Bohemia! What vulgarities are perpetrated in thy name! How abused is the
word! Because of a misconception of an idea it has suffered more than
any other in the English language. It has done duty in describing almost
every form of license and licentiousness. It has been the cloak of
debauchery and the excuse for sex degradation. It has been so misused as
to bring the very word into disrepute.
To us Bohemianism means the naturalism of refined people.
That it may be protected from vulgarians Society prescribes conventional
rules and regulations, which, like morals, change with environment.
Bohemianism is the protest of naturalism against the too rigid, and,
oft-times, absurd restrictions established by Society.
The Bohemian requires no prescribed rules, for his or her innate
gentility prevents those things Society guards against. In Bohemia men
and women mingle in good fellowship and camaraderie without finding the
sex question a necessary topic of conversation. They do not find it
necessary to push exhilaration to intoxication; to increase their
animation to boisterousness. Their lack of conventionality does not tend
to boorishness.
Some of the most enjoyable Bohemian affairs we know of have been full
dress gatherings, carefully planned and delightfully carried out; others
have been impromptu, neither the hour, the place, nor the dress being
taken into consideration.
The unrefined get everywhere, even into the drawing rooms of royalty,
consequently we must expect to meet them in Bohemia. But the true
Bohemian has a way of forgetting to meet obnoxious personages and, as a
rule, is more choice in the selection of associates than the vaunted
"400." With the Bohemian but one thing counts: Fitness. Money, position,
personal appearance and even brains are of no avail if there be the bar
sinister--unfit.
In a restaurant, one evening, a number of men and women were seated
conspicuously at a table in the center of the room. Flowing neckties
such as are affected by Parisian art students were worn by the men; all
were coarse, loud and much in evidence. They not only attracted
attention by their loudness and outre actions, but they called notice by
pelting other diners with missiles of bread. To us they were the last
word in vulgarity, but to a young woman who had come to the place
because she had heard it was "so Bohemian" they were ideal, and she
remarked to her companion:
"I do so love to associate with real Bohemians like these. Can't we get
acquainted with them?"
"Sure," was the response. "All we have to do is to buy them a drink."
In San Francisco there are Bohemians and Near-Bohemians, and if you are
like the young woman mentioned you are apt to miss the real and take the
imitation for the genuine article.
We mean no derogation of San Francisco's restaurants when we say that
San Francisco's highest form of Bohemianism is rarely in evidence in
restaurants. We have enjoyed wonderful Bohemian dinners in restaurants,
but the other diners were not aware of it. Some far more interesting
gatherings have been in the rooms of Bohemian friends. Not always is it
the artistic combination of famous chef that brings greatest delight,
for we have as frequently had pleasure over a supper of some simple dish
in the attic room of a good friend.
This brings us to the crux of Bohemianism. It depends so little on
environment that it means nothing, and so much on companionship that it
means all.
To achieve a comprehensive idea of San Francisco's Bohemianism let us
divide its history into five eras. First we have the old Spanish days--the
days "before the Gringo came." Then reigned conviviality held within
most discreet bounds of convention, and it would be a misnomer, indeed,
to call the pre-pioneer days of San Francisco "Bohemian" in any sense of
the word.
Courtesy unfailing, good-fellowship always in tune, and lavish
hospitality, marked the days of the Dons--those wonderfully considerate
hosts who always placed a pile of gold and silver coins on the table of
the guest chamber, in order that none might go away in need. Their
feasts were events of careful consideration and long preparation, and
those whose memories carry them back to the early days, recall bounteous
loading of tables when festal occasion called for display.
Lips linger lovingly over such names as the Vallejos, the Picos, and
those other Spanish families who spread their hospitality with such
wondrous prodigality that their open welcome became a by-word in all
parts of the West.
But it was not in the grand fiestas that the finest and most palatable
dishes were to be found. In the family of each of these Spanish Grandees
were