Chef Roland Passot
La Folie 

At the Winemaker Dinner, Chef Passot will serve: Dungeness Crab Salad, Cauliflower Panna Cotta, Curry Tuile, Curried Crab Vinaigrette

Chef Roland Passot began his culinary career at the tender age of 15 in France’s gastronomic capital of Lyon. At barely the age of 20, Passot came to Chicago and spent four years under the tutelage of Banchet as sous chef at Le Français.  Passot, with his wife Jamie opened La Folie in March of 1988.                             

Ownership of the intimate 60-seat restaurant gave Passot the freedom to truly cook from his heart without the constraint of having to follow someone else's rules or ideas of what or how to cook.

Through his rigorous French training and several positions in the Midwest, Southwest and in San Francisco, Passot had developed his personal style of cooking, which he showcases at La Folie.  Chef Passot’s commitment to his métier is reflected locally with his October 2000 induction into the California Culinary Academy’s Chef Stars Walk of Fame.  However his June 2001 awarding of Chevalier dans l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole is perhaps one of his greatest accomplishments, as this is an official French governmental recognition of his genuine contribution to his native country and the value of his craft.