HIRTZLER, VICTOR (FORMER CHEF OF HOTEL ST. FRANCIS, SAN FRANCISCO) — The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book

Chicago, IL: The Hotel Monthly Press, 1919. 1st Edition; 1st Printing. Hardcover. This book is in Very Good- condition and is lacking a dust jacket. The spine ends and corners of the book covers have some light bumping, rubbing and nicking, along with some beginning fraying. The text pages are generally clean and bright, however, The top edges of the text pages of the first 10 pages and the the endpapers have patches of dark toning / splotching, with occasional other pages having miscellaneous splotches. "Known for a thick French accent, a pointed beard and curled moustache, showy costumes that included a red fez, and frequent appearances to greet guests and dignitaries throughout the hotel, Hirtzler "exceeded even the Hollywood portrait of a master chef". His cooking style was French, and he specialized in offering his guests many choices: "A typical dinner menu would offer a choice of fourteen cheeses, twenty clam or oyster dishes, eleven soups, twenty-four relishes, seventeen kinds of fish, and fifty-eight entrées from hamburger to Bohemian ham." Breakfasts included 203 different preparations of eggs, such as "Eggs Moscow" stuffed with caviar. In addition to naming dishes after guests (such as "Eggs Sarah Bernhardt", with diced chicken) , Hirtzler invented or renamed a number of dishes after himself including "Chicken Salad Victor", "Crab Cocktail Victor", "Victor Dressing", and the best known, "Celery Victor". Hirtzler may also have invented "Crab Louie"." (from Wikipedia). Very Good- .