Visiting: La Folie or Michael Mina?

[daviserson]

My girlfriend surprised me today with a trip to San Francisco for the weekend and the choice of dinner for us and two of our friends joining us. We have Saturday night reservations at La Folie and Michael Mina (one of which will go disappear to the island of lost reservations depending on which I've chosen.) I know that the differences between these two places as well as other fine dining restaurants of similar levels are a well-disseminated topic on this board, but everything I read makes me reconsider. I haven't quite found a consensus based on our food interests. We're all young, adventurous eaters looking for the best eating experience of our options (and hopefully, one of those once in a lifetime eating experiences.) The last time I ventured up to the area to eat, I went to French Laundry and it was well worth the trip. Things like ambiance and service and portion size are all well and good, but all I really care about is the food. If l get a fixed menu of some sort at either place and which one will have the meal that has the food that is more tasty, interesting and memorable?

Thank you!

[bhageman]

If you want to go to the best French restaurant in San Francisco, go to La Folie. If you want to go to a stylish, hip restaurant with a very unique menu, go to Coi. If you want to dine at a chain restaurant that is the same as the other dozen locations, go to Micheal Mina.

I've eaten at La Folie ten times in as many years and Passot has been in the kitchen on every single occasion and every meal has been absolutely superb.

[lebdog]

We have reservations at La Folie this Friday. We are coming in from Pasadena with fond memories of the restaurant from our days in the Bay area during the mid-late 1990's. Any food recommendations (or items that did not meet expectations) or other insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

[rworange]

Sooo ... what did you really choose and how was it.

[pikawicca]

I eat at La Folie whenever I'm in town, and always place my meal in the hands of the chef. I just tell him to serve me what he would like to eat. Never been disappointed. Ask to speak with him before you order, if you have any qualms. He's a really nice guy.

[Paul H]

Michael Mina is likely to be more interesting and memorable than La Folie, but Coi will be more interesting and memorable than either. Use the place links to research earlier discussions.

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Coi
373 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133

La Folie
2316 Polk St., San Francisco, CA 94109

Michael Mina Restaurant
252 California St, San Francisco, CA

[daviserson]

Done and done. COI on Saturday night. Can't wait. Thanks.

[samyskin]

why wont you check theire sites and menus instead of making a decision based on other poeple's opinions. What if I tell you that La Folie was a much better place instead. tastes and savors are very personal things

[SteveG]

Coi's the only one where the chef is guaranteed to be in the kitchen. It makes a huge difference. I don't think any of the atrocious food preparation errors I encountered at La Folie would have happened if the chef were in the house rather than doing menu development and consulting for his expanding empire.

La Folie is also pretty French-focused, and therefore is probably similar to something the original poster has at home.

[Paul H]

"atrocious food preparation errors I encountered at La Folie would have happened if the chef were in the house rather than doing menu development and consulting for his expanding empire."

Presumably you mean Michael Mina here? Chef Passot is almost always in the kitchen at La Folie.

[dlj02000]

Yeah, I've always seen Passot working in the kitchen whenever I've gone to La Folie -- not just supervising, but actually cooking. This is one of the charms of La Folie. Sorry, SteveG, you must be thinking of another restaurant.

[SteveG]

No, the meal at La Folie is burned in my mind. I don't know that the chef wasn't in house, but the quality of the meal we were served was so poor I can't fathom him actually being there. I don't recall an open kitchen at La Folie--are you on good enough terms with the staff that you are invited into the kitchen every time you eat there, to meet with Roland Passot?

Passot's side project is a growing group of 5 Left Bank Brasseries.

So many things about my meal were bad, as in the opposite of good, that I am compelled to speak up. Everything from cold escargot sprinkled with uneven chunks of raw garlic, to sand in the mushroom stuffing of my squab, to dry rabbit loin wrapped around a huge chunk of carrot and the better part of an entire clove of garlic, to unacceptably muddy sturgeon and a cantaloupe puree palate cleanser that tasted as if it were made from cantaloupes that had started to rot, spoke of an inattentive kitchen taking shortcuts and trying to use ingredients that should have been rejected from the supplier or used before they passed their prime (cantaloupe).

I mention the uneven chunks of raw garlic not because I don't like garlic, but because a high end restaurant should be cutting ingredients with purpose into evenly sized pieces so they can control how it cooks. It's a detail I appreciate about other restaurants around town, and it was sorely lacking at La Folie.

[Scott M]

I was at La Folie just before Thanksgiving and saw Passot at the restaurant that night. Is this meal that is burned in your mind the one and only time you went? Hard to make a sweeping generalization based on one night.

[SteveG]

Yes. I know restaurants have bad nights, but we're talking about a place that's supposed to be in the top tier of SF restaurants and strives for two michelin stars. The number and type of errors we encountered are just utterly unacceptable for a 2 star restaurant. I should also add that we had the 5 course $90 menu, which looks almost identical to the one on their website now, years later. We're not exactly talking about unusual dishes they only just introduced--these were their tried and true signature dishes, executed by amateurs.

Edited to add: my partner had been multiple times in the past and had always enjoyed it. The meal we had was bad enough he will never go back even considering his prior good experiences.

[Scott M]

Yes, the menu on the website is old. The menu offered when I went last month was not the same as the menu on the website.

I enjoyed my meal but was not blown away. The service felt a little too scripted and not as personable as I would have liked.

[dlj02000]

Nope, I don't know Chef Passot at all -- and the kitchen's not wide open, but it's easy enough to see if you're heading to the restroom or if you'd just like to wander back there and watch for a few minutes.

I wouldn't deny that you had an awful experience there, and I sure as hell wouldn't go back if I had such a bad time. I don't blame you.

But whatever the reason might have been, it wasn't because Chef Passot was too busy "doing menu development and consulting for his expanding empire." Regardless of his other business endeavors, he's there night in and night out, cooking for guests, and it's simply not correct for you to assert otherwise.

That being said -- man, it sounds like you had a really bad time there!