Poodle Dog Restaurants

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Poodle Dog Restaurants
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StateCalifornia
CountryUnited States

The Poodle Dog Restaurants were a series of French Restaurants in San Francisco spanning from at least 1849 to the mid-1960s. The successive restaurants were mostly unrelated, but each built on the former's success and reputation. [1] [2] During its heyday, the Poodle Dog was the epitome of wealth and opulence in San Francisco, catering to important statesmen, financial leaders, and business tycoons. [3] [4] It also developed a racy reputation for catering to those men's need for a discreet place to meet with their mistresses and ladies of the night. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] More than anything, it was well known for having impressive foods, being labeled as "the best French restaurant in the city," [12] if not the "best dollar dinner on Earth". [13]

Contents

History

Prospectors and Early San Francisco

The Poodle Dog Restaurants trace their origin to San Francisco's earliest days as a city. The first iteration of the Poodle Dog appears to have been a California Gold Rush era restaurant that provided inexpensive french cuisine to those seeking their fortune. [14] [15] Historians do not agree on the origin story of the Poodle Dog's name. Indeed, it has been suggested that the name came from the first proprietor's family dog, [16] [17] [18] or that it was named "Poulet D'Or or Poule D'Or which was unpronounceable to the average American", [19] [20] or that a stray poodle known for begging there became the unofficial mascot and the proprietors "named the restaurant after it for good luck". [21] In any event, historians do agree that there was a Poodle Dog restaurant from San Francisco's earliest days. [22]

The Poodle Dog quickly became a popular restaurant beloved by San Franciscans. By 1868, it had transitioned away from simple French cooking to fine dining with more extravagant food. [23] The clientele shifted accordingly: "Instead of the raw miner, its patron was the stiff collared banker, the frock-coated judge, the spade-beard lawyer - the Argonaut with a little more culture and greyer hair". [24] The Poodle Dog maintained this level of sophisticated diner until its closing, some 100 years later.

The Gilded Age of the Poodle Dog: The 1890s through Prohibition

The Poodle Dog shifted again from mere fine dining to all-out opulence and luxury by the 1890s. Some say this era saw its "greatest popularity as a rendezvous and a restaurant". [25] Diners could expect 23 courses and an even larger wine selection by the end of the century. [26] The menu reflected this: it had swelled to 17 pages. [27] As for the cooking facilities, the Poodle Dog boasted a "vast wine cellar and vegetable rooms, bottling rooms . . . refrigerators . . . a laundry". [28] Cooks there also enjoyed one of a kind dishwashers and stoves, making it notable not to diners but to chefs as well. [29]

During this Era, the Poodle Dog earned its reputation as a "five-storied dome of pleasure". [30] During the lunch hour, it was a "who's who" of famous and powerful businessmen, such as "poets, journalists, physicians, politicians, and luminaries of law". [31] It is said that "the destinies of many important business undertakings was settled at these noon dinners." [32]

The Poodle Dog also had a decidedly more racy reputation in the evenings. It was well known for "its private upstairs dining chambers and love nooks [lending] a sort of Parisian air to the city's nightlife". [33] This reputation was well-documented, and came with an expected level of scandal involving the city's elite, including the mayor of San Francisco. [34]

The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake "put an unhappy end" to the gilded days of the Poodle Dog. [35] [36] The restaurant maintained its reputation - both in the dining room and upstairs - during this era, but it was never the same as the gilded era. Finally, Prohibition dealt it the "finishing blow," and the PD closed its doors on April 15, 1922. [37] [38] The proprietors felt that a French restaurant without wine was not worth keeping open.

Later days

The Poodle Dog remained closed until 1933, when Calixte LaLanne, a former proprietor, reopened it. This iteration was called the "Ritz French Restaurant," until his son changed it back to Poodle Dog after Calixte's death in 1943. [39] The restaurant remained open, although not in the same splendor, until it closed for good in the mid-1960s.

