Iconic San Francisco Dishes, Drinks & Desserts

By Laura Smith Borrman, American Palate/The History Press

Book Review By Craig MacDonald

Laura Smith Borrman has meticulously researched and well-worded a delicious San Francisco food/drink/history book, chock-full of neat old as well as contemporary photos (many snapped by her husband, Brandon).

It's a really fun read that makes you hungry and thirsty to sample such a bevy of scrumptious items. "These dishes, snacks and drinks shaped the culinary consciousness of the magical city of many hills," she writes. Some reportedly either originated or were made famous in San Francisco.

"Studying the history of San Francisco's original foods and drinks is not as clear cut as one might think. Tall tales, proud claims weave together into a fabric of murkiness, where it's impossible to discern threads used to create the textile….," Borrman said.

Several foods have a direct link to the California Gold Rush, which brought thousands of people from different cultures to what became "The Golden State." French Immigrant Isidore Boudin established his renown San Francisco bakery in 1849. The mother dough was thought to have come from a Forty-niner. Boudin's widow, Louise became the baker's savior when she tossed Boudin's starter into a bucket and fled the burning building during the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.

The Hangtown Fry may have been created when a Gold Rush miner struck it rich, ran into the El Dorado Hotel and asked for the cook to prepare the most expensive dish available. The Hangtown (now Placerville) chef mixed scrambled eggs with oysters and bacon. Fast-forward to 1919 and St. Francis Hotel (SF) Chef Victor Hirtzler created his own version of the Hangtown Fry by including "one dozen, small, fried California oysters into scrambled eggs." You can still order this delicacy in several San Francisco, Placerville and other restaurants. The author includes a recipe from Sam's Grill.

Chop Suey began in California when Gold Rush Chinese immigrants served the southern Chinese home-cooked dish. The Chinese Food Take-Out craze, still with us today, also started back in the early days.

One of the most famous San Francisco Mixologists was Bill Boothby (whose name is kept alive with his namesake cocktail). The son of Forty-niners even published the popular Boothby's American Bar-Tender (1891).

One of my favorite eateries is Original Joes, which began as a 14-stool counter on a sawdust-covered floor at 144 Taylor St., San Francisco. Destroyed by fire years later, it's now in North Beach. "Joe's Special" is a delicious, filling, meaty home-cooked style dish made of ground beef, spinach and eggs. Check the book for its recipe.

The reader will enjoy the "Green Goddess Dressing," created for a celebrity gathering at the Palace Hotel. It was named for a hit play starring George Arliss. The dressing's made differently different places but usually has herbs and a creamy white ingredient (often sour cream and mayonnaise), the author says. "It's-It" is a beloved vanilla ice cream sandwich, created in 1928, featuring oatmeal cookies and a cloak of rich dark chocolate. It was born at Playland-at-the-Beach Amusement Park adjacent to Ocean Beach.

You'll learn about Chicken Tetrazzini, named for opera singer Luisa Tetrazzini, who sang in the City by the Bay in 1910. It's best known as a use for Thanksgiving leftovers. The modern versions use chicken or turkey, sometimes even salmon combined with cream, mushrooms and pasta.

There's a lot of controversy around the origin of the Martini. But drink expert and author Barnaby Conrad III claims it was invented after a miner requested a pick-me-up in San Francisco. You can read a lot more about how it might have come about in one chapter.

Other tidbits: Feast your eyes on Cioppino, developed by Italian fishermen, who threw a Genovese fish stew in with the days catch. You can visit the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in San Francisco today. San Francisco Anchor Brewing Company originated steam beer in 1896. Many of the great restaurants are still creating wonderful food and drink today as they did decades ago--places like Tadich Grill, John's Grill, Trader Vic's and the Buena Vista Cafe.

This book is highly recommended for anyone who loves to eat, loves history, lives in or is headed to San Francisco. Just by reading it, you'll catch the aroma, taste the goodies, learn history and experience the joy and culture of the City by the Bay.

(The reviewer worked in San Francisco and loved eating his way through the city, where his grandfather met the woman, who became his grandmother, riding a Cable Car in 1900! He still misses the long-gone, legendary Omar Khayyam's Restaurant and its Rose Petal Jelly and Shish Kebab. Bon Appetit!)