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

The Mythical Land
Notwithstanding the fact that Webster gives no recognition in his dictionary
to the Land of Bohemia or the occupants thereof, the land exists, perhaps not
in a material way, but certainly mentally. Some have not the perception to see
it; some know not the language that admits entrance; some pass it by every day
without understanding it. Yet it as truly exists as any of the lands told of in our
childhood fables and fairy stories.
The old definition of Bohemian was “a vagabond, a wayfarer.” Possibly that
definition may, to a certain extent, be true of the present-day Bohemian, for he
is a mental vagabond and a mental wayfarer.
In our judgment the word comes from the French “Bon Homme,” for surely the
Bohemian is a “good man.”
Whatever may be the derivation the fact remains that not to all is given the
perception to understand, nor the eyes to see, and therein lies one of the dangers
of writing such a book as this. If you read this and then hurry off to a specified
restaurant with the expectation of finding the Bohemian atmosphere in evidence
you are apt to be disappointed, for frequently it is necessary to create your own
Bohemian atmosphere.
Then, too, all nights are not the same at restaurants. For instance if you desire
the best service afforded in any restaurant do not select Saturday or Sunday
night, but if you will lay aside your desire for personal comfort in service, and
wish to study character, then take Saturday or Sunday night for your visit. It
is very possible that you will think the restaurant has changed hands between
Friday and Saturday. On Saturday and Sunday evening the mass of San
Francisco’s great cosmopolitan population holds holiday and the great feature of
the holiday is a restaurant dinner, where there is music, and glitter, and joyous,
human companionship. At such times waiters become careless and sometimes
familiar. Cooks are rushed to such an extent that they do not give the care to
their preparation that they take pride in on other nights, consoling themselves
frequently with the thought that the Saturday and Sunday night patrons do not
know or appreciate the highest form of gastronomic art.
Remember, also, that the world is a looking glass. Smile into it and it smiles
back; frown and you get black looks. In Bohemia we sometimes find it well to
overlook soiled table napery, sanded floor or untidy appearance. Of course this
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