Picture this:
It is San Francisco in 1875. The Civil War had come to a bloody end twelve years before. The City in those days was centered around the docks along the Embarcadero (the shore in those days was back several blocks. The modern-day Embarcadero sits on land reclaimed from the bay) and grew outward from that point.
Much of the town was little more than a collection of ramshackle buildings. A good number of the saloons and warehouses along the shore of the bay were really old sailing ships that had been hauled up from the water and remodeled.
It was the Wild West. Towns were dusty and dirty. Paint was seldom used other than simple whitewash.
There were some exceptions, of course. Chinatown was nothing short of glorious. It was a wonderful place to be as far as family and nurturing and childhood are concerned, but it was also cramped and squalid and impoverished. The families in Chinatown didn't have much in the material sense, but they had a warmth of tradition and family that are still unequaled in most of today's San Francisco households. Chinatown was easily the prettiest place in the San Francisco of 1875. It was ablaze with red and gold. To outsiders it seemed that lion dances were weekly events and strings of firecrackers were forever being ignited. The scent of rich sandalwood incense perpetually drifted through the air. It still does.
The rest of San Francisco was pretty drab. Even the mansions on Rincon Hill (the elite address during the 1850's to 1870's, before Nob Hill came into fashion) were not as impressive as the Palace Hotel when it opened its doors in 1875.
It was such a stunning experience to walk into the Palace Hotel for the first time. One stepped out of a dusty John Wayne movie set into an absolutely spectacular European palace. It was grand and massive. Granite and polished marble, cut-glass chandeliers imported from Austria, deep burgundy red carpets, French furniture ... and on and on. It was opulent and magical. For many Californians it was the experience of a lifetime.
Guests arrived through the Garden Court entrance where carriages brought their passengers to the grand entrance through a U-shaped drive. The drive was known as the Garden Court. Once inside, admirers were awed by the hotel's four hydraulic elevators known as "rising rooms." Now guests could reach the hotel's top floors without effort. Each room was equipped with an electronic call button so that every guest's whim was met quickly and fulfilled completely.
Today the Garden Court is no longer the carriage entrance. The space is now enclosed in a magnificent stained-glass dome. It covers one of the world's most elegant restaurants - The Garden Court. With its incredible architecture and Austrian crystal chandeliers, The Garden Court became the site for some of the nation's most prestigious events.
Throughout its history, the Palace Hotel has witnessed the arrival of numerous prestigious guests. Presidents U. S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, and Rutherford B. Hayes stayed there, as did President Warren G. Harding, who died there. King David Kalakaua of Hawaii also died there. Business leaders John D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan were guests, as were renowned British playwright Oscar Wilde, actress Sarah Bernhardt (who arrived with her pet baby tiger), and opera legend Enrico Caruso.
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson hosted two luncheons in support of the Versailles Treaty which ended World War I. In 1945, the official banquet honoring the opening session of the United Nations was held in The Garden Court.
If you are a San Franciscan and have not yet been to the Garden Court, then shame on you! If you do not live in San Francisco, then make your plans now to enjoy this magnificent restaurant on your very next visit to this beautiful City by the Bay.
Resource Links and other postings from Sam Spade's San Francisco:
Garden Court Restaurant at the Palace Hotel - website
Presidio of San Francisco - What's there to see and where to eat
San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace - A Complete Guide
Taxicab Crooks and Scam Cabs in San Francisco - Read this warning before jumping in a cab!
San Francisco's Fabulous Lesbian Chefs
Coffee in the Castro - where to sit and watch the world go by
Public Transportation Links - from the Port of San Francisco
Ferry Schedule Links - from Bay Crossings
San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MUNI) website
San Francisco City Hall - Architectural Masterpiece
Directions, public transit and a map to SF City Hall
SF City Hall Photo Gallery
San Francisco City Hall - Wikipedia article
Mayor Gavin Newsom's Welcome Page
San Francisco Visitors and Convention Bureau
California Academy of Sciences at Golden Gate Park
Asian Art Museum
Barbary Coast Trail
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Exploratorium
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)
Moscone Center
Other Museums
Steinhart Aquarium
Strybing Arboretum & Botanical Gardens
Symphony Zoo, San Francisco
San Francisco International Airport
Municipal Railway (MUNI)
Events Search, Convention & Visitors Bureau
Treasure Island Special Events
Restaurants in San Francisco - Inside Local tips - the Ultimate Guide
San Francisco Film Festivals 2008
San Francisco History Links and Resource Guide
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1 comments:
You're right. The garden Court is a very special place, but I want to add that Maxfield's, the Palace Hotel's bar, is also a very special place.
Celebrated American illustrator and artist Maxfield Parrish was commissioned to paint a mural for the Palace Hotel's 1909 re-opening after it's major remodel job.
His magical seven-by-sixteen-foot oil on canvas depicts the children's fable of the Pied Piper of Hamelin and was recently appraised at $3 million. It has been a permanent fixture above the hotel's club-like bar, which was originally named The Pied Pier Room, and later renamed Maxfield's Bar and Restaurant.
The Garden Court is open for Breakfast, Afternoon Tea and Sunday Brunch. Maxfield's Bar and Restaurant is the Palace Hotel's dinner house. It too is a great place.
- a former maître d'hôtel
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