French restaurants in San Francisco
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A
Fleur de Lys
Long before celebrity chef Hubert Keller took his show on the road to Vegas and Top Chef Masters, this was the ultimate over-the-top SF destination. There’s nothing subtle about the swanky sultan’s tent interiors, but it’s oddly suited to princely repasts involving gnocchi graced with chanterelles and hazelnut-encrusted scallops and halibut crowned with rhubarb coulis and truffle, and a king’s ransom of foie gras on every other dish. Prix-fixe options for omnivores begin at $70 for three courses, while vegetarians are entitled to a five-course feast for a surprisingly reasonable $68.
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B
Café Jacqueline
The secret terror of top chefs is the classic French soufflé: only when the ingredients are in golden-mean proportions, whipped into perfect peaks, baked at the right temperature and removed from the oven not a second too early or late will a soufflé rise to the occasion. Chef Jacqueline’s soufflés float across the tongue like the fog over the Golden Gate Bridge, and with the right person across the tiny wooden table to share that seafood soufflé, dinner could hardly get more romantic – until you order the chocolate for dessert.
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C
Butler & the Chef
All the French classics you’d never expect to find among SoMa warehouses are here, from the croque monsieur (pressed ham and cheese) with Niman Ranch ham, Emmenthal cheese and béchamel on organic bread, to light, flaky-crusted quiche Lorraine studded with crisp Niman Ranch bacon. The cafe tables are tiny: mind your elbows or they’ll wind up in your French onion soup, made with rich beef stock and a proper crouton topped with melting Gruyère.
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D
La Folie
Only those raised in chateaux are mentally prepared for the decadent around US$85 five-course seasonal menu here. These are not timid tasting-menu portions, but commanding dishes of wild salmon stuffed with Dungeness crab, or Liberty Farms roast duck stuffed with walnut confit. The around US$64 three-course dinner is plenty arch-ducal, with a clever 'Jardinière' menu for vegetarian royal consorts.
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