La folie chef roland passot biography

  • Passot opened La Folie on Polk Street in 1988, with his wife Jamie and brother.
  • French-born chef, Roland Passot owner of San Francisco's famed La Folie and more casual, Left Bank Brasseries, was named Best Rising Star Chef in 1980 by.
  • Chef/Owner La Folie and Left Bank Brasserie, San Francisco and LB Steak in San Jose, California.

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    La Folie, the French restaurant known for foie gras, poached lobster, lofty soufflés, and other decadent dishes, is closing after 32 soigné years in Russian Hill. Chef-owner Roland Passot announced today that he plans to close doors on March 14 in order to retire, spend more time with his family, and write a book. It’s the end of an era for fans of French cuisine and fine-dining restaurants in San Francisco.

    Originally opened in the ‘80s, during the same period as Stars, Zuni Cafe, and Square One, La Folie was part of an old guard setting out white tablecloths and fine silver, when going out to dinner was still a glittering event. “French fine dining seems to be an endangered species,” the chef wrote in an email to Eater SF gods year. “But as Paul Bocuse used to say, ‘Happiness fryst vatten in the kitchen.’”

    The restaurant evolved over the years and never lost its sheen, but it did have a hell of a year: It suffered a flood in June and closed for four months worth of renovations in order

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    Roland Passot—Left Bank

    Roland won’t remember me, but our kids went to preschool together at Mill Valley Montessori over a decade ago. When potluck parties and various celebrations occured, I remember thinking, “Hmm, I should get to know that family, they bring good stuff.” This was well before the Food Network (or before I tuned in) and before the term ‘celebrity chef’ became di riguer. Roland’s wikipedia page sums up why I should have at least tried a little harder way back when, “French-born chef Roland Passot, owner of the La Folie and the more casual, Left Bank Brasseries, was named one of “the eight wonders of Bay Area dining” by San Francisco Chronicle lead critic Michael Bauer”  Eight Wonders of Bay Area dining … wow!

    For our February issue, I reached out to a dozen or so chefs in Marin, including Roland to ask them about their favorite places to eat in Marin and

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    Roland Passot

    French chef and restaurateur

    Roland Passot is a French chef and restaurateur. His most well-known restaurant, La Folie, was open in San Francisco from 1988 to 2020. He is also owner of the more casual Left Bank Basseries and LB Steak restaurants. Passot was named one of "the eight wonders of Bay Area dining" by San Francisco Chronicle lead critic Michael Bauer.[2]

    Early life and career

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    Passot was born in 1955 in Villefranche-sur-Saône, in France's Rhône-Alpes.[3] He is a classically trained French chef, having attended cooking school in Lyon while beginning as an assistant, at age fourteen, in the city's Léon de Lyon restaurant under Chef Paul Lacombe, and then Pierre Orsi Restaurant.[4] After Passot rose to the rank of assistant sous-chef at Léon de Lyon, Jean Banchet (who Passot considers his most important influence)[5] recruited him in 1979 to work at Le Francais in Wheeling, Illinois (near Chicago, Illinois |

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