The introductory texts reproduced here were written by the original Feeding America team to contextualize the books that were selected for inclusion as part of the 2001 digitization project.
The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book
By Victor Hirtzler.
Chicago Ill., The Hotel Monthly Press [c1919].
This book represents many different subjects. It stands for a small but important number of books by or about professional chefs, from a famous hotel. Also Western - San Francisco. It also represents the output of one of America's great professional culinary presses, Hotel Monthly Press, John Willy, Inc., out of Chicago. No study of America's food history can be complete without recognition of the efforts of this publisher. Some of the books were large, grand masterpieces of their genre (this one and see Ranhofer, The Epicurean 1894); others were small vest pocket manuals on various aspects of cooking, managing, training, baking, etc, making a living as a food professional in the hospitality industry.
This selection is another of the books which was named as one of the California 100, a bibliographic listing of influential California imprints on food and wine. [See also Los Angeles Times Cook Book No. 2]. Hirtzler's book was first published in San Francisco in 1910. This revised Chicago imprint is an American classic. Hirtzler, who can be considered one of the early "celebrity chefs", presented seasonal menus, highly sophisticated dining and included local California foods such as California oysters, sand dabs, and San Francisco Squabs.
