The Elegant Art of Dining: Bohemian San Francisco, Its ... - iMedia

Let us now look at the menu of the $3.50 dinner, without wine:
Pate ‘de foie gras--truffles on toast; salad; olives; Alice Fallstaff; Italian ham
“Prosciutto;” soup--semino Italiani with Brodo de Cappone; pompano a la
papillote; tortellini with fungi a funghetto; fritto misto; spring chicken saute;
Carcioffi all’Inferno; Capretto al Forno con Insallata; omelet Celestine; fruit;
cheese, and black coffee.
This dinner must be ordered three days in advance.
These menus will give a good idea of the different classes of dinners that can be
obtained. Between are dinners to suit all tastes and pocketbooks. If you wish to
go beyond these there is no limit except the amount of money you have. If but
the food value be taken into consideration then one will be as well pleased with
the fifty-cent dinner as he will be at the higher priced meals, but if light and
music and brilliant surroundings are desired, then one must pay for them as well
as for the meal he eats.
All of the restaurants mentioned serve good table d’hote dinners, giving an
astonishing variety of foods for the money, and it is all cooked and served in a
manner that leaves nothing to be desired. As before mentioned if you wish a
table d’hote dinner composed entirely of sea food you can get it at the Shell Fish
Grotto for one dollar.
A good rule to follow when dining at any of the restaurants is: When in doubt
order a table d’hote dinner. You will always get a good meal, for the least out
lay of money and least expenditure of thought. Often one desires something
a little different, and this is easy, too, and you can conserve your brain energy
and get the most for the least money by seeing the proprietor or manager of the
restaurant and telling him that you wish to give a little dinner. Tell him how
many will be in the party and give him the amount you wish to spend. It will be
surprising, sometimes, to see how much more you can get for a slight increase
in the price. Of course your wines and cocktails will be extra and these must be
reckoned in the cost.
From this we come to the ordered dinner, and here is where your own
knowledge and special desires come in. Here, too, comes a marked increase in
the cost. You now have the widest range of possibilities both as to viands and
as to price. It is not at all difficult to have a dinner, without wine, that costs
twenty-five dollars a plate, and when you come down to the more normal
70