Fior d'Italia Celebrates 125th Anniversary Year in Authentic Italian Style

'We're just thrilled to be going into our 125th year,' said Bob Larive, owner of the Fior d'Italia.

Bob and his wife, Jinx, have owned the Fior for 20 years and as such are the newest keepers of over a century of history and tradition.

A tradition and record not only within San Francisco but for the whole of America as The Fior carries the flag for being the oldest continuously operating Italian restaurant in the country.

'I'm proud that we've been able to do that,' said Bob. Over the 125 years, only three groups of people have owned the restaurant. His days are steeped in history, with photos of his forebears and historic photos of the restaurant hanging all around the walls. And he's looking forward to the next 125 years, joking that he wouldn't be around for that celebration.

The Fior, he said, represents the 'veteran' San Franciscan restaurant, holding onto tradition with 'real Italian food, like grandma used to make.'  Every so often, a customer will comment that the food reminds them of their grandmother's cooking. 'Nothing makes my chef prouder,' said Bob.

Upholding authentic Italian cuisine in a competing market of what Bob describes as 'yuppie' restaurants, is obviously a challenge. Yuppie restaurants do 'funny things with the food', are popular for a year or two and then move on, he said. In the interim, they are affecting the city's traditional restaurants, some of whom have had to close. 'That's a shame,' he said.

The Fior also offers 'real service' with staff that 'stay with us forever,' he said. 'JC', and he pointed, had been working there for 32 years. There is not the same professionalism in restaurants that use college kids in training, he said. 

The enduring style of The Fior, said Bob, may be semi-formal with the waiters wearing tuxedos, but it is also 'a lot of fun.'

'It's casual in its own way,' he said.

Fun today it certainly was, with the restaurant crowded with people enjoying their Victorian celebration for as little as 5 cents or as much as 30 cents.

Chef Gianni Audieri couldn't agree more. Is he going to produce a signature dish for the anniversary?

Horror sweeps across his brow. 'I don't believe in signature dishes,' he said. Chef Gianni has been there for 25 years and his great love is for authentic Italian food.
pic with Bill Del Monte, the 104-year-old son of the founder of The Fior
 
Neither does he, when asked, recommend a favourite dish out of the 70 dishes on the menu. Always his reply is, 'You decide! It's your taste!'

Has this 72-year-old chef created any of the dishes on the menu, given them a personal twist?

'No, I try to stay traditional,' he said, abhorring modern experimentation like 'putting bananas in pasta!' His search and goal to stay true to the cooking of old Italy.

Of course, the menu has changed from its earliest days. The original menu featured frogs legs, but that was not on offer today. A lot of dishes, sweetbread - pancreas -  liver, kidneys have faded from the menu as 'most people do not accept it,' he said.

There is also much more meat as people can afford it now.

The Fior's cuisine is based on the traditional cooking of Genoa and Tuscany, northern regions of Italy that in the old days were wealthier than the south.

'North of Florence' , he explained, and you have the slightly richer egg pastas of cannelloni, lasagne, tagliatelle, ravioli and tortellini.

'South of Rome' and you have the pastas that are made with only flour and water, like spaghetti, linguini, macaroni. With one complication that confuses people, 'tagliatelle' is a northern name, and 'fettucini' is the same pasta with a southern name.

With the richer northern region, rice also became a starch staple, he added.


And authenticity means lightness of sauce: one ounce of pasta with one ounce of sauce, said Chef Gianni, not the American and British way of smothering pasta in sauce! If 150 calories becomes 1,500 calories, who's fault is that?! he said.

The Fior gradually over the years became one of San Francisco's top restaurants, but in the beginning it catered mostly for hungry, working men. Platters of salad and pasta would sit in the middle of the tables, the food plentiful when cents were not. They fed men toiling 12 hours a day, six days a week for $6, so that five cents for a meal was a lot of money, said Chef Gianni.

Chef Gianni has had a rich and varied culinary experience, cooking around the world. He began in kitchens when he was only 16-years-old, and his talent was spotted. He was sent to culinary school and afterwards went to Lausanne to both cook and learn French. He has worked in Germany, Italy, England - including the Regency Hotel in Piccadilly - and on a cruise ship, emigrating to New York at the end of 1960.

After nine years in New York, he went to the Carribean, Miami, South America, including Venezuela, and LA, where for a while he owned his own restaurant with a partner. When his restaurant went through difficult times, he had an offer to work at The Fior.

'I said, "what the hell is the Fior d'Italia!' he recounted. But once he saw the restaurant and the beauty of San Francisco, he was hooked. Love blossomed not only in the kitchens and the city. He met and married his wife, Trudy, who was the restaurant's office manager, and today they have two boys, 'who are not cooking!' said Chef Gianni with a smile.


With Bob and Jinx and Chef Gianni, history and tradition will continue to be celebrated and upheld for future generations.

