Swan Oyster Depot

Last updated
Swan Oyster Depot
Swan Oyster Depot - Outside.jpg
Swan Oyster Depot
Restaurant information
Established1903 (1903)
Owner(s)The Sancimino Brothers
Previous owner(s)The Lausten Family
ChefVincent Sancimino, Steven Sancimino, Thomas Sancimino, James Sancimino, Kevin Sancimino, Brian Dwyer, Marino Peradotto
Food typeSeafood
Dress codeNone
RatingMichelin guide, James Beard Award, Silver Spoon
Street address1517 Polk Street
CitySan Francisco
CountySan Francisco
StateCalifornia
CountryUnited States
Coordinates 37°47′27″N122°25′15″W / 37.79094°N 122.42091°W / 37.79094; -122.42091
Seating capacity18
ReservationsNo Reservations
Website swanoysterdepot.net

Swan Oyster Depot is a seafood eatery and cultural landmark located in the Polk Gulch neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It opened there in 1903 and except for a brief hiatus and rebuilding period following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, it has been running continuously in the same venue since that time. This makes it one of the longest continuous businesses and dining establishments in the United States. Swan's menu has remained largely unchanged throughout its history, and it has had exactly the same 18 wooden stools and marble counter that were installed for the post-earthquake reopening in 1912. [1]

Contents

History

Swan Oyster Depot first opened its doors in San Francisco in the early 1890s [2] as the Cable Oyster Depot. Founded by the Lausten family, who were immigrants from Denmark, the shop, started as a purveyor of shellfish from Fisherman's Wharf. The shop was located at 1517 Polk Street in the Polk Gulch neighborhood. After the devastating 1906 earthquake the Army Corps of Engineers dynamited everything from City Hall to Fisherman's Wharf to stop the fire from spreading. [3] With their business gone, the Laustens made a name for themselves in the devastated post-earthquake community by bringing wheat to Golden Gate Park and handing it out to people so that they could make bread. [4]

By 1912, the Laustens constructed a new shop at 1517 Polk Street, adjacent to the former location. Their earlier enterprise was named Cable Oyster Depot. [5] [6] They decided to change the name of the shop to something for good luck and chose Swan, because the Swan is the national bird of Denmark. [7] After the shop was rebuilt the Lausten's expanded it to include a pickup and delivery business.

In 1946, Sal Sancimino and Pat La Rocca bought Swan Oyster Depot from the Laustens. [8] Sal and his wife Rose were at the shop daily, with Sal working behind the counter and Rose doing the accounting and billing. The Sanciminos had six sons: Vincent, Steven, John, Thomas, Philip, Jim, and a daughter, Mary, and over the years, all of them worked at some point at the shop. [9] Rose stopped doing the books when she was 90 and Sal worked until he turned 88. [10]

When Sal Sancimino bought the shop, he expanded the line from shellfish to include Pacific coast fish and seafood. [11] Sal described Swan as "strictly a seasonal house" meaning that everything sold there was fresh, rather than frozen. [12]

The long Italian marble counter and the 18 stools have been there since the shop reopened. [13]

Critical reception

Swan Oyster Depot has been the focus of international travel writers and food critics for many years. [14] One writer called it a "tiny temple dedicated to the glories of fruta di mare." [15] The shop is often called a journey back in time because it has stayed largely unchanged for decades. [16] The band of brothers behind the counter in the early days and now the Sancimino extended family is reportedly a big part of the attraction because of their extensive knowledge of seafood. [17] The shop has stayed largely unchanged in terms of its seafood selection, wine selection, and presentation too, the simplicity of which has earned it consistent accolades. [18] Its reputation for fresh seafood has been the subject of praise in travel guides and food publications. Celebrity chefs and critics are regular visitors and vocal reviewers. [19] CNN listed Swan's as one of "America's Best Historic Restaurants". [20] Andrew Knowlton has called it his "favorite restaurant in America". [21] Traci Des Jardins states that it is her "go-to place for cracked crab and oysters", noting that she has eaten there for over twenty years. [22] James Beard was a major fan of Swan and regularly dined there. [23]

Swan won the coveted James Beard Award for Best Restaurant and Chef in the American Classics category in 2000 [24] and has been a semi-finalist for the award several times. [25] On February 27, 2019, Swan Oyster Depot was announced as a semi-finalist for the James Beard Award for service. [26]

The lines at Swan are known for being long at any time of the day. [27]

