On a cute corner in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights, a neighborhood of adorable Victorian and Edwardian homes and the welcoming Precita Park, Foliage restaurant opened its doors late last year.

It’s billed as a bouillon-style restaurant. Nope, that has nothing to do with broth, but everything to do with a style of French restaurant that’s more casual than a bistro, with an affordable prix-fixe that changes frequently.

The spot was formerly the Michelin-starred Marlena, which closed, following the departure of husband-and-wife chefs David Fisher and Serena Chow Fisher, who went on to open 7 Adams in San Francisco. Husband-and-wife owners, Stephan Roulland and Julia Indovina reinvented the space as Foliage. For their new executive chef, they tapped Mo Béjar, who cooked previously at Bird Dog in Palo Alto, Canteen in Menlo Park, and Madera in Menlo Park, and who grew up on his family’s ranch in Salinas.

The decor lives up to the name, with photos of plants on the walls, plus a dramatic arrangement of plants, with their leaves cascading down a central station in the dining room that holds wine bottles and glasses.

As far as prix-fixe menus go, Foliage’s is quite moderate in price at $75 for four courses or $135 with a wine pairing. There are a few supplemental courses that you can add, too, if you so wish.

Because the staff is small — Béjar and a sous chef in the kitchen, plus one server, along with Indovina lending a hand in the dining room — the pacing can be rather languid, as I found when I was invited in last Wednesday as a guest of the restaurant. That means a four-course meal may take close to two hours. So, if you’re in a hurry to eat after a long day at work, this might not be your best option. But if you’re in a relaxed frame of mind, then sit back and go with the flow.

Even if you opt for just one glass of wine for the night, the pours are quite generous here.

When I see milk bread on a menu, my carb-loving self can never pass it up. It’s a supplemental item here ($7.50) and served with a big swoosh of cultured butter dotted with flaky sea salt. It’s a domed round that arrives warm. It’s soft and tender, but firmer than a typical Japanese milk bread.

With the exception of the entree which has three options, every other course offers a choice between two items. My husband and I each chose a different one for the first course, though both had the same preparation with chunks of lacto-fermented pineapple, banana, and macadamia nuts, with a thin slice of kohlrabi crowning it all. His came with amberjack crudo. Mine had avocado subbed in instead. Both variations ate sweet, tangy, crunchy, and almost like a Caribbean fruit salad.

The next course offered a choice of ricotta gnocchi or shrimp toast. The gnocchi were hidden underneath fried sage leaves, blistered arrowhead cabbage leaves, and crunchy walnuts. I may have detected a little blue cheese in there, as well. Despite being made with ricotta which usually produces a very supple texture, these gnocchi were fairly firm.

The shrimp toast was like a petite grilled cheese with a creamy shrimp dumpling-like filling replacing the cheese in between two golden, crisp slices of bread. A spicy, creamy Szechuan aioli dotted the top, along with white sturgeon royal caviar. It’s a fun bite that definitely delivers on flavor.

For my entree, I went with the Half Moon Bay black cod, whose skin was expertly crisped to a potato chip-like crunch, and finished with fermented fish sauce. Alongside was sweet potato foam that was incredibly creamy and ethereal.

My husband opted for the Flannery contre filet, which carries a $15 supplement. Cooked medium rare, it was rosy, juicy, and deeply beefy tasting. It was finished with a thick, smoky and peppery mole sauce.

Dessert was a choice of butterscotch budino or mango semifreddo. The budino had a very mild butterscotch flavor that got a little lost in the topping of huckleberries. If you’re a long-time fan of the butterscotch pudding at One Market in San Francisco or the dearly departed Town Hall, this one pales in potency.

Adorned with teeny shards of feuilletine made from crisp French crepes, the puck-shaped semifreddo was creamy, tropical tasting, and a nicely refreshing way to end the night at this cozy neighborhood spot.

More: Dining at 7 Adams