Fior d'Italia Celebrates 125th Anniversary Year with 104-year-old Bill Del Monte

Seated in a vintage Surrey pulled by groomed horses this morning was 104-year-old Bill Del Monte, survivor of the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire, and youngest son of the founder of the Fior d'Italia that today launched its 125th anniversary year celebrations.

Back on his head, his trademark tan tam o'shanter with its red and blue stripes instead of the commemorative fireman's helmet with which he was presented only two weeks ago at the annual earthquake commemoration. He didn't wear the helmet today as 'it looked too heavy!' he said.

Bill was guest of honour at today's party, riding through the North Beach streets with family members and Senator Mark Leno, and escorted by the Sheriff's Mounted Posse.

Inside the restaurant he sat in a private area with friends and family, while customers filled the front part to enjoy their Victorian-priced lunch entrees. Behind him, a historic mural, thought to be of scenes of Tuscany and Umbria with the church of St Francis of Assisi, the painter unknown.

Throughout the restaurant are historic photos of his family, staff, the different buildings that have housed The Fior, and reflections of old San Francisco. Today, the Fior is inside the San Remo Hotel on Mason Street.
pic of publicist Lee Houskeeper of San Francisco Stories, Bill, and neices Barbara Del Monte and Janette Barroca

Bill was born in January 1906, three months before the earthquake, in an apartment behind the restaurant. The paradox of it being a family restaurant was that it origins began in what was nicknamed the Barbary Coast, an area around North Beach infamous for saloons, opium and gambling dens, and brothels that served local San Franciscans, sailors, and farm-hands and miners of the gold rush.

Bill's father came to California for the gold rush but turned to food instead. Settling in North Beach with many other Italian immigrants, he helped establish the area that became known as 'Little Italy.'

photo of Bill's brothers and sister and parents: Attilio, Eva, Angelo and Assunta, Eugene, Guido, and Bill in front beside his mother.

As a young man, Bill helped in the restaurant. 'I was a hat-check boy', he said. As family do, he worked without a salary but enjoyed the tips until the service was franchised out, and Bill's services were no longer wanted. They hired two good-looking girls instead, he said with a grin. And that was the end, for he never worked in the kitchens or waited at tables.

However, he did enjoy the food! His favourite dish was veal made by one particular cook. He described the oval plate with the veal surrounded by sliced potatoes. 'I have never tasted it like that since, I don't know what he did....the herbs he used,' he said. In those days, he added, they had very young veal as the calves were slaughtered earlier than they are today.

He was looking forward to a veal lunch again.

Like Bill, The Fior, has travelled through a century and beyond, somehow managing to survive through a formidable array of events of natural disasters of earthquakes and fire, the politics of Prohibition, the Great Wall Street crash and Depression, two World Wars and recessions.

However, Bill has no memories of his father, Angelo, talking about any particular difficulty. And it seems that when the restaurant was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, his father just got on with the business of rebuilding the business.
pic of owner Bob Larive and the private party area for family and friends

'He enjoyed meeting people,' is what Bill remembers about him. There was a table reserved at lunchtimes for members of the upper society, like Amadeo Giannin, founder of the Bank of Italy before it became Bank of America. 'A lot of business was transacted at that table,' said Bill.

Asked again what his secret was of not just living to 104 years but of being so active - could it be all that veal and pasta? - he said, 'I don't know. I've been lucky, I've lived through the most eventful century in history.'

Never before or since have so many things been invented, he said. Automobiles, just two years before he was born, radios, electricity, TV and internet, were a few of what he listed.

He is continuing to make history, escorted through the streets in vintage vehicles. When will be his next celebrity appearance? He laughed, he's not expecting any more, but as the living embodiment of over a century of San Francisco's history, this is probably not the last occasion.

How does he feel being such a rich part of San Franciscan history?

'I love that, it's nice,' he said.

Fior d'Italia Launches 125th Anniversary Year with Original Victorian Menu at Original Prices

Inside the Fior d'Italia restaurant today, it is May 1, 1886. And with veal, chicken, beef and pasta on the menu for no more than 30 cents, diners were wrapped around the side of the building by late morning like spaghetti around a fork!

The Fior is celebrating the launch of its 125th anniversary year by throwing open its doors to customers with a sample menu of its original dishes at the same Victorian prices.

Star diner was 104-year-old Bill Del Monte, youngest son of Angelo Del Monte, founder of The Fior. Bill was paraded down the street in a vintage Surrey accompanied by the Sheriff's Mounted Posse at 11 am. Accompanying him were family members and State Senator Mark Leno.

Alighting from the carriage, Senator Leno presented commemorative diplomas on behalf of the Senate to Bill and current owners, Bob and Jinx Larive. Bill's diploma was a delayed honour in appreciation of him being the sole attending survivor at the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire ceremony two weeks ago.

Senator Leno said he had been unable to attend the ceremony at Lotta's Fountain due to being at a party conference.

He then congratulated them on the anniversary and the achievement of the Fior being the oldest continuously operating Italian restaurant in the USA.

With the prices on the menu today, he quipped, 'I would love to be able to roll back the State deficit to 1886!'

Paying tribute, he said, 'This is San Francisco and North Beach history,'  and the various owners were 'modern-day pioneers' who had endured many hardships including fires, earthquakes, depressions and recessions.

At the doors of the Fior, were the earliest arrivals who had wanted to make sure of their celebratory lunch.

First to arrive had been Michael at 8.45 am followed at around 9 am by Lin, Marianne and their friend, Michael, joined later by Richard.

What had brought Michael so enthusiastically to the door? 'The prices!' he said, waving a print-out of the menu. His choice was the veal.

Lin said she was there 'Just for the festivities. It's going to be a fun day,' and Marianne had made it because her neighbour had slipped an article about the party under her door. They were opting for the Veal Saute or the Eggplant Parmigiana, and Michael, the Tortellini with Meat Sauce.

Richard, who was after the Roast Sirloin, appreciated the reputation of the Fior.  'I've always known this restaurant, it's been here for years.' he said. But at the forefront of all their minds was 'It's the prices!'

Pic: Richard, Michael, Lin, Marianne and, first to arrive, Michael.

Fior d'Italia Celebrates 125th Anniversary Year with Original Menu and 104-year-old Bill Del Monte

America's oldest Italian restaurant, the Fior d'Italia, celebrates its 125th anniversary year on Friday - serving lunch dishes from their earliest menu at the original Victorian prices, and with guest of honour 104-year-old Bill del Monte, San Francisco's most active 1906 earthquake and fire survivor, whose father founded the restaurant.

The day will be one of historical pageantry and the reliving of memories handed down the generations. Bill, who now lives across the Bay, will ride to the restaurant in a vintage Surrey, escorted by the Sheriff's Mounted Posse. He is due to arrive at 11 am at the restaurant in the San Remo Hotel on Mason Street.

Also at the heart of the celebrations will be the Fior's owners, Bob and Jinx Larive, Chef Gianni Audieri and State Senator Mark Leno.

Bill's father, Angelo Del Monte, founded the restaurant that opened on May 1, 1886, and this event marks the launch of the 125th anniversary year. Bill was born in the back of the restaurant in January 1906, just three months before the restaurant was destroyed in the Great Earthquake and Fire

Among the offerings, to which the public are invited, are veal sauté for 5 cents, chicken parmigiana for 10 cents, eggplant parmigiana for 20 cents and, if you really want to splash out, roast sirloin for 30 cents. 

But diners only have between 11 pm and 4 pm to enjoy this celebration and it will be on a 'first come first served' basis!

The Fior held similar revelries on their 100th and 110th anniversaries.

'In the past the public celebrated these anniversary events with much gusto -- which is why we are expecting the same enthusiastic throngs this 125th year,' said owner Bob Larive, in a press release from Lee Houskeeper of San Francisco Stories.

Despite the contraction of the hospitality industry during the present recession, the storied Fior d'Italia remains a perennial draw featuring the fine Northern Italian offerings that made San Francisco's Italian cuisine famous.  

'We have survived fires, earthquakes, Prohibition, a depression and several recessions, two World Wars and are still here and looking forward to our next 125 years,' said Bob.

'We're very proud of our authentic Northern Italian cuisine and our culinary tradition,' said Chef Gianni Audieri, 'And through it all we've remained true to our Northern Italian cuisine using the best of seasonal quality ingredients.'  

Popular dishes, said Chef Gianni, are the Calamari, Gnocchi, Osso Bucco, Veal entrée's, and Caesar Salad, which customers rate as “The City's best."

When the Fior d' Italia first opened its doors, great sailing ships packed San Francisco's harbor, goats roamed Telegraph Hill and the Barbary Coast was a rough and tumble district, writes Lee Houskeeper.

 “The Fior” catered to the growing Italian community and achieved universal recognition as San Francisco's most elegant dining spot.  After the great earthquake and fire of 1906 destroyed the Fior, it was soon back in business in a tent and then in a new building.  This location and the next were the site of numerous banquets sponsored by Italian social and fraternal organizations and many family and social events for locals and visitors to the city.

In 1953, the Fior located directly across from Washington Square Park.  However, on Valentine's Day 2005, a fire forced a move to the historic San Remo Hotel at 2237 Mason Street.

The colourful history of the Fior d'Italia, from its founding families, the history of Italian immigrants and San Francisco, including the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire, to its food and recipes by Chef Gianni Audieri, can be read online. The book, 'The fabulous Fior', with many historic photos, has been written by San Franciscan journalist Francine Brevetti, the granddaughter of Alberto Puccetti, a waiter and part-owner of the Fior over 100  years ago. Alberto's starring role in the history was to be outside the restaurant as it was closing in the early hours of the morning of April 18, 1906, having earlier that night served tenor Enrico Caruso, when the Great Earthquake struck. 
www.fior.com/information/fior_book.pdf