Lineage

While the Lausten family is credited with starting Swan Oyster Depot in the 1890s, it is the Sancimino family that can be credited with working to make Swan into a popular dining destination. [28] The Sancimino brothers arrived in America in the 1880s from Sicily. They headed to the waters off Fisherman's Wharf to start making a living. Later, a fifth brother named Vincent arrived and started fishing the local waters as well. The catastrophic earthquake that either toppled or caused fires across much San Francisco in 1906 sent many San Francisco residents, including Vincent, to seek temporary refuge in city's Golden Gate Park. While there, he met Maria, a woman with Sicilian roots, who was serving soup to the displaced from an impromptu soup kitchen. Sometime thereafter, the two were married and eventually had two daughters and four sons, the eldest of which was Salvatore. [29]

Salvatore Sancimino finished high school and during World War II, joined a branch of the Navy called the Seabees and served in the South Pacific. Shortly after his discharge, he married Rose, a former Army nurse. [30] After having his first job working for a seafood wholesaler, he and Rose bought Swan Oyster Depot. [31] Salvatore made it into both a seafood market and an informal eatery, with fresh daily fare being his standard for both. The seven Sancimino children grew up working various jobs behind the marble counter. Eventually, daughter Mary opted for another direction and became an attorney as did the eldest of the clan, Vincent. Vincent, however, eventually returned to the shop and took up his place beside his brothers. [32] Rose and Sal had eight grandchildren, all of whom grew up working at some time in the restaurant. [33]

The Menu

Interior of Swan Oyster Depot, showing it's menu and regional memorabilia Swan Oyster Depot - San Francisco, CA - DSC02347.jpg
Interior of Swan Oyster Depot, showing it's menu and regional memorabilia

The walls of Swan Oyster Depot are covered with memorabilia and artifacts collected and curated during the shop's over century-long existence. Most prominent is the 3-panel handwritten menu, put up in 1985 and left unchanged since then, with eponymous swans illustrated on the corners. [34]

Swan Oyster Depot is known for its selection of fresh and sometimes rare oysters, with the list of what is available changing daily. Olympias are one example. During the Gold Rush time in the 1850s, Olympias were popular, readily available in the Bay Area, and used in many dishes. [35] Over time, however, because they are smaller and more slow to mature than most other popular oyster varieties, they became less profitable and more rare a choice for most shellfish purveyors to grow. [36]

In addition to the posted menu, there is what has been called a "secret menu," which includes seafood selections that are known and requested by regulars [37] The secret menu has such selections as the Smørrebrød, an open-faced Sandwich; a "Dozen Eggs" which are thin, raw scallops with Sriracha in ponzu sauce, and Sicilian Sashimi. [38]

Notable diners

Celebrities have been regularly sighted at Swan Oyster Depot over the years. Bing Crosby, Margaret Thatcher, Francis Ford Coppola, Madeline Kahn, Michael Mina, Claudette Colbert, Julia Child, Nicolas Cage, Éric Ripert, Traci Des Jardins, Bono, to name but a few. James Beard, the famed cook, author, and champion of American cuisine, was a regular as was Anthony Bourdain, who lived in New York and was said to have come to Swan every time he came to visit San Francisco. [39]

From the Swan beginning in the early 1900s, a regular following of locals has come either to eat or to pick up seafood to go. There are families that have come for six generations [30] and the Swan crew knows the majority of customers by their first name. [5]

Anthony Bourdain visits

Celebrity chef, author, and television host Anthony Bourdain was a Swan Oyster Depot regular for decades, paying his first visit to Swan Oyster Depot long before he had gained celebrity status. [40] He described his relationship with Swan as "true love" [41] and frequently made the restaurant a priority stop, alone or with a camera crew. [42] After Bourdain's segment of his television show The Layover was taped in San Francisco at Swan Oyster Depot and aired on October 15, 2012, it increased the popularity of the restaurant. [43]