Notable Restaurateurs

Known locations

Legacy

Crab Louie

Many restaurants, past and present, claim to have invented Crab Louis. [57] Historians agree that Bergez-Frank's Poodle Dog has one of the strongest of those claims. [58] Bergez-Frank's originally had a special menu item titled "Crab Leg a la Louis," named for famed restaurateur and co-owner of the Poodle Dog after his death in 1908. [59]

California State Library Foundation Bulletin

The Poodle Dog was recognized with a cover story in the California State Library Foundation's Bulletin in 2006. [60]

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References

  1. ↑ Throop Purdy, Helen (1912). San Francisco: As It Was, As It Is, and How To See It. p. 146.
  2. ↑ Irwin, Will (1908). The City That Was: A Requiem of Old San Francisco. p. 32.
  3. ↑ Muscatine, Doris (1963). A Cook's Tour of San Francisco: The Best Restaurants and Their Recipes. p. 62.
  4. ↑ Irwin, Will (1908). The City That Was: A Requiem of Old San Francisco. p. 33.
  5. ↑ Muscatine, Doris (1963). A Cook's Tour of San Francisco: The Best Restaurants and Their Recipes. p. 62.
  6. ↑ Irwin, Will (1908). The City That Was: A Requiem of Old San Francisco. p. 32.
  7. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. pp. 99, 108.
  8. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 115.
  9. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 116.
  10. ↑ Woon, Basil (1935). San Francisco and The Golden Empire. p. 96.
  11. ↑ Guerrero, Susana (2021). "One of San Francisco's Most Famous French Restaurants Ran a Brothel For the City's Elite". SF Gate. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  12. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 115.
  13. ↑ Irwin, Will (1908). The City That Was: A Requiem of Old San Francisco. p. 33.
  14. ↑ Muscatine, Doris (1963). A Cook's Tour of San Francisco: The Best Restaurants and Their Recipes. p. 62.
  15. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 107.
  16. ↑ Throop Purdy, Helen (1912). San Francisco: As It Was, As It Is, and How To See It. p. 146.
  17. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 107.
  18. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 114.
  19. ↑ Muscatine, Doris (1963). A Cook's Tour of San Francisco: The Best Restaurants and Their Recipes. p. 62.
  20. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 107.
  21. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 107.
  22. ↑ Muscatine, Doris (1963). A Cook's Tour of San Francisco: The Best Restaurants and Their Recipes. p. 61.
  23. ↑ Muscatine, Doris (1963). A Cook's Tour of San Francisco: The Best Restaurants and Their Recipes. p. 62.
  24. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 108.
  25. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 108.
  26. ↑ Muscatine, Doris (1963). A Cook's Tour of San Francisco: The Best Restaurants and Their Recipes. p. 63.
  27. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 116.
  28. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 116.
  29. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 116.
  30. ↑ Muscatine, Doris (1963). A Cook's Tour of San Francisco: The Best Restaurants and Their Recipes. p. 62.
  31. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 109.
  32. ↑ Millard, Bailey (1924). A History of The San Francisco Bay Region: History and Biography, Volume 2.
  33. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. pp. 99, 107–109.
  34. ↑ Guerrero, Susana (2021). "One of San Francisco's Most Famous French Restaurants Ran a Brothel For the City's Elite". SF Gate. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  35. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 109.
  36. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 118.
  37. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 109.
  38. ↑ Woon, Basil (1935). San Francisco and The Golden Empire. p. 96.
  39. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 118.
  40. ↑ O'Connell, Daniel (1891). The Inner Man: Good Things to Eat and Where to Get Them. p. 25.
  41. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 109.
  42. ↑ Millard, Bailey (1924). A History of The San Francisco Bay Region: History and Biography, Volume 2.
  43. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 109.
  44. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 109.
  45. ↑ Thompson, Ruth; Hanges, Louis (1937). Eating Around San Francisco. p. 45.
  46. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 109.
  47. ↑ Woon, Basil (1935). San Francisco and The Golden Empire. p. 97.
  48. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 107.
  49. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 114.
  50. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 108.
  51. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 115.
  52. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 115.
  53. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 115.
  54. ↑ O'Brien, Robert (1948). This Is San Francisco. p. 109.
  55. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 116.
  56. ↑ Peters, Erica J. (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. p. 118.
  57. ↑ Borrman, Laura Smith (2018). Iconic San Francisco: Dishes, Drinks, and Desserts. p. 111.
  58. ↑ Borrman, Laura Smith (2018). Iconic San Francisco: Dishes, Drinks, and Desserts. p. 111.
  59. ↑ Borrman, Laura Smith (2018). Iconic San Francisco: Dishes, Drinks, and Desserts. p. 111.
  60. ↑ Morris, M. Patricia (2006). The Old Poodle Dog: State Library Acquires a Manuscript Collection for Famed San Francisco Restaurant, California State Library Foundation Bulletin. pp. 9–11.
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