A Cook's Tour of San Francisco by Doris Muscatine - 1963 Book Club Edition
For most of the city's history it has deserved a reputation for a cuisine of opulence and excellence. It has synthesized, in the best possible manner, an inheritance of foreign flavors with local tradition for lusty eating first supported by gold-mine money and gold-mine appetites. Supplied by an immediate and abundant source of sun-ripe fruits and vegetables, flanked by game forests, ranch lands, an ocean full of sea food, circled by the best wineries in the country, and with its appetite urged on by an invigorating climate, San Francisco feasts. (from the Introduction)
Doris Muscatine (1926-2006), a well-regarded food and wine writer, was at the forefront of the fresh food movement as it started to stir in the 1960s. A resident of San Francisco, and professionally trained at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, it was Doris' trips to the vineyards and markets of Europe that helped her see what a wealth of provisions she had right in her own American town. In her 1963 book A Cook's Tour of San Francisco, Doris shares the gastronomic pleasures found dining out in The City By the Bay's best restaurants along with recipes from their kitchens. She also shares the food history of San Francisco itself, opening with a meal enjoyed by members of the Chit-Chat Club in 1906.
Engaging and interesting on all fronts, Doris dives into fascinating fun facts about each restaurant, describing not only their food but also the atmosphere, decor and notes on the owners or staff as well. Many of the restaurants have closed since the writing of this book 60 years ago, but a few still remain open to the public today. That makes Doris' collection here both an important archive of vintage recipes from San Francisco's culinary past as well as a colorful catalog of beloved dishes from local restaurants that have withstood the test of time.
Recipes run from fine dining to casual and include desserts, salads, and cocktails among main courses. Highlighting international variety, recipes from Chinatown, India, the UK, France, Japan, the Polynesian Islands, and Italy among other countries showcase the wealth of diversity that radiated from this enchanting city.
- 1963 book club edition
- Contains 370 pages including index
- Includes 185 recipes from 69 different restaurants
- Illustrated with black and white photographs of several of the restaurants included as well as drawings by American illustrator and author Carolyn Cather
- Contains original dust jacket
- Interesting recipes (and their corresponding restaurants) include Mitzutki (Cho Cho) Fried Cream (Veneto Restaurant), Chicken Curry (Taj of India), Spaghetti with Crab Sauce (Fisherman's Grotto No. 9), Tournedos Rossini (The Red Knight), Filets de Soles Polignac (Ondine), Roast Duckling Vin Rose with Orange Marmalade (The Glad Hand), Tequila Con Sangits (The Buena Vista Cafe), Pancakes (The Redwood Room), Buche de Noel (The Garden Court of the Palace Hotel), Crab Legs (Ritz Old Poodle Dog) and Pineapple Chicken Wings Sweet and Sour (Kan's).
In lovely vintage condition. This book is clean and bright throughout with the exception of one smudge on the last page of the table of contents. The dust jacket has some chippy areas along the top and bottom edge but is completely intact. The decorated coverboards are clean and bright and the spine is strong with all pages intact. A 1963 gift inscription written in pen appears just after the front endpaper.
Measures 9.5" inches (length) x 6.25" inches (width) x 1.25" inches (thickness) and weighs 1.9lbs