Scoma’s, San Francisco, California

Posted on February 11, 2015 by The Jab

This year marks the 50th anniversary of one of my favorite seafood restaurants in San Francisco. I also love Tadich Grill, Sam’s Grill, and others, but for the most consistently fresh and well-prepared seafood, Scoma’s has been my place since I heard about it from “Gentleman” Jim Lange, long time Bay Area radio DJ and host of Dating Game, who in the 90s was on the wonderful “easy listening” pop and big band AM radio station KABL. Back then I drove a ’68 VW Fastback with the original AM radio and it was so nice to have an AM station with good 1940s/50s/60s music instead of talk or news. Sadly, the station, which started back in 1959, changed formats to “soft rock” (an oxymoron, right?) in 2000, but listeners complained so they went back to pop, only to gradually mix in more and more 70s and 80s soft rock until it eventually quit in 2004 (it came back as an online only station in 2007).

photo by Michael Seratt on Flickr.com

Scoma’s in Alameda

Scoma’s opened in 1965 when Al Scoma, one of the partners at Castangola’s on Fisherman’s Wharf, and his brother Joe bought a small 6-stool lunch counter on pier 47. They eventually expanded it into a large mutli-room restaurant that can now seat 350 people. In 1969 Al and Joe partnered with Victor and Rolando Gotti of Ernie’s restaurant in San Francisco to open the still-open Scoma’s Sausalito in a Victorian building that’s on the National Register of Historic Sites. In 1974 Joe Scoma left to open Joe Scoma’s in Emeryville (closed). There was even a Scoma’s in Alameda at one time (at the foot of Sherman Street before the Marina Village development was built).

In 2002 the city named the street the original Scoma’s is on ‘Al Scoma Way’ – that’s how much of a local institution it is. It’s almost always busy – in 2012 alone they served 450,000 diners – and it’s still owned by the Scoma extended family. In 2015, their 50th year, they plan “a few upgrades to the restaurant’s bar and dining room, though nothing major will change”, so I urge you to visit very soon to see it before anything changes (and to get some Dungeness crab while you still can).

photo by Erik Rasmussen on Flickr.com

Scoma’s has their own 46-foot fishing boat, which leaves early every morning to catch the freshest seafood off the coast, from salmon to Dungeness crab when it’s in season (generally Nov-Mar). Next to the dock is a fish processing station that has windows so people waiting for a table can look at the fresh fish being prepared for cooking. Scoma’s is a partner with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, so you can count on the freshest seafood, local when possible, and always sustainable (though it never hurts to ask your waiter for details on anything on the menu).

photo by Kevlar Shea Adams on Flickr.com

The restaurant has multiple levels, but every visit except one (when I was seated on the second floor in the rear building) I’ve been seated in the main first floor dining room overlooking the wharf (as seen in the photo above). The walls are wood-paneled with paintings of a nautical theme, but mostly it’s about the lovely views of Fisherman’s Wharf (next to the restaurant). There are some photos of celebrities and sports figures on some of the walls to the right of the host stand as you enter the restaurant, so take a look around while waiting.

Inside view:

The menu at Scoma’s is long, but some of their specialties are helpfully presented as Scoma’s Classics: shrimp and scallops alla Gannon, “Lazy Man’s” Cioppino (an excellent easier-to-eat cioppino with shelled crab meat), crab or shrimp Louis, mixed seafood grill featuring the day’s fresh catches, and shellfish sauté sec (mmm, I’m getting hungry). When it’s in season, I often get the garlic-roasted Dungeness crab. Other local specialties include petrale sole doré and grilled sand dabs, and they have classic lobster Newburg and Thermidor (at reasonable prices). I highly recommend halibut when it’s available. Each time I’ve had it at Scoma’s it’s been tender, juicy, and succulent, not dry and overcooked like I’ve had in some other restaurants. Meat lovers can get steak, ribs, or a hamburger.

To get to Scoma’s find your way to the corner of Jefferson and Jones and head down the pier (Al Scoma Way). Valet parking is complimentary.

Scoma’s
Al Scoma Way
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 771-4383
Open daily 11:30am – 10:30pm

Gene & Georgetti, Chicago, Illinois

Posted on January 7, 2015 by The Jab

My favorite steakhouse in a city known for its steakhouses is Gene & Georgetti. It’s a winning combination of history, classic, never-remodeled decor, old-fashioned service, and prime, dry-aged beef. There may be better steaks in town (I don’t know), but I prefer eating a great steak in a classic steakhouse.

