But They Gave The
Best Fare On Earth, For The Price, At A Dollar, Seventy-Five Cents, A
Half A Dollar, Or Even Fifteen Cents.
If one should tell exactly what could be had at Coppa's for fifty cents
or at the Fashion for, say thirty-five, no New Yorker who has not been
there would believe it.
The San Francisco French dinner and the San
Francisco free lunch were as the Public Library to Boston or the stock
yards to Chicago. A number of causes contributed to this. The country
all about produced everything that a cook needs and that in abundance -
the bay was an almost untapped fishing pound, the fruit farms came up to
the very edge of the town, and the surrounding country produced in
abundance fine meats, game, all cereals and all vegetables.
But the chefs who came from France in the early days and stayed because
they liked this land of plenty were the head and front of it. They
passed on their art to other Frenchmen or to the clever Chinese. Most of
the French chefs at the biggest restaurants were born in Canton, China.
Later the Italians, learning of this country where good food is
appreciated, came and brought their own style. Householders always dined
out one or two nights of the week, and boarding houses were scarce, for
the unattached preferred the restaurants.
The eating was usually better than the surroundings. Meals that were
marvels were served in tumbledown little hotels.
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