A mailbag full of food memories
Last month, we ran a story sharing recipes from bygone San Francisco restaurants, inspired by our readers’ suggestions and pleas. For that walk down memory lane, we shared dishes like Blum’s Coffee Crunch Cake, Townsend’s Creamed Spinach and more. The recipes sparked dozens of letters for many nostalgic readers, so we’re printing some of the best ones here.
Share your favorite dishes from old San Francisco, and we’ll do our best to track down the recipes: food@sfchronicle.com. These letters have been edited for clarity and style.
— Paolo Lucchesi, Food editor
Sarah Fritsche’s article featuring nostalgic recipes from San Francisco reminded me of my uncharacteristic failure to unearth any recipes from the bygone 1980s bakery Babycakes, which used to be located on Baker Street (yes, really). Their muffins overtopped the baking tins in a mushroom cloud shape and were not only spectacular to look at, but delicious. I used to buy a dozen while visiting my friend in the city, and then take it home to SoCal and stick it in the freezer to make the enjoyment last as long as possible.
I would be particularly interested in their blue corn muffin and bran muffin recipes, but I’m pretty resourceful and was unable to find any leads on this except others asking wistfully after recipes on line as well. I sincerely hope you guys have better luck! — Angela
As a native San Franciscan, I loved your column in the Sunday Chronicle with recipes from bygone Bay Area restaurants and your offer to try to find recipes for readers’ favorite dishes from the past.
My favorite cake in San Francisco was the angel food cake from Ahrens Bakery on Van Ness at Jackson . ... It was a tube cake covered first in a light chocolate frosting and then with a shiny, dark chocolate icing that was firm, but not hard. It had the perfect balance between the lightness of the angel food cake and the richness of the two types of icing. I would love to have the recipe for this terrific cake.
Thanks again for the Coffee Crunch Cake recipe from Blum’s. I thought I remembered it well, so I was surprised that the frosting didn’t have any coffee flavoring in it — just whipped cream with vanilla and sugar — because I remembered it as being coffee-colored, not white. — Linda
Sarah, thank you for your article, which brings to mind one of the best memories of my childhood.
Every Saturday my grandmother would take me shopping downtown, and of course lunch at either Townsend’s, Blum’s or in the City of Paris Normandy Lane. My favorite of all was Townsend’s for the creamed spinach, and for dessert the yellow cake with the best dark chocolate frosting I have ever tasted. Blum’s was my second best luncheon memory.
Not to many people I can share these wonderful memories with, but you brought them to life for me with your article. — Janice
I was librarian at Notre Dame des Victoires during the late 1960s and 1970s. During the 1968-1969 academic year, one of the teachers and I used to stop at Townsend’s to chat for a while after the school day ended. Joyce and I were in
our 20s and so the youngest ladies there, nor were we well dressed in hat and gloves. But it was a wonderfully comfortable place where one was treated very courteously and where no one hurried you to finish and leave. We went there originally for the excellent strawberry pie. I was on a very tight budget, and I believe the spinach was a little cheaper, so I began having that, and I became quite addicted to it. I have made creamed spinach since I was a teenager, but I could never make it turn out quite as delicious as Townsend’s.
I have already made the recipe, and it brought back wonderful memories (next time, I will go a little lighter on the salt, though). I am so happy to hear that others asked for the recipe and that you decided it was worth reprinting.
Now I am old enough to be part of the Townsend’s regular cli- entele, and I regret that the City lost such a place!
Thank you for finding and publishing the recipe. — Carolyn
I’m a 60-year-old Bay Area native who has been dining out my entire life. I was lucky enough that my parents took me to a range of wonderful restaurants from Clown Alley to Blue Fox. I’d love to eat my way down memory lane w/ the following recipes: Rolf ’s beef Stroganoff Iron Pot’s veal scallopini Jack’s chicken saute sec Bijou’s vacherin Alfred’s fried cream (I’ve misplaced the recipe that The Chron ran years ago) Just a couple of tidbits … I was fortunate enough to attend a cooking demonstration luncheon w/ Julia Child at the Mondavi winery in the ’80s. What a privilege! In my early 20s, Jack and Terese Redinger ( Jack’s) were guests at my home. I cooked (naively!) dinner for them. I attended two of Marion Cunningham’s cooking lectures. Another privilege! — Diane
Just read an article giving recipes from Bay Area restaurants that are no longer in business and I could live a happier life if I had the recipe to revisit one of the best dishes ever. I am one of the pickiest eaters you will probably ever meet, so when China Station in Berkeley closed down they took with them one of the few dishes that I LOVED. Walnut Chicken at China Station was a dish so amazingly tasty!
Although it’s on other restaurants’ menus it’s never been remotely similar to China Station’s version. Every time I see it on another restaurants menu I’ve ordered it while crossing my fingers they will bring me a dish similar to China Station’s, but never has that happened. Other places I’ve had it just throw a few whole walnuts on a plate with some chicken and call it a day, but China Station coated the chicken with chopped walnuts like a breading and then smothered it in a yummy sauce. The dish also included delicious snow peas and these mushrooms ... which I picked around because I don’t like mushrooms, and honestly just the look of them grossed me out as a kid. The last time I had this chicken was with my kids and my parents on my 30th birthday. I’m now 50 and I miss that chicken as much as I do my youth. Please help me and find China Station’s recipe for Walnut Chicken (and maybe a good wrinkle cream). — Kimberly