Gene & Georgetti was opened in 1941 by Gene Michelotti and Alfredo Federighi (aka ‘Georgetti’), taking over an Italian restaurant called Vic’s when the owner retired. In the beginning Alfredo was the chef and Gene the bartender. Gene’s welcoming personality led to it becoming a popular steakhouse with local movers-and-shakers, politicians, and celebrities such as Lucille Ball and Frank Sinatra. When Alfred passed in 1969, Gene became sole owner. That same year Gene’s daughter Marion married Tony Durpetti. When Gene died in 1989 Marion and Tony purchased the restaurant from Gene’s wife Ida, and they still own the restaurant today. Gene and Georgetti has been in the same family for 73 years.

bar and front dining area, photo by Zagat.com

bar and front dining room, photo by Zagat.com

I love the atmosphere at Gene & Georgetti: dark wood paneling, red and white linen tablecloths, chairs with brass-tacked upholstery, chandeliers, art and photos of celebrities on the walls, Sinatra or Dino playing softly through the PA, and white-jacketed, no-nonsense waiters.

mural of old Chicago in dining room - photo by chicagonow.com

mural of c. 1951 Chicago in 2nd floor dining room by owner Tony Durpetti – photo by chicagonow.com

The menu (which is a vintage work of art) is classic Italian steakhouse, with a range of appetizers, pastas, steaks & chops, Italian specialties, and seafoood entrees. For an appetizer (or entree) I recommend shrimp DeJonghe, a Chicago specialty of garlicky breaded shrimp, which originated at DeJonghe’s Hotel & Restaurant around the turn of the century. The “Garbage Salad” is famous. It’s an antipasto style iceberg salad that is tossed with a house red wine vinaigrette with a large shrimp on top. As in many midwest eateries the dressing is liberally applied, so if you don’t like salads served that way you may want to order the dressing on the side. The photo below is of the iceberg house salad, not the garbage salad.

house salad – photo by Dean Curtis, 2007

Broiled steaks come in four cuts: strip loin (New York), bone-in or boneless, T-bone, bone-in rib eye, and filet mignon, bone-in or boneless. The boneless strip loin and filet mignon come in two sizes. On previous visits I had a bone-in rib eye, which was very large, and excellent. On my visit in 2007 I had a bone-in strip loin. Steaks are priced typically for Chicago, but if you are on a budget they have many entrees under $30 and pastas under $20. They also offer lamb, pork, and veal chops. I love seeing Lyonnaise potatoes on the menu in the Midwest (and at a few West Coast restaurants). They are fried potato slices, like potato chips but thicker.

bone-in strip loin - photo by Dean Curtis, 2007

bone-in strip loin with creamed spinach and Lyonnaise potatoes – photo by Dean Curtis, 2007

There are many Italian-American dishes on the menu such as veal, chicken, and eggplant parmigiana, veal scalloppine, veal and chicken marsala, and filet Florentine. But I recommend another Chicago specialty, chicken (or veal) Vesuvio, roasted chicken with garlic, olive oil, white wine, parsley, and oregano, served with a generous pile of roasted potatoes. Delicious!

The next time you’re in America’s best metropolis (in my opinion), stop in at Chicago’s finest steakhouse, under the El at Franklin and Illinois. Valet parking is complimentary.

Gentlemen, be sure to heed the credo posted in a frame over the bar:

words to live by, framed and hanging over the bar at Gene & Georgetti

Gene & Georgetti
500 N Franklin St, Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 527-3718
Open Mon-Thu 11am-11pm, Fri & Sat 11am-12 midnight, Sun, opens at 5pm for major conventions.

