Well known as one of the most romantic restaurants and a fierce competitor of rival La Folie on Polk Street, Fleur de Lys suffered a devastating fire, which is believed to have started as an electrical fire in a refrigerator. The fire and resulting damage, which destroyed the kitchen and caused extensive smoke damage and physical damage to the dining area and building is estimated to be in excess of $300,000 - $400,000.

Fleur de Lys will be closed for at least two months while restoration and replacement of equipment are completed.

I really like(d) Fleur de Lyss. The chef is a former cook form the Auberge d'Illhäusern (Haeberlin) in Alsace (one of the 21 Michelin*** in France).

Fleur de Lyss also offers 5-course-menues (one of them a formidable vegetarian one) including a perfect matching glass of wine with each course.

I thought I would bring this forward as an update, according to Grace Ann Walden's "Inside Scoop" Column in the SF Chronicle, Fleur de Lys will be re-opening sometime in March. She included no info on any possible decor changes.

We were curious as to when Hubert and Chantal Keller and their partner Maurice Rouas, would be reopening Fleur de Lys. The four-star French restaurant at 777 Sutter St. (near Taylor) suffered a disastrous fire last September.

"It's been a nightmare," says Chantal Keller. The latest delay was caused by Americans with Disabilities Act requirements triggered by the cost of the repairs. As the costs rose to more than $1 million, more ADA requirements were called for, such as adding two wheelchair accessible rest rooms instead of one, allowing more space so that a wheelchair-bound person could work the cook line and the bar as a bartender.

The up side of the long closure is that Chantal says she and Hubert now have a life for the first time in more than 20 years of marriage. "We shop at the supermarket and cook dinner together -- it's great!" she says.

And how is Maurice Rouas doing? Says Chantal, "He's so bored."

Source: SF Chronicle

Fleur de Lys, San Francisco's oldest continuously operating French restaurant, reopened last weekend after a kitchen fire devasted the business almost a year ago.

The lovely, four-star restaurant, operated by Maurice Rouas, chef Hubert Keller and his wife, Chantal, offers a series of tasting menus. Combinations range from an appetizer pairing a casserole of foie gras, truffle and potato with a seared duck burger with foie gras on a brioche bun to porcini-dusted skate wing on black spaghetti.

The restaurant also serves what is considered one of the city's best vegetarian tasting menus.

Fleur de Lys, 777 Sutter St. (near Taylor), San Francisco; (415) 673-7779. Dinner Monday-Saturday. Multiple-course meals start at $65 plus $35 for optional wine pairing.

It sounds so good (I've been hearing about it on the radio and reading in the paper) that I'd love to try it... if only I had a nice date...... http://www.flyertalk.com/dining/ftdining_forum/frown.gif

Bloom not off Fleur de Lys. Fire that closed Keller's spot may have been the spark for an exciting rebirth:

Invigorating a restaurant like Fleur de Lys can be a problem. The distinctive tented ceiling, installed more than 30 years ago, is an icon that can't be changed. Regular diners have also come to expect high-style French cooking from chef-owner Hubert Keller and a certain level of service.

Yet after nearly a year's hiatus, forced by a fire that ravaged the restaurant and the subsequent permit hell that Keller and partner Maurice Rouas were caught in, the chef is back at the stove, cooking with an energy that should make his younger colleagues jealous.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/10/20/PK113637.DTL

Now, who is going to take me??? http://www.flyertalk.com/dining/ftdining_forum/smile.gif

The reviewer, Mr. Bauer, is very credible and accurate IM(nsh)O.