French food yet again!!! I might have erased my starting line at least 10-12 times before coming up with this one, because the more I eat it, the more and more I like it. So, we visited La Folie recently for our anniversary celebration and I realized that whenever I tend to pick a restaurant for fine dining for a special occasion, I tend to select menus that serve French food as opposed to others. So, here’s my take on yet another french food dining experience. La Folie is small and intimate place in the Russian Hill area of San Francisco. I had heard amazing reviews about chef and owner Roland Passot’s creations so we decided to try out his vegetarian tasting menu at La Folie.
The decor of the place is nice. Rust colored drapes and mirrors surround the small space. Its quite modern, though not one of the best I have seen. I am going to jump straight to describing the food, because this meal was one of the best meals I have eaten at a restaurant.
Soon after we were seated, we were served Amuse Bouche. It was carrot cream with olive oil infused caviar and a citrus sauce. The dish tasted as great as it looked. After that was another complimentary dish from the chef. Poached egg with cauliflower cream topped with a crispy potato chip. The dish was served in a broken brown egg shell. This dish was an absolute delight. Kudos to the chef for coming up with this dish. The Michelin one-star was beginning to live up to its expectations.
After two surprises, our actual four course meal started. The first course was a mushroom soup with marsh-mellow, crispy mushrooms, sweet potato pieces. The marsh-mellow melted when the soup was served and it went well with the other flavors.
The second course was a heirloom beet salad with sherry viniagrette and smoked cheese. There were tiny beet roots (different colored) placed on diced beet. Well plated, but I did not like the cheese and may be the vinaigrette was a bit over-powering. Our main course was a wild mushroom risotto with mushroom foam and broth, sprinkled with white and black truffles. The white truffles were super delicious and complimented the risotto perfectly.
The portions at La Folie are huge so make sure you go with an appetite. I was already stuffed before our last and final course. Our server brought us a refresher drink before dessert. I believe it was to clear out the taste buds. It was pear and apple juice with pomegranate and pear pieces.
For our final course we had three different dessert plates: Ginger creme brûlée with blackberry ice cream and sugar short bread topped with raspberries and black berries, Chocolate ganache with chocolate fondant decorated with nuts, and Apple pudding with apple fritter and bourbon ice cream. Show stoppers were the ginger creme brûlée, dark chocolate ganache and the bourbon ice-cream.
And so our four course meal was already a seven course one, there was more……a mini dessert plate with maple syrup jelly, French madeleines, chocolate cannoli and two layered chocolate truffles. We could not finish it but the maple jello was my favorite out of all the 4 mini desserts.
I highly recommend this place for its vegetarian tasting menu. Go with an appetite and you won’t be disappointed. Food at La Folie was one of the best meals we have ever had!!!
Memoir's Galore 