just when you think you can’t be surprised anymore, the chef outdoes himself with two of his most captivating creations – roti of quail and squab and l’assiette de boeuf. For the quail and squab roti, the confit is separated and the deboned bird is stuffed with wild mushrooms, then wrapped tightly with potato strings and finished in the oven au jus with just a hint of earthy truffle oil. The confit, served on the side along with a poached quail egg on a mini potato latke, put the finishing touches on a smart, beautiful dish. The l’assiette de boeuf features Painted Hill beef tenderloin, braised short rib, and burger Rossini with truffle Madeira sauce. The tenderloin is medium-rare and juicy, while the short rib falls off the bone without being mushy. Providing comic relief is the miniature burger Rossini, reminiscent of the famed $60 Vegas version featuring a beef patty topped with saut&eacuteed foie gras, shaved black truffles and Madeira sauce on an onion bun. Jordan did his best to cut it in half, and as I held my tiny portion between thumb and forefinger, I felt like Alice in Wonderland at a really decadent tea party. When I popped it into my mouth, however, I stopped giggling – it was delicious, and I found myself wishing I had about 19 more. Throughout the evening, our waiter (who also happened to be a trained sommelier) paired our courses with ideal wines, including a Carmo 10-year old Madeira with the foie gras soup and a 2003 Poet’s Leap Riesling with the crab Napoleon that was evocative of some pricier German vintages. Interestingly, the desserts – coconut tapioca with passion fruit sorbet, chocolate caramel mousse, a roasted apple filled with vanilla cr&egraveme brul&egravee – are some of the simplest items on the menu. Our waiter, who hadn’t steered us wrong yet, suggested the egg variation, a sort of egg trompe l’oeil that was a fitting end to a magical evening. An eggshell filled with white chocolate mousse and orange soup looks just like the soft-boiled egg your mother served, and tastes like the soft-boiled egg you wish she had served – a coconut pannacotta and mango jelly fried egg is accompanied by strips of roasted banana bacon, and a frothy egg nog floating island rounds out the trio. Revered as one of San Francisco’s finest chefs for nearly two decades, Passot is at a place where a lesser chef would gladly rest on his well-earned laurels. The food at La Folie, however, speaks volumes about a man at the pinnacle of his career who continues to grow for the love of his craft. While his new interior may be sensibly low-key, his cooking is more inventive and playful than ever, and his almost childlike glee shows that he doesn’t take himself – or his food – too seriously. As one waiter quipped, it is, after all, “only food on a plate.” Truer words were never spoken, but in the hands of Chef Roland Passot, what food it is. Not-to-miss dish: The quail foie gras lollipops exemplify Passot’s ability to infuse a sense of humor into his artistry and are destined to become a signature. La Folie: 2316 Polk Street, near Green. (415) 776-5577. Dinner served 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information or online reservations, visit www.lafolie.com. Susan is the editor of Northside and the Marina Times, as well as a restaurant critic for Gayot.com. She worked previously as the lifestyle editor for LookSmart.com and LookSmart Live, and is a member of the Association of Food Journalists and the San Francisco Food Professionals Society. Write to her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Last Updated ( Saturday, 19 January 2008 )