Tadich Grill

Last updated
Tadich Grill
Tadich Grill, San Francisco, California - Stierch.jpg
Tadich Grill
Restaurant information
Established1849;175 years ago (1849)
Owner(s)Buich family
Previous owner(s)John Tadich
Head chefAdriano Dela Rosa
Street address 240 California Street
CitySan Francisco
StateCalifornia
Postal/ZIP Code94111
Coordinates 37°47′36″N122°23′57″W / 37.7934°N 122.3993°W / 37.7934; -122.3993
Seating capacity100
Website www.tadichgrillsf.com

The Tadich Grill is an American seafood restaurant located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1849, it is the oldest running restaurant in California. [1] [2] Based in the Financial District, the restaurant is located at 240 California Street. The dining experience features Croatian-style cooking techniques that include grilling seafood over mesquite- and charcoal-broilers for varying flavor profiles and uniform broiling. [2] [3]

Contents

History

Menu, Tadich Grill, San Francisco 1983 Menu, Tadich Grill, San Francisco 1983 (cropped).jpg
Menu, Tadich Grill, San Francisco 1983

The original restaurant opened in 1849 as a coffee stand on Clay Street in San Francisco, California. [4] [5] It was founded by Nikola Budrovich, Frano Kosta, and Antonio Gasparich, three immigrants from Croatia, who launched their restaurant as "Coffee Stand". [3] The establishment was renamed "New World Coffee Stand", following a move to the New World Market, a local market place in San Francisco. [3]

In 1887, their restaurant was purchased by and renamed after John Tadich, a Croatian hailing from Stari Grad on the Island of Hvar. [3] In 1928, Tadich sold the restaurant to another Croatian family, the Buichs. In 1967, the restaurant moved to its present location at 240 California Street; this was after Wells Fargo bought the Clay Street location for redevelopment. The current space is one-third larger than the original, and the Buiches worked with contractors to recreate the Art Deco interior design that the Clay Street space had. All of the moldings and woodwork were copied, and the original Clay Street bar was moved to the present location. The restaurant reopened within one month of moving. [5]

In 1925, Louis Buich implemented Croatian-style cooking at the Tadich grill, requiring chefs to use a mesquite broiler for cooking seafood. [3] The restaurant's use of the grilling technique became popular, and in a single day the restaurant can go through four 40-pound bags of mesquite charcoal. Little has changed in regards to the restaurant's cooking methods, and the restaurant has had only seven chefs since 1925 (as of 2011). [5] After operating at several locations in the previous century, the restaurant's last move in 1967 was to a location on the California Street cable car line. [6]

In 1999, R.W. Apple called the restaurant, "old-fashioned, a nostalgic shrine to local piscine tradition." [6] According to Apple, the restaurant's best known dish is cioppino, a seafood soup created in San Francisco, and other California seafood specialities like Petrale sole and sand dabs. [6] Herb Caen, longtime columnist of the San Francisco Chronicle , was a fan of Tadich's version of the Hangtown Fry, a Gold Rush era combination of scrambled eggs, bacon and oysters. [6] In The New York Times , Sadie Stein wrote in 2013 that the restaurant is "Festive without being stuffy, it offers a taste of the San Francisco of yore while embracing the present day." [7] The restaurant operated a branch in Washington, D.C. from 2015 to 2018. [8]

Cuisine

Cioppino Tadich Grill Cioppino.jpg
Cioppino

The menu focuses on traditional seafood, stews, and casseroles. Ingredients are locally sourced, including seafood such as Dungeness crab and sand dab. [5] The restaurant also offers a day-of-the-week menu, which has remained unchanged for many years. Items on the day-of-the-week menu include lamb roast on Mondays, beef tongue on Tuesdays, and corned beef and cabbage on Thursdays. [5] Oysters are also a major feature on the menu and most, if not all, menu items are prepared in restaurant. [5] Prawns are the only frozen fish at the restaurant, and the Tadich actively avoids selling fish that is overfished, limiting sales of fish such as sea bass. [5]

Cooking style

The Tadich Grill employs traditional Croatian-style cooking methods to prepare, cook, and present their seafood and meats. [5] [3] The restaurant grills seafood over mesquite broilers and charcoal, [3] a common practice throughout Dalmatia and the island cities of Croatia. [9]

Staff

The restaurant and its waitstaff are styled after a European bistro. [3] Waiters wear white jackets and black pants, and tend to be middle- to older-aged. [5] The restaurant, previously first come, first served, now takes reservations for half of the seating, the remaining half is available on a first come, first serve basis. [5] On average, the restaurant serves 700 meals a day. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cantonese cuisine</span> Chinese regional cuisine from Guangdong

Cantonese or Guangdong cuisine, also known as Yue cuisine, is the cuisine of Guangdong province of China, particularly the provincial capital Guangzhou, and the surrounding regions in the Pearl River Delta including Hong Kong and Macau. Strictly speaking, Cantonese cuisine is the cuisine of Guangzhou or of Cantonese speakers, but it often includes the cooking styles of all the speakers of Yue Chinese languages in Guangdong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French cuisine</span> Culinary tradition

