Filet is the French spelling. Fillet is the English spelling.

According to what I see, a one "L" filet is for meat and chicken, a two "L" fillet speaks of fish, as a fillet of salmon. Most often the verb has 2 "L's".

There's filet of sole, which is very common.

Filet mignon.

The only fillet I can think of is cutting a chicken breast in half, to fillet it.

Just a spelling difference depending on language. Probably worst in Canada where British, American and French spellings all coexist.

Filet Mignon -- French

Fillet of Beef -- English (any or all)

Fillet of Sole -- English (any or all)

Filet of Sole -- Canadian English (Jasdip's message above, she's Canadian)

Chicken Fillet -- English (any or all)

Filet de Poulet -- French for Chicken Fillet (not Chick-fil-A)

Filet Of Beef Au Poivre (common menu item) -- Frenglish

Exactly - Filet is French and fillet is English. Franglais smacks of being ridiculous. Use one or the other! Filet of beef? aarrgghh

I don't understand exactly what he is trying to describe as different in the first three.......

To me tenderloin is the description of the whole muscle or a sizable chunk of it, as in the center cut, grilled whole and then sliced.

A piece cooked for each individual would be referred to as a filet of beef tenderloin or filet mignon.

Grump, grump - it's the problem that comes from using a language that he doesn't understand. In France, the term corresponds to, most often, pork. It isn't used to talk about beef. That's an American habit. It's the Ilio-psoas muscle. But, from what I understand, the American term is also used for other tender cuts, hence the confusion.

IC, you're right. American names for cuts of beef have been changing rapidly and confuse the heck out of me. It's all about marketing. Same as real estate. Give the area a new name and people will lose their preconceptions and pay up.

I'm sorry I didn't answer the other part of your question Gardener123, if you were asking what the chef meant. He meant grilled filet mignon (stated in three ways) and salmon, I think.

Thanks everyone! I'm not sure I qualify as a "foodie" but I do know/like good food and wondered if I missed something here. The chef is an Italian gentleman classically trained in French cuisine, so English is his third language. I wanted to be as descriptive as possible for the printed menu, and appreciate your input. Now I'll probably not drive by a Chick-fil-A without thinking of this conversation!

The "fillet" spelling reminds me of the dining hall at Washington U in St Louis in the early 60's. We often saw "Fillet flunder" on the menu. We were never sure if it was "filet of flounder" or gawd knows what else. Sometimes it just said "Meat" and we called that "Mystery Meat"!

Hey - FWIW it's worth franglais is the native tongue of many people here in Maine and more so in Quebec. Lol