La Folie Has A New Chef De Cuisine: Michael Hung

About a month ago, La Folie head honcho Roland Passot hired on former Bushi-tei executive chef Michael Hung as his new chef de cuisine. Hung was thrown into a crazy sort of baptism by fire—or should we say foie—as La Folie sold through about 150 pounds of foie gras per week via its "farewell to foie" tasting menu, leading into the July 1 ban. Now that foie is off the menu, and the frenzy has subsided, Hung called in to talk about his new job, running the day-to-day at one of San Francisco's few restaurants with four bright and shiny Chronicle stars.

How's it going so far? The kitchen is awesome. Roland still comes in to work the line every night of the week at around 3 p.m. He's a pretty incredible man. He also promoted the lead cook to be my sous chef.

Why the move to La Folie? I took this job because I admire Chef Passot's personality and philosophy. It's an amazing opportunity.

Are any of your dishes on the menu? Right now, I'm getting accustomed to the new style in the kitchen. I've got one dish on the menu, and another one going on the tasting menu today, but I'm moving forward slow and steady. Roland wants me to renovate the roof area. It now has beds growing sprouts for the restaurant, but I'm going to transform it into a full-blown rooftop garden.

What's the long-term plan here? Roland hasn't had a chef de cuisine, and this frees him up a little. I hope to stick around here for a few years, for the long-term.

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