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Some of the most interesting restaurants that I visited in
North Beach were Fior d'Italia, US Restaurant, Tivoli,
Lucas, The Back Yard, to name a few. I have an old menu dated 1888
from Fior d'Italia and the following are
some of the prices: Veal Saute-05 cents, Veal Scaloppine-15 cents,
Broiled Chicken-20 cents, Squab Casserole
-40 cents and the most expensive meal-Porterhouse Steak for 2-at 60
cents.
If one wanted a bottle of wine with any meal that
cost an extra 35 cents.
These prices are all CENTS. I do remember an Italian restaurant on
Bay
Street that was caught making ravioli with canned dog food.
This discovered by the garbage company who found
dozens of empty containers that had been once filled with dog food.
What a commotion this created in North Beach, CA.
whose restaurants were famous for their wonderful dinners.
They were heavily fined and closed for 6 months.
Seems to me when they reopened they didn't do as well. I also
remember one time when I was older I
went out on a date and we were at the Top of the Mark.
When I was a youngster mother used to give me non-alcoholic Creme De
Menthe with Ginger Ale
and being the smart person that I thought I was, I ordered a Creme
De Menthe Souffle--the waiter smiled and said, "I think you mean
Frappe."
Ah, the ignorance of youth. Although I was a secretary, my best
friend's father owned
The Back Yard on Kearny Street and on Friday through Sunday
they hired me as a hat check girl and she worked as a waitress.
They served meals until 9:00 p.m. Usually eating patrons left
around 10:30.
There was a bar below and after they left I would traipse downstairs
to play the piano
until 2:00 a.m.--or until I tired. I could keep the tips there, but
had to relinquish any
tips as hat check girl. After all I was paid .50 cents an hour!
The Fairmont had a room called The Tonga Room that had a small
island in the
middle of the room surrounded by water which was called The Lagoon.
The room itself had Tiki torches and it had a south sea island
atmosphere.
A small band would play on a stage that floated out into the middle
of the
lagoon and when the band wasn't playing there would be an
occasional
thunder and a rain storm smack in the middle of the lagoon however
no customers ever got wet.
It was truly a romantic place to be and from what I
understand that room still exists.
On the corner of Geary & Powell there was a restaurant called The Golden
Pheasant which we never visited, because as young girls it was a
little expensive for a sandwhich, we thought.
On the other hand we girls loved going to "The Merry-Go-Round."
When you entered it, there was an oval counter
with a covered moving belt which carried only salads and desserts.
The booths butted up against this counter and
you could lift a little window to select whatever your heart
desired. You could have a total of 4 items, a combination
of salads and/or desserts, but you could not exceed the number---4. There
was a walkway inside the counter
area and two doors leading into the kitchen. The waitress would
bring us out our entree---this at a phenomenal
cost of 75 cents. We would leave a 10 cents tip which was always
welcomed.
And who could forget Tinys Waffle Shop. There you were
served a huge waffle, with fresh strawberries,
and topped with whipped cream all for 35 cents. And five cents would
buy you a cup of coffee.
We would go downtown with a $1.50, eat dinner, go to the
movies and later visit "Tinys." Once we were short ten cents and we
frantically went through our purses but to no
avail. The manager could see that we were in trouble and he
approached our table. We four girls were actually in
tears and desperately tried to explain how we exceeded our budgeted
$1.50 (candy was the culprit) because we
had ordered before we checked our money situation.
He was truly very kind and said that he would forget the dime.
The next time we stepped into Tinys---we paid the 10 cents we owed and he
was so pleased that we
remembered, he gave us an extra portion of strawberries.
Another delightful treat in North Beach was an ice cream parlor
called Athens.
This was owned by two Greek brothers who made their own candy and
ice cream. My usual
(whenever I was able to) was to order an all around Chocolate
Sundae. A big sundae glass was filled with two
huge scoops of rich creamy dark chocolate ice cream. Then a large
ladle full of chocolate syrup totally covered the
ice cream and the rest slipped down into the inside of the glass.
This was topped with whipped cream, a cherry,
then scattered with a handful of nuts. Four vanilla wafers were
placed around the inside of the glass. Really, I
salivate remembering the taste of that marvelous ice cream. All this
and heaven too for 40 cents.
Across the street there was a bakery that made Anise flavored
Pannetone in one,
two, three pound loaves filled with pine nuts and dried citrus fruit and
when you sliced it
you could hardly wait to bite into a piece; a melt-in-your mouth
experience.
Across the street from St. Peters & Paul church was a bread
bakery where one could buy Fucacia. You had to
order and pay for it before church or else there was none left to
purchase after. It came in sheets about 9x13 and
two inches thick. Any variety could be bought...the tops slightly
salted and oiled spread with tomato paste and
chopped green onions, or made with just raisins, or just oiled and
salted.
What you buy today is garbage to me. I was given the recipe and I
haven't found any like it anywhere.
Yes, I'm still working on my recipe book. As I've said before--I
never measure anything
so I have to make each recipe over and measure all....what a chore!
Well,
I could go on and on about the restaurants but perhaps, next time.
Rory