On the day of Anthony Bourdain's death, [44] June 8, 2018, hundreds of people came to Swan Oyster Depot to pay their respects to the star and remember him at the place he came so often in San Francisco. [45]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Anderson, Brett (May 6, 2014). "The New Wave of Oyster Bars". New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  2. ↑ San Francisco Examiner, December 25, 1894
  3. ↑ Jung, Carolyn (March 2013). "Silver Spoon". Food Arts: 80.
  4. ↑ Clifton, Denise (February 25, 2012). "Dining on History in San Francisco". The Seattle Times.
  5. 1 2 Saekel, Karola (October 8, 1997). "Swan Oyster Depot Serves Up Tradition on the Half-Shell". San Francisco Chronicle.
  6. ↑ San Francisco Examiner, December 25, 1894
  7. ↑ Lucchesi, Paolo (2014-09-02). "How did Swan Oyster Depot get its avian name?". sfgate.com. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Spécialités––California". Gourmet: 88. October 1975.
  9. ↑ Hutchinson, Rosemary (March 1975). "Seafood Savvy From A Family Market". Better Homes and Gardens: 72.
  10. ↑ Jung, Carolyn (March 2013). "Silver Spoon". Food Arts.
  11. ↑ Hutchinson, Rosemary (March 1975). "Seafood Savvy From a Family Market". Better Homes and Gardens.
  12. ↑ "Spécialtiés––California: Swan Oyster Depot". Gourmet: 88. October 1975.
  13. ↑ Shelton, Jack (April 1977). "Where Seafood Lovers Get Fresh". San Francisco Magazine.
  14. ↑ SF Insider. "What Are the Must-Have Dishes at Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco?". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  15. ↑ Beyl, Ernest (April 2001). "Swan Oyster Depot, Seafood Heaven". Nob Hill Gazette: 14.
  16. ↑ "Swan Oyster Depot". SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  17. ↑ Weiss, Liz (September 13, 2012). "America's Best Seafood". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  18. ↑ Garner, Dwight (March 11, 2019). "Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Enduring San Francisco". New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  19. ↑ Ward, Rachel. "Where Chef Stuart Brioza of San Francisco's State Bird Provisions Eats". Where Traveler. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  20. ↑ Kludt, Amanda (2012-08-20). "10 of America's Best Historic Restaurants". CNN Travel. CNN. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  21. ↑ Knowlton, Andrew (February 6, 2014). "The Foodist's 10 Favorite Oyster Bars Across America". Bon Appétit. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  22. ↑ Des Jardins, Traci (March 3, 2016). "America's Classics: Traci Des Jardins on San Francisco's Swan Oyster Depot". James Beard Foundation. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  23. ↑ Carroll, John Phillip (September 2012). "It's James Beard's Kind of Place". New Fillmore: 7–9.
  24. ↑ "America's Classic Award Winners". JBF. James Beard Foundation. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Swan Oyster Depot". Hearst Publishing. May 7, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  26. ↑ Lawrence Kane, Peter (February 27, 2019). "James Beard Foundation Announces 2019 Chef and Restaurant Semi-finalists". SF Weekly/Hearst. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  27. ↑ "Swan Oyster Depot". Bon Appetit. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  28. ↑ Gagliardi, Marcia (June 2010). "Classic San Francisco Restaurants". Northside San Francisco: 10–11.
  29. ↑ Goldsmith, Ashley. "Celebrating 100 Years of Fresh". Etc. Magazine (Spring 2012): 2–4.
  30. 1 2 Jung, Carolyn (March 2013). "The Sancimino Family". Food Arts: 80.
  31. ↑ Beyl, Ernest (April 2001). "Swan Oyster Depot––Seafood Heaven". Nob Hill Gazette: 14.
  32. ↑ Beyl, Ernest (April 2001). "Swan Oyster Depot Seafood Heaven". Nob Hill Gazette: 14.
  33. ↑ Beyl, Ernie (June 2010). "Classic San Francisco Restaurants". Northside San Francisco: 10–12.
  34. ↑ Bauer, Michael (May 10, 2015). "Swan Oyster Depot". San Francisco Chronicle.
  35. ↑ "Spécialités––California: Swan Oyster Depot". Gourmet: 88. October 1975.
  36. ↑ Beahrs, Andrew (July 2012). "Heaven on the Half Shell". Smithsonian: 62–69.
  37. ↑ Mamoom, Omar (November 16, 2016). "At Swan Oyster Depot, a secret menu built for regulars". San Francisco Chronicle.
  38. ↑ Mamoon, Omar (November 3, 2016). "At Swan Oyster Depot, a secret menu built for regulars". San Francisco Chronicle.
  39. ↑ Goldsmith, Ashley (Spring 2012). "Celebrating 100 Years of Fresh". Etc. Magazine (Spring 2012): 2–4. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  40. ↑ Graff, Amy (June 8, 2018). "30 restaurants where Anthony Bourdain got to know San Francisco". San Francisco Chronicle: 1.
  41. ↑ "Bourdain's Favorite San Francisco Spot Remembers Famed Chef". CBS News. June 8, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  42. ↑ Savidge, Alex (June 8, 2018). "Celebrity Anthony Bourdain loved Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco". KTVU News. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  43. ↑ Craig, Elise. "Swan Oyster Depot". CN Traveler. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  44. ↑ May, Patrick (June 8, 2018). "Anthony Bourdain's suicide leaves his beloved San Francisco shocked and saddened". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  45. ↑ Steimle, Susie (June 8, 2018). "Swan Oyster Depot, Favored by Anthony Bourdain, Mourns Loss of Famous Chef". CBS News.


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