Bernard Loiseau was a sad casualty of a similar debate: this French chef committed suicide, alledgedly because the Michelin was going to take his third star away (on a scale of three). His cooking focused on the simple preparations meant to bring out the essence of the ingredients, and was deemed to conservative compared to what others were doing, at El Bulli or at the Fatted Duck.

Loiseau's name was on the menu when we went to La Folie, one of the ultimate French restaurants in San Francisco, in homage to his inspiration for one of the dishes. Thus we knew on which side of the divide we would find ourselves. La Folie is a large square room with floor-to-ceiling mirrors making stripes with large swaths of peach colored fabric on the walls. There is a smaller adjoining room in a blue-ish tone. We sat in the main room at one of the two tables by the window, a wonderfully romantic nook.