Fleur de Lys, San Francisco

Fleur de Lys: the name alone suggests elegance and romance. That is how I felt on my recent visit to this marvelous and now classic San Francisco fine dining establishment. Located in what to me seems like Lower Nob Hill or perhaps even the “Nob-Loin,” they have been in the business of amazing your senses for over 45 years. (I understand that there is also a location in Las Vegas, though I haven’t been.)

I was thrilled to re-visit after several years being away for a work-related event in their cozy private dining room. Chef Hubert Keller is a master. I ordered vegetarian that night, having grown inordinately tired of salmon at places like this, and was delighted! Preparing for this story today, I read on their web site, “Vegetarians will be pleased to know that Chef Keller is more inspired than ever regarding his non-meat dishes.” I wholeheartedly agree with that. After the veggie disaster at Boulevard, how satisfying to find a chef that takes vegetarian food seriously.

When I talk to people about this place, I always hear one of two reactions. Like me, they either adore it, or they are put off by the old-fashioned swell-egant look of the place. Personally I like the massive draperies covering the walls and ceilings, the ornate gilded picture frames, etc. as well as the super-dim romantic lighting. This is not modern (and didn’t help my pictures any), but then, virtually everywhere else is these days, so to me Fleur de Lys offers a refreshing alternative.

The night that we went was the same evening that President Obama was in town. He wasn’t at the restaurant (too bad!), but his motorcade and security blocked a lot of the roads around the Convention Center and snarled up traffic for the entire area. That led many of my fellow diners to arrive late. No matter. I sat with a few of the early-birds at the lovely bar and enjoyed a Maker’s Mark Manhattan. Now that’s old-school that’s timeless.

The menu was pre-set but I ended up ordering off it, so I don’t actually know the names that the restaurant applies to the various sensational dishes that I enjoyed that evening. I think that two of them are the same as the items described on the restaurant’s site, so I’ll use those. The rest, I’ll try to describe as best I can.

We started with an amuse bouche: an elegantly presented tomato gazpacho with a tiny morsel of quinoa salad on the side. This was followed by another taste: the second, a very flavorful spinach and cheese dish served warm covered in toasted pumpkin seeds. Yum.

Next came an exciting plate made up of a few different tastes. There was a type of potato purée, a tiny watermelon cube, a kind of fruit gelée—was it guava?—and a mushroom micro-green salad. I really liked this.

Between courses, the staff offered marvelous bread. There were at least three kinds: a traditional baguette, a raisin and one with pistachios and figs. The last was completely novel to me. The taste was divine. I really over-indulged here.

Next came a kind of fennel soup that the restaurant calls roasted fennel barigoule with white wine and basil, vegetable nage and saffron aioli. This was really, really flavorful and tasty. I slurped up every last drop.

Then the “colorful vegetable ragout with poached egg, truffles and truffle port wine sauce” finished the savory courses. This was quite good and I enjoyed it more than something similar that we had at Cyrus in Healdsburg.

Dessert was a large plate with a few chocolate items and a small tiered dish of various truffles, tiny tartlettes and sweet morsels to finish an extraordinary meal.

Fleur de Lys is a marvelous restaurant with really good food, ambiance and attentive staff. I am repeating myself with the superlatives as I simply don’t have the words to adequately describe how much I truly enjoyed myself there. This is a must-try for any serious foodie.