Fleur de Lys (restaurant)
Encyclopedia
Fleur de Lys in San Francisco, California
, along with its sister restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada
, are two of the premier French
restaurants in the United States.
neighborhood of San Francisco. The restaurant first opened in the late 1950s. Maurice Rouas, then Maître d', purchased the restaurant from its original owner in 1970 and remains active today. In 1986 he brought Hubert Keller
as chef from the now-defunct Sutter 500 restaurant nearby. The restaurant was damaged by a kitchen fire in 2001, and closed for more than a year due to difficulty obtaining rebuilding permits. Keller spent the time opening a second restaurant by the name Fleur in the Mandalay Bay
in Las Vegas, Nevada
(as well as opening an upscale hamburger restaurant, "Burger Bar", in the same building). The renovation, designed by Keller's wife Chantal, eventually cost more than $4 million.
The original Fleur de Lys was ranked as one of the top 40 restaurants in the United States in 2004, 2005, and 2006 by Gayot restaurant guidehttp://www.gayot.com/restaurants/restaurantissue/2006/top40/main.html. As of 2008, the Las Vegas restaurant has a Gayot rating of 16, which the original holds a 15. It is one of seven restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area
to receive the San Francisco Chronicle
's highest four star rating, which it has maintained for many years. Fleur de Lys has also been ranked as one of the top 25 restaurants in the United States by Food & Wine magazine.http://www.fleurdelyssf.com/ The fixed-price cuisine is classic French, meaning innovative dishes using French techniques based on Keller's Alsatian
sensibilities, as opposed to old standards. To suit local tastes the restaurant cooks with reduced fat, offers vegetarian and no-fat dinners, and features seasonal California ingredients.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, along with its sister restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, are two of the premier French
French cuisine
French cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from France that has developed from centuries of social change. In the Middle Ages, Guillaume Tirel , a court chef, authored Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of Medieval France...
restaurants in the United States.
History and description
The original 75-seat restaurant occupies an unobtrusive windowless mid-block storefront on Sutter Street near Jones Street in the TendernobTendernob
The Tendernob is an area in San Francisco, California between the affluent Nob Hill area to the north and the less affluent Tenderloin to the south...
neighborhood of San Francisco. The restaurant first opened in the late 1950s. Maurice Rouas, then Maître d', purchased the restaurant from its original owner in 1970 and remains active today. In 1986 he brought Hubert Keller
Hubert Keller
Hubert Keller is a noted French chef, who is known for his signature restaurants, Fleur de Lys in San Francisco and Las Vegas.- Biography :Keller was born in Alsace, France, and graduated from the École Hoteliere in Strasbourg...
as chef from the now-defunct Sutter 500 restaurant nearby. The restaurant was damaged by a kitchen fire in 2001, and closed for more than a year due to difficulty obtaining rebuilding permits. Keller spent the time opening a second restaurant by the name Fleur in the Mandalay Bay
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino is a 44-story luxury hotel casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by MGM Resorts International. Five floors of the main hotel building are occupied by the five-star and AAA Five-Diamond Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas...
in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
(as well as opening an upscale hamburger restaurant, "Burger Bar", in the same building). The renovation, designed by Keller's wife Chantal, eventually cost more than $4 million.
The original Fleur de Lys was ranked as one of the top 40 restaurants in the United States in 2004, 2005, and 2006 by Gayot restaurant guidehttp://www.gayot.com/restaurants/restaurantissue/2006/top40/main.html. As of 2008, the Las Vegas restaurant has a Gayot rating of 16, which the original holds a 15. It is one of seven restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
to receive the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
's highest four star rating, which it has maintained for many years. Fleur de Lys has also been ranked as one of the top 25 restaurants in the United States by Food & Wine magazine.http://www.fleurdelyssf.com/ The fixed-price cuisine is classic French, meaning innovative dishes using French techniques based on Keller's Alsatian
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
sensibilities, as opposed to old standards. To suit local tastes the restaurant cooks with reduced fat, offers vegetarian and no-fat dinners, and features seasonal California ingredients.