Casa Paco, Madrid, Spain

Posted on December 23, 2014 by The Jab

In late November / early December I returned to Spain after ten years. What a country! It’s my personal favorite country, after the dear ol’ United States that is. I love America for its unique cities like San Francisco, Chicago and New Orleans (to name just a few), its natural beauty, and of course its restaurants and bars (best on earth). But, back to Spain! I love their joie de vivre, their food and wine, and their way of life (big lunches and late evening socializing at tapas bars into the night). It’s good to be back on Le Continental after a long absence, where I’ll be posting about several historic restaurants and taverns I visited in Spain in the coming weeks.

photo by The Jab, 2014

Casa Paco on in Madrid was opened in 1933 by Francisco Morales from Guadalajara, Spain. Later the restaurant moved into its current location, a tavern which has existed since 1870. In the 1960s celebrities such as Charlton Heston, Robert Taylor, and Marcelo Mastroianni visited the restaurant, as well as bullfighters and politicians. Eventually Francisco’s sons, Paco and Rosario, took over the business. As far as I was able to tell, it seems to be Madrid’s oldest steak house.

Casa Paco bar – photo by miniube.com

When you enter Casa Paco there is a beautiful small bar, and then a small tiled dining room (see pic below), where I ate my first lunch in Madrid this trip. There are also dining rooms and a kitchen upstairs, so the waiters were running up and down those stairs all day long (they must be in great shape). I made an advance reservation as the restaurant is quite popular. I wrote out what I wanted to say, then translated that into Spanish with Google Translate, practiced it a bit, and called the restaurant from home to make the reservation. I recommend that method over asking that they find someone who speaks English when you call. It seemed to me that because I made the reservation in Spanish I was treated with much respect when I arrived for my lunch.

Casa Paco dining room – photo by miniube.com

I started with an appetizer of acietunas (olives), always great in Spain (often free), and a beer.

Then I had a specialty of Madrid and environs: sopa de ajo (garlic soup). Delicious!

Casa Paco specializes in steaks. They offer three cuts: a tenderloin of beef (cebón de buey), veal (ternera) from Avila, and a sirloin of beef (solomillo de buey), each ordered by weight. Note: sirloin in European butchery is a more tender cut than the sirloin you see offered in the U.S. It is basically the entire part of the loin below the strip loin (New York steak). Of the Euro sirloin the thickest part is the chateaubriand, the middle is the tournedos, and the thinner end is the filet mignon (in the U.S. this term is often used also for the thicker part of the sirloin) or tenderloin. Also note: sometimes buey translates as oxen (an adult castrated male cattle), sometimes just as beef.

A media kilo in Spanish is over one pound of meat. I tried to order a tenderloin filet of 500 grams (about 8 oz.), but I think my lack of Spanish resulted in a much bigger cut (which was OK with me). At Casa Paco the tenderloin and veal cost 40 euros per kilo, while the sirloin is 50 euros per kilo. Medium rare is called poco hecha in Spanish. I thought i ordered my steak medium rare but it ended up rare (again, fine with me when it comes to the tenderloin).

tenderloin of beef – photo by The Jab

tender and tasty! – photo by The Jab

When your steak comes to the table at Casa Paco it arrives loudly sizzling on a scalding-hot plate, which is then placed on a cork mat with a warning of “¡muy caliente!”. Interestingly, the steaks are cooked over a coal fire, so they acquire a reddish-brown crust and not a dark brown one. The steak continues to sizzle on the plate while you eat it. Cold steak doesn’t happen here!

With my steak I had pisto Manchego, a ratatouille La Mancha style with eggplant, peppers, and onions, and really good, crispy French fries. I tend to order too much in places like this because I want to try all the regional dishes! But since I didn’t have dinner, just tapas at night, it was good to have a big lunch in the Spanish way. To drink with my steak I had a glass of Ribero del Duero red wine.

photo by The Jab, 2014

Casa Paco
Plaza de Puerta Cerrada, 11, 28005 Madrid, Spain
phone: +34913663166
Open for lunch Mon-Sun 1:00pm-4:00pm, dinner Mon-Sat 4:00pm-12:00am (no dinner on Sunday)

Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant, Valley Glen, California

Posted on November 21, 2014 by The Jab

The story about Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant, still owned by the Monteleone family (since 1950), is actually a story of three restaurants. Two are now history, but the story has a happy ending.

photo by baronesfamousitalian.com

The original Barone’s restaurant was opened in 1945 at Beverly Glen and Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks by Tony and Frank Arpaia, Jerry and Josephine Barone, and Joe Izzo. It quickly became popular so had to move into a larger building at 14151 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks (where it remained until 2006). In 1950 more members of the extended family, Frank (Josephine’s brother) and Mary Monteleone joined in the business. According to Frank Monteleone‘s son Tom, who now runs the restaurant, the Dead End Kids would come in all the time to eat after a day’s work filming (Lucille Ball, John Wayne, and Jane Russell were also regulars). One day they asked why Barone’s didn’t serve pizza. The owners told them they didn’t know how to make pizza because they were from Buffalo. The Dead End Kids showed them how to make a good sauce and a New York style thin-crust, but the restaurant didn’t have mozzarella so they used Monterey Jack cheese. The Jack came in square blocks, so they made a rectangular pizza covered with square slices of jack cheese. It was the first rectangular Neapolitan style pizza in California and to this day the restaurant still makes the pizza the same way, with Monterey Jack cheese.

Barone’s, Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks – photo by city-data.com

The second restaurant involved in the story of Barone’s is a German restaurant, Hoppe’s Old Heidelberg, which opened in 1958 at 13726 Oxnard St. in Van Nuys (now Valley Glen). Old Heidelberg was decorated with modern stained glass windows to filter out the light, dark carved wood walls, deep red leather booths, and Teutonic bric-à-brac. The waitresses wore dirndls. After over 36 years of serving German specialties, it was purchased by award-winning Swiss chef Ueli Huegli, who came with experience from a long list of European and Southern California restaurants. He renamed it Matterhorn Chef (the third restaurant in our story) and added Swiss dishes to the menu.

Barone’s dining room – photo by The Jab, 2013

In 2006 the Matterhorn Chef closed. Barone’s moved out of the Ventura Blvd. location and into its space on Oxnard St. So when you go to Barone’s today you are actually in the original Hoppe’s Old Heidelberg, which thankfully has not changed much since 1958! Perhaps the German/Swiss decor was replaced with Italian paintings but the red booths, woodwork, and stained glass windows are all intact (the lighting is newer). I went once to the Barone’s location on Ventura Blvd before it moved and I admit that I like the “new” Old Heidelberg/Matterhorn Chef/Barone’s space better. Good news for Matterhorn Chef fans came in 2010 when Ueli Huegli opened a new restaurant in Valley Glen called Swiss Chef, with many of the famous dishes that were on the menu at Matterhorn Chef.

arty stained glass windows at Barone’s – photo by The Jab, 2013

The menu is long at Barone’s, with pizza, Italian specialties, and steaks. I had the “famous” New York pepper steak (USDA Choice grain-fed, aged 21-days), which was good as I recall. But you really should try the pizza because that is what they are famous for. Barone’s has long been famous for its old school entertainment, and the tradition continues every Friday and Saturday night after 8:30, when performers playing jazz, standards, and oldies get people of all ages in the bar cuttin’ a rug on the dance floor. It’s a lively scene I experienced back when I visited the old Sherman Oaks location and again in 2013 at the Valley Glen Barone’s.

scene from Fast Times at Ridgemont High filmed at Old Heidelburg (now Barone’s)

You may recall a funny scene in 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High (one of my top-ten favorite 80s films), where Mark “Rat” Ratner (Brian Backer) and Stacey Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh) had a date, but Rat forgot to bring his wallet. That scene was filmed at Old Heidelberg (now Barone’s). You can clearly see the red booths and stained glass in the above still (I think this is the same room that I snapped a photo of but looking towards the front of the restaurant instead of the back). Too bad the high-backed leather chairs are gone today (though similar ones are still used at The Imperial House In San Diego and at the Sycamore Inn in Rancho Cucamonga). The restaurant has been used in other films as well.

Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant
13726 Oxnard St, Los Angeles, CA 91401
818-782-6004
Open daily at 11:00am, lunch served Mon-Fri 11:00am-3:00pm, dinner Mon-Thu until 9:30pm, Fri-Sat until 11:30pm, Sun until 9:00pm
Live entertainment Friday and Saturday 8:30pm-12:30am

J. T. Basque, Gardnerville, Nevada

Posted on November 13, 2014 by The Jab

I’ve passed through the town of Gardnerville many times on US Highway 395, usually during autumn ‘leaf-peeping’ road trips. Usually I would stop at the Overland Hotel‘s bar for a Picon Punch. Recently it closed because the long-term owner retired and sold the business (though it is due to re-open in 2015). When I posted about its closure I vowed to check out the other Basque restaurant and bar in town, J. T. Basque, as soon as I could return to the area. Last month I made it, and I’m so glad I did!

1910 photo – image by J.T. Basque via sierranevadageotourism.org

The lovely building that houses J. T. Basque Bar and Dining Room was relocated from Virginia City, Nevada, in 1896. Since that time it has been a Basque sheepherders boarding house with a saloon, dining room, and barber shop. In 1955 members of the Jaunsaras and Trounday families purchased the place, naming it J. T. Basque, after the first initials of their families’ names. In 1960 brothers Jean and Pete Lekumberry, immigrants from the French Basque area of the Pyrenees Mountains, took over the restaurant, keeping the name J. T. Basque.

Jean Lekumberry – photo by J T Basque via sierranevadageotourism.org

For many years Jean was the bartender, his wife Shirley ran the restaurant and hotel, and Pete was cook. By all reports, Jean Lekumberry was a great host who made all visitors feel right at home…and he could really spin the yarns. He passed away in 1993, but a large photo of him hangs behind the bar as a friendly greeting to all patrons, locals and visitors alike, and his likeness is the restaurant’s logo (with his signature beret and cigar).

Jean serving patrons at J. T. Basque bar – photo by J T Basque via sierranevadageotourism.org

Today Jean and Shirley’s children, Robert, Marie Louise, and J.B., run the restaurant, with the same welcoming hospitality that their parents were known for. The Lekumberry family clearly cares for their historic treasure, having fully restored the building not long ago.

photo by The Jab, 2014

The dining room and bar is decorated with many photographs and displays memorializing the restaurant’s history and the Basques in the area (as well as wonderful seasonal decorations by Marie Louise and a ceiling covered with dollar bills in the bar). The owners’ passion and dedication is also evident in the wonderful service by all the staff and the delicious food, much of it from local sources, such as the natural grass-fed beef from the Lekumberry’s own cattle ranch in Genoa, Nevada.

dining room – photo by The Jab, 2014

As at most of the Basque restaurants in California and Nevada, the menu at J. T. Basque includes a choice of several meat entrees and is served Basque family-style with several courses (though at lunch you can order from an ala carte menu, if desired). Main dishes offered during lunch and dinner are top sirloin steak, lamb shoulder steak, chicken, sweetbreads, pigs feet with tripe, and lamb chops. On Friday and Saturday dinner you can also get shrimp scampi or roasted rabbit. Before your main arrives you are served all the homemade soup you want from a tureen, bread, a green salad with homemade vinaigrette, beef stew, and ranch style beans. You also get a bottle of house red wine!

beef stew and beans – photo by The Jab, 2014

I was torn between the rabbit and the lamb chops, but when I heard at the bar (over a pre-dinner Picon Punch) that the lamb was from a nearby ranch that had excellent meats I decided to go with the chops. Roasted garlic cloves are offered as a topping, and I highly recommend getting them. You get French fries with your entrée, in crispy ‘shoestring’ size, the only way fries should be prepared in my opinion! Thick ‘steak’ fries? No, thank you!

French fries and lamb chops – photo by The Jab, 2014

The lamb chops were amazing! So juicy and tender, on the bone with a good dark brown sear, and cooked just how I ordered them (medium rare).

lamb chops – photo by The Jab, 2014

After dinner you get ice cream and coffee. And you may want to return to the bar for another Picon Punch or two. On the night I went the crowd in the bar was jolly and friendly. Co-founder Shirley Lekumberry was there greeting old friends with her daughter Marie Louise, the restaurant’s hostess. I enjoyed chatting with Marie Louise about the history of the building and J. T. Basque. I can’t wait to return to try the rabbit or sweetbreads!

bighorn sheep in bar – photo by The Jab, 2014

J. T. Basque
1426 Highway 395, Gardnerville NV 89410
(775) 782-2074
Open for lunch Mon-Sat 11:30am – 2:00pm, dinner Mon-Fri 5:00pm – 9:00pm, Sat 4:30pm – 9:00pm

Le Continental

dining and drinking with The Jab

Category Archives: Bar

Scoma’s, San Francisco, California

Gene & Georgetti, Chicago, Illinois

Casa Paco, Madrid, Spain

Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant, Valley Glen, California

J. T. Basque, Gardnerville, Nevada

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