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UNITED STATES CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FLEUR DE LYS
I do not mean that it is a structure of canvas, temporarily erected on a piece of open ground. Rather, I mean that within number 777 Sutter Street – more or less half way between Union Square and Nob Hill – is an elegant chamber draped with hundreds of yards of fine red brocade, which swoops up to a point, from which hangs a gigantic chandelier of white crystal. It is the effect, I imagine, one would find in the parlour of the grandest of Bedouin sheikhs. Together with a clever use of mirrored glass, this faux-tent creates a dining room which is impressive, welcoming and – because so much sound is absorbed by the folds of silk – astonishingly quiet. I congratulate whoever came up with this brilliant design.
And so they might, for this restaurant exudes enjoyment from its every pore. Chef Hubert Keller came here in 1986, having worked in some of the grandest kitchens in his native France, including that of Paul Bocuse. In San Francisco he joined restaurateur Maurice Rouas to create what quickly became (and remains) one of the city’s most famous dining rooms. Now Fleur de Lys has a Michelin star and Chef Keller appears on the television and has several other restaurants. But we may infer from the fact that his charming wife, Chantal Keller, controls its front of house, that Fleur de Lys is still the closest to his heart. I was taken to my table by the Wine Director, Marcus Garcia. Mr Garcia is a charming fellow, and looked after me exceptionally well throughout the evening. He is local, and I am told that he is an accomplished performer of jazz and blues music. His evident knowledge of wine is certainly useful here, for he has charge of a prestigious cellar. Of the one thousand offerings on the list, many are French and many are of the stuff of the wine lover’s dreams. How often nowadays do you see clarets from the legendary 1961 vintage? Yet here we have the greatest chateaux: Lafite ($3,100), Haut Brion ($3,600), Mouton Rothschild ($3,600) and Pétrus ($10,000). There is even the 1945 Lafite ($8,000), a bottle of which I had the privilege of holding (but not, alas! drinking) at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York many years ago. Those of you with a sweet tooth might also relish the prospect of quaffing a Methuselah (6 litres) of d’Yquem for the modest sum of $20,000.
With these liquid delights came French food which was a joy for both the eye and the palate. Three, four and five courses can be ordered from the carte, at $72, $82 and $95. Given the quality of the service, the surroundings and the cuisine, these prices seemed exceptionally friendly. The price for my four courses, given one or two supplements, was $96. Wine pairings can be had for $50, $60 and $70 (for three, four and five courses.)
As the evening ended, I concluded that a good meal in relaxed surroundings constitutes one of the privileges of a civilized society. And I had not been obliged to raise my voice once. Here was the bliss of a quiet dinner, enjoyed in a tent, surrounded by the relaxing murmur of contented diners. If earth is a foretaste of Heaven, I hope that Paradise will have something in common with Fleur de Lys. I rather suspect it will.
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ADDRESSES FLEUR DE LYS
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© Francis Bown 2003
Do you not sometimes long for a really good, old-fashioned restaurant – where the food is based on sound French technique, where the kitchen is not afraid of the hard work needed to produce complex dishes, where the service is proper, where the wine list is vast and where the wine man really knows his cellar? Such places can nowadays be hard to find. Fad and fashion are the order of the day, and they usually produce the slick, the transitory and the noisy. To produce the sort of restaurant I have in mind takes time, huge amounts of skill and much hard work. Fortunate, then, is San Francisco. For it has Fleur de Lys. This is no ‘restaurant of the moment’, where folk scream and shout at each other, while they queue for the privilege of eating with the crowd. There is no cacophony with the cassoulet here. No, this is a place for the civilized and the discerning – for those whose idea of the good life is to do with beauty, proportion and good taste, enjoyed in quiet calm. Let me therefore assure you that one of the very best restaurants in San Fancisco is one of the quietest. This is not because it is unpopular and empty – far from it. Rather, it is because it has a magic cure for noise. Fleur de Lys is a tent.
Not, I think, that the visitors to Fleur de Lys tend to be a particularly boisterous lot. On the evening of my visit, they looked both respectabe and well-dressed. Indeed, I was delighted to see that several of the gentlemen even had jackets and ties – although not in the dark colours sported by members of staff. Certainly, everyone seemed to be having a jolly good time.
Now I am not normally one for wine pairings. My usual preference is for whole bottles, so that I can appreciate the changes in a wine over an evening. But at Fleur de Lys I was happy to make an exception, for Mr Garcia has not only an encyclopaedic knowledge of the wines in his care, but also a refined and delicate palate. (Believe me, this is not always the case with those who deal with wine in restaurants.) I was therefore content to sit back and have poured into the Riedel glasses wines from Alsace, Santa Barbara, Pessac-Léognan and Cognac: the 2003 Bott-Geyl pinot gris, the 2007 Au Bon Climat Estate pinot noir from Santa Maria Valley, the 2003 Chateau Olivier and the Hennessey XO. 
I think there was not a dish on the menu which I could not happily have ordered. I began with a foie gras ‘burger’. Foie gras from Mr Keller is always exceptional, and this dish showed wit as well as intelligence. The little ‘burger’ came with a pastry sealed pot, wherein was the most delicious confection of duck, truffles and potatoes. Next came salmon, precisely cooked, with its delicate of flavour enhanced by potato and parmesan crunch, broccolini and sauce Colbert – although, for my palate, the porcini flan was a distraction. My meat course showed just why gourmets flock to Fleur de Lys. This was a dish of near-perfect balance, with each of its consistent parts adding to the harmony of the whole. The buffalo steak had been rubbed with coffee, and came with roasted figs, caramelized leeks and espresso and fig red wine sauce. This was richly magnificent. I finished as one should in a great French restaurant, with a big and indulgent soufflé. This one was of the Grand Marnier sort – a cracking end to a really enjoyable meal.