French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices from France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In the 17th century, chefs François Pierre La Varenne and Marie-Antoine Carême spearheaded movements that shifted French cooking away from its foreign influences and developed France's own indigenous style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grilling</span> Form of cooking that involves dry heat

Grilling is a form of cooking that involves heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat and vegetables quickly. Food to be grilled is cooked on a grill, using a cast iron/frying pan, or a grill pan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of California</span> Culinary traditions of California

The cuisine of California reflects the diverse culture of California and is influenced largely by European American, Hispanic American, East Asian and Oceanian influences, and Western European influences, as well as the food trends and traditions of larger American cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regional variations of barbecue</span>

Barbecue varies by the type of meat, sauce, rub, or other flavorings used, the point in barbecuing at which they are added, the role smoke plays, the equipment and fuel used, cooking temperature, and cooking time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hangtown fry</span> American egg, oyster, and bacon dish

Hangtown fry is a type of omelette made famous during the California Gold Rush in the 1850s. The most common version includes bacon and oysters combined with eggs, and fried together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of the Western United States</span>

The Western United States has its cuisine, distinct in various ways from that of the rest of the country. States west of Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska would be considered part of this area, as would, in some cases, western parts of adjoining states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Northwest cuisine</span> Traditional cuisine of the Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest cuisine is a North American cuisine that is found in the Pacific Northwest, i.e. the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska, as well as the province of British Columbia and the southern portion of the territory of Yukon, reflecting the ethnic makeup of the region, with noticeable influence from Asian and Native American traditions. With significant migration from other regions of the US, influences from Southern cuisine brought by African Americans as well as Mexican-American cuisine as Latinos migrate north from California, can be seen as well.

<i>Yakitori</i> Japanese type of grilled chicken

Yakitori is a Japanese type of skewered chicken. Its preparation involves attaching the meat to a skewer, typically made of steel, bamboo, or similar materials, after which it is grilled over a charcoal fire. During or after cooking, the meat is typically seasoned with tare sauce or salt. The term is sometimes used informally for kushiyaki in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robatayaki</span> Japanese method of cooking

In Japanese cuisine, robatayaki, often shortened to robata, refers to a method of cooking, similar to barbecue, in which items of food are cooked at varying speeds over hot charcoal. Many Japanese restaurants, both in Japan and abroad, specialize in this style of food preparation. Traditionally, the food consists of a combination of morsels of seafood and vegetables, but other kinds of food that are suitable for grilling may also be offered. The robata cooking style is different from other Japanese charcoal cooking in that it uses a wide, flat open fireplace in the style of an irori, rather than a shichirin or other type of charcoal cooking implement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack's Restaurant</span> Historic site in California, United States

Jack's Restaurant is a historic building and a former restaurant in the Financial District of San Francisco, California. Opened in 1863, Jack’s was the third oldest restaurant in the city, following Tadich Grill and The Old Clam House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greek restaurant</span> Restaurant that specializes in Greek cuisine

A Greek restaurant is a restaurant that specializes in Greek cuisine. In the United States they tend to be a different affair, varying in types of service, cuisine, menu offerings, table settings, and seating arrangements. Their menu may also feature dishes from other cuisines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swan Oyster Depot</span> Restaurant in California, United States

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.

California Fish Grill is a chain of restaurants located in the Greater Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento metropolitan areas, Nevada and Arizona which claim to serve only responsibly sourced seafood. The chain was founded in 1998 in Gardena, California by Victor Topete and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flying Fish Company</span> Seafood company based in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Flying Fish Company is a sustainable seafood company which operates a fish market, restaurant, and food cart in Portland, Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RingSide Fish House</span> Defunct seafood restaurant in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

RingSide Fish House was a seafood restaurant in Portland, Oregon. The business operated in southwest Portland's Fox Tower from 2011 to 2018.

References

  1. ↑ Ashraf, Syjil (May 2, 2012). "America's Oldest Restaurants". The Daily Meal. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  2. 1 2 Bitker, Janelle (2021-04-02). "Tadich Grill, San Francisco's oldest restaurant, reopens on Monday after long pandemic break". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Briscoe, John (2002). The Tadich Grill: The Story of San Francisco's Oldest Restaurant (1st ed.). Ten Speed Press.
  4. ↑ "Tadich Grill". Frommer's . Retrieved 2008-05-27.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Berne, Amanda (September 28, 2005). "A Grand Old Grill: After 155 Years, San Francisco's Iconic Restaurant Still Packs Them in". SFGate . Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Apple, R.W. (August 18, 1999). "When the West Was Wild, and Fish Were Fish". The New York Times . Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  7. ↑ Stein, Sadie (December 6, 2013). "Food Matters: 10 of the World's Greatest Old Dining Institutions". The New York Times . Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  8. ↑ Plumb, Tierney (January 16, 2018). "D.C.'s Tadich Grill Has Closed: The would-be power spot lasted less than three years". Eater.com . Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  9. ↑ Evenden, Karen (2008). A Taste of Croatia: Savoring the Food, People, and Traditions of Croatia's Adriatic Coast. New Oak Press. ISBN   9780980012002.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.