Roland Passot

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 the James Beard Foundation.

Chef Passot began his culinary career at tender age of 15 in the France gastronomic capital of Lyon where he was traditionally trained by some of the most famous French chefs. He rose from apprentice to assistant sous-chef under Chef Paul Lacombe before heading to the US. In 1981 he became opening chef at the French Room at Dallas’ Adolphus Hotel where he began to receive national accolades. He soon followed his heart to San Francisco and in 1988, he and his wife, Jamie opened La Folie where he continues to showcase his own personal style of cooking.

Numerous successful and noted chefs credit Roland as their mentor. In addition to receiving a host of honors and awards through the years, he was inducted into the Maitres Cuisiniers de Franc in 1991 and received the “Chevalier dans l’Ordre du Mèrite Agricole awarded by the French Government in 2001.