Being in the kitchen at an early age “educates your palate very early.” 

“I think it’s better than watching TV all day,” says Feldeisen. “I think for kids it’s a very good education…and you respect food better.”

Little did he know, during those formative years, that he was destined to become a well-known chef and master patissier -- in fact recently recognized by Chocolatier Magazine as one of the top 10 pastry chefs in America.

These days, one can enjoy all of Feldeisen’s superb creations – main courses and desserts -- at his great new San Francisco restaurant, Solea, located on the first floor of the Orchard Hotel, a boutique establishment on Bush Street.

Feldeisen’s approach is California regional cuisine with French influences and signature pastries.

Driven by a vision to create delicious food and superb desserts at moderate prices, Feldeisen sees Solea as an “accessible neighborhood restaurant…where locals feel comfortable and can afford to dine on a regular basis.”

“And a setting,” he adds, “where visitors to San Francisco can discover local cuisine.”

Feldeisen is right at home in San Francisco, a city he describes as “no better place to cook…and live.”

“San Francisco has the right blend,” he says, “of  economics…products, (and) all the wineries, you know. Combined with a beautiful scenery and fresh air, I think it makes the best city (for food).”

The surroundings of Feldeisen’s 77-seat restaurant are understated and discrete – beige colors, large mirrors, and upholstered seating done up in a flowered design.

On one side of the room is a bar with inviting stools.

The wait staff is friendly and very helpful.

The menu selections, as I recently discovered, will thrill your palate in more ways than one: not only are the pastry selections a tour de force of Feldeisen’s imagination and skill, but you will also be charmed in the main course area by his “focus,” as he puts it, “on the ingredients and execution.”

The congenial chef expresses a great “interest and curiosity” about American food products, and he admits, “I’m not a chef who says French is the best.”

“My philosophy is simple,” he says, “try to cook good food.

“I think the technique is French. The approach might be American…it’s certainly adapted to the American palate, the American taste.”

And adapting to an American taste, just what does this mean? I asked.

Well, said Feldeisen, it means using ethnic kinds of ingredients and creations – for example, banana cream pie, which everyone will admit is a very typical American dessert.

“But if you cook banana in the sauce in France,” Feldeisen says with a chuckle, “people will shoot you.”

Feldeisen uses a French technique to make the classic pie, preparing the individual shells with philo dough and cooking them individually in a mold. Then he puts the cream inside the bananas, slices them, and caramelizes them.”

“Remember,” he says, “in France what’s important is ‘la technique.’”

Nowhere was this more apparent in my main course of seared Rare Yellow Fin Tuna on a bed of fennel and snow pea, with parmesan reggiano and pancetta broth.

Feldeisen’s simple preparation of this wonderfully tender piece of fish allows the savory, natural flavor to dance on the palate.

To accompany the fish, I chose a glass of 1999 Alain Pabiot Sancerre La Merisiere, its understated fruit a fine match for the fish.

I also enjoyed the appetizer of Watercress Salad and French “Bleu d’Auvergne,” with crisp yucca root, chive and grape seed oil emulsion, which was a rather pleasant beginning to the yellow fin tuna that followed.

As cheeses go, Bleu d’Auvergne, a cheese with origins in southeastern France, tends to be creamier than Roquefort, so it thus added a rather silky touch to the salad’s personality.

 Having heard of Feldeisen’s experience with pastry, I eagerly awaited the dessert portion of the dinner, which he fittingly calls “Desert Therapy.”

Feldeisen, who dropped out of school when he was 16, found an apprenticeship in a chocolate shop, “a place where you do everything from scratch.”

Later on, he pursued his interest in pastry as a three-year apprentice chocolatier at the famous Les Palets D’or in Moulins, followed by a stint as a chocolatier at the Grand Hotel in St. Jean and then at the Hotel de Paris in Monaco.

At the latter two hotels, Feldeisen developed a chocolate shop and a line of truffle chocolates.

In 1988, he arrived in the United States to assume the patissier (pastry) position at the venerable Highland’s Inn Pacific Edge Restaurant in Carmel and then at Patina in Los Angeles. Next came a an assignment as executive pastry chef for the Four Seasons New York, receiving three stars from The New York Times and a nomination for two James Beard Foundation Outstanding Pastry Chef awards.

I had a difficult time selecting my dessert, considering the myriad choices. You know what they say: “Decisions…decisions.” To help you understand my predicament, here is a rundown of the “Desserts Therapy” --

Warm Chocolate Tart with orange reduction sauce and coffee ice cream; Tatin of Golden Apple with vanilla ice cream and crème fraiche; Caramelized Banana Cream Pie with chocolate sorbet; Lemon Meringue Tart with raspberry sorbet; Napoleon of Spring Berries with vanilla custard, raspberry sorbet; Classic Vanilla Crème Brulet compote of mixed berries; Trilogy of Seasonal Sorbets fruit ratatouille; Selection of French and California Farmer Cheeses with country bread. (Desserts all $7 each; cheese selection $9).

Well, in the end, I opted for the Napoleon, since that is where my weakness lies. I also ordered a cup of coffee to accompany the Napoleon.

The dessert was a classic of finely integrated ingredients -- layers of exquisitely light dough, tasty custard and refreshing seasonal berries and sorbet, whose presentation was worthy of a photograph for posterity. 

MAIN COURSES 

Rare Yellow Fin Tuna ($21)

Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon with fava beans, cherry tomato, yellow foot mushrooms, lime broth ($18.50)

Risotto of the Day ($15.50)

Australian Rack of Lamb with foie gras and celery root ragout, white truffle honey and sherry close jus ($24)

Beeler’s Natural Roasted Pork Loin with sunchoke, baby onion, poached garlic, Nicoise olive and tarragon jus ($18.50)

Pan Roasted Breast of Chicken with bluelake green beans, baby corn and shitake mushrooms, violet mustard and sage broth ($19)

Richfield Ranch Organic Strip Loin with brown butter mashed fingerling potato, baby leek, and cardamon veal juice ($20.50).

APPETIZERS

Aspargus Veloute with sweet pea mousse and shaved reggiano ($7)

Salad of Watercress and French “Bleu d’Auvergne” ($8.50)

Pan Seared Foie Gras with sweet onion cornbread, roast chicken and golden raisin jus ($13)

Pan Flashed Argentine Prawns with timbale of tomato and avocado ratatouille, tomatillo and basil coulis ($11)

Organic Tomato Salad with arugula and crisp pancetta, crème fraiche and mustard seed dressing ($7.50)

Roasted Texas Prairie Quail with ragout of merguez sausage and sweet potato, walnut and sherry vinegar reduction ($13)

Salt Crusted Diver Scallops with organic tomato marmalade, saffron shrimp bisque and plum crisps ($11.50)

DINING AT SOLEA

Solea is open for dinner from 5:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. seven days a week and from 4:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. at the bar.

Lunch is served seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. and Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

The restaurant also has a glass-enclosed room that seats 20 for private groups.

For information, call 1-415-837-1680.