Fleur de Lys SF

[npc3]

My wife and I are celebrating our anniversary. Does anyone have any thoughts on Fleur de Lys?

[MollyGee]

My husband and I went for our anniversary last year as I really wanted to try the vegetarian tasting menu. The dining room was lovely and it felt like a special place with the GIGANTIC floral display and the canopy. Some of the food was really fantastic and some of it was really sub-par for the price. The amuse bouche was wonderful: truffled popcorn and a salsify soup that was one of the tastiest things I'd ever put in my mouth. I think I had a beet salad next and it was very disappointing. I adore beet salads and the beets here were cold and may have come from a can. There was a fabulous vegetable dish with a pressed herb broth-y infusion and a poached quail egg (boy, I'm not describing it well). It was perfect.

Here's the clincher for me: the desserts were just HORRIBLE. They went on forever, like two trays with lots of little mousses and tiny cakes and chocolates and the like and it *looked* lovely, but the flavors were flat and the textures were odd (the mousse was gummy and nasty- um, a French restaurant w/ yucky mousse- that's gotta be a crime somewhere, right?). We pretty much blew more than a year's restaurant budgeting to go out, so for me it was disappointing especially since I have a fondness for dessert. On the other hand, my husband still talks about how wonderful it was.

[foodiegrl]

Um, not to be a nit-pick or anything, but shouldn't a beet salad be cold?

Also, I find it very hard to believe that any restaurant close to this caliber in SF would use canned beets.

[MollyGee]

Hm. You'd think beet salads are supposed to be cold, but I've had some delightful beet salads and the beets are generally room temp or slightly warm. It wasn't until I had the beet salad at FDL that I realized that cold (and I mean right-out-of-the-refrigerator cold) beets are flavorless and wrong. I swear I could see can marks on the edges of the beets (the beets were cookie-cuttered into little flower shapes), but it could have just been the flavorlessness of the beets that made me think "canned".

[npc3]

Thanks so much for the reviews. We just had our dinner, and I must say that it was incredible. The service and the atmosphere were wonderful. The food was simply outstanding.
I had the five course meal - the tasting of Alsatian choucroute, roasted sea scallops with hazelnut crust and truffle gnocchi, noisettes of venison, a dark chocolate mousse, and the cheese course. My wife had the asparagus salad, halibut rolled in potato and black pepper chapelure; a seared buffalo steak, and the blond caramel vacheron.
It's hard to say if there was a highlight because it was all so terrific. The choucroute was very imaginative. The buffalo steak was incredible. The cheese course is well worth it. We also loved the desserts.
We had two half bottles of wine - a Calera viognier and a 2004 clos de pape. Both of these worked very well with our food.
All in all, it was a wonderful experience. Thanks everyone for your helpful comments.

[whiner]

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[chr]

my all time favcrite as well. make sure you ask for a table under the magnificent canopy!!!

[Jack]

My wife and I went there last year for our Silver (25th) Anniversary. We were very satisfied on all counts, food, service and atmosphere. I recommend it for an anniversary dinner.

[Maya]

It's definitely an anniversary kind pf place. I may be in the minority but I found it very boring and predictable, and enjoyed it much less than the Ritz Dining Room or Cyrus for the same type of occasion, for example.

[psb]

I'd also encourage the OP to consider the Ritz Carlton Dining Room over FdL,
if you want to keep it to SF.
When we were there a few weeks ago, they did a his/her menu so we were able
to try a lt of items.
I suppose the tasting menu at the RC:TDR is a little more than FdL, but I dunno
you'ld consider the different that significant in that price range.

[DezzerSF]

Did you have the wine pairing at RC? How would the wine pairings at FdL compare?

[psb]

Uh the last time I was at TDC@RC, two people were slightly under the weather
and sniffling, so we didnt do the wine paring. I believe we consulted with the
sommalier on one bottle, and dranks a couple of ad hoc glasses as well.
I only remember the Tokai with the foie gras, tho. My friend did say they forgot
to bring out one of the drinks, but again, I dont remember exact details ...
there were many courses and plenty of things the kitchen just sent out and
over the many hours, i lost track of exacly what we were expecting.

Excellent bartender there by the way. We had a nice discussion about
what it was like to work for the Ritz Carlton Empire.

I certainly think the wine paring there would be well done, but I cannot
compare it to FdL.

Maybe some one else can better help you beyond this.

[rworange]

I haven't eaten at FDL, but the wine pairing I had at the Ritz was one of the best I've had in my life. Memorably great. That champagne cart is nice too.

[zin1953]

I've always enjoyed my dinners there . . .

[mrsricho]

Perfect choice! Just went 2 weeks ago for my birthday. It's tied with Gary Danko for me for high-end dining in SF. French Laundry still takes the cake for anywhere Bay Area of course. :-) Have a great time!!!

[pinkfog]

What are the prices for the prix fixe prices there? i believe there are several courses to choose from, is that right?

[coolbean98]

I believe you can choose between 3, 4, or 5 course menus for $70, $79, and $92: http://www.fleurdelyssf.com/ (the prices are several pages into the menu).

Anyways, we had a great dinner there at Christmas time! We were lucky enough to have the sommelier introduce us to Chef Keller, but even without that we were very pleased with everything. The cheese course was not great, but the service was excellent and all the rest of the food was very good, my favorite being the baeckeoff of foie gras.

[whiner]

Yeah, I think it is worth it to get the cheese course, but it isn't a 'must' -- you need to get at least four courses (both a meat and a fish course). The vegetarian menu is also usually excellent.

[pinkfog]

Ah, I see it. I never looked carefully at the dessert page as I'm not a sweets person. Thanks.

[coolbean98]

I'm not either so I got the cheese course, but in retrospect I probably should have gotten the dessert. My dinner companions loved the signature Fleur Burger, and I've had better cheese plates elsewhere. Another friend (albeit a big dessert person) recommended their butterscotch souffle, but this was not on the menu when we went.

[brekkie_fan]

You have very good taste.

[Mr_J]

I had an excellent experience at Fleur de Lys. The service, food and atmosphere was all top notch. I don't think you'll be dissapointed with the experience.

[whiner]

My favorite restaurant in the city. Where we have anniversary dinners.

[Foodrat]

Great place for an anniversary celebration! Fantastic food, nice decor...