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 

1906 San Francisco Earthquake Anniversary

The terrible events of the 1906 earthquake and fires that devastated San Francisco were remembered this morning in a brief ceremony with two of the few remaining survivors as guests of honour.

Marking the exact time and date that the earthquake struck - 5.12 am on April 18 - up to 200 people gathered in the dark for the anniversary at Lotta's Fountain on Market Street in the heart of the city.

Sitting in a vintage car, surrounded by many members of their families, were Rose Cliver, 106-years-old, and Bill Del Monte, 103-years-old. For both Rose and Bill, it was their first appearance at the city's ceremonies which have been held for many years.

Lotta's Fountain, restored to it's original 1875 state and once again flowing with water, was one of the few monuments left standing after the quake that flattened among many others the City Hall. It became the desperate focal point for people seeking information in the search for survivors.

The quake only lasted for about a minute but in it's wake was one of America's greatest natural disasters that took about 3,000 lives, left 225,000 to 300,000 people homeless and caused damage in today's currency of over $8 billion.

Measurements of the quake intensity vary but the US Geological Survey puts it at 7.8, with the epicenter at Mussel Rock, south of the city on the Pacific
Coast and the point where the San Andreas fault enters the San Francisco Peninsula. The quake ruptured the San Andreas fault and caused damage as far south as Los Angeles, north to Oregan and inland to Nevada.

Today that era was invoked with some people dressed in period costumes. Rose and Bill sat in their vintage car in the middle of the ceremonies. Members of the San Francisco Fire Department, who brought a vintage fire engine, participated as well as representatives of the Red Cross and other civic dignitaries.

Rose and Bill were formally thanked for their longevity in a short speech, most of which was inaudible on the sound system. There was a minute's silence, a piper played Amazing Grace and then came the eerie sound of sirens wailing together with the frenetic clanging of a bell from a vintage street car.

Senator Mark Leno laid a wreath on the fountain and the crowd sung 'San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gates.'

After that, the crowd milled, many of them surrounding Rose and Bill with great interest and taking photos. Rose, who was three-years-old at the time, lived on Bernal Heights and looked down on the city as it burned. Bill, who was three-months-old, was carried with his family through the burning streets on a 'buckboard' - a horse-drawn cart - and ferried across the bay to safety. Interviews with Rose and Bill and their families are in the next blog.

Not long after, Rose and Bill were driven away for the second part of the ceremony, the painting gold of a fire hydrant in Dolores Park that saved the Mission District churches.

One of the costumed couples were Bea and Dana. 'It's our first time to come here to the event,' said Bea. 'We're trying to connect, that here the city celebrates its history, because we think history is important.'

Also included in this weekend's events were a 'Bloody Mary' breakfast at Lefty O'Doul's, a private screening of Alon Aranya's film '1906' at the Westin St Francis in Union Square where Rose and Bill were treated as guests last night, and a Survivor Luncheon at John's Grill.


pics show: Rose Cliver and Bill Del Monte surrounded by admiring well-wishers; the crowd with Lotta's Fountain to the right; Bea and Dana; Kij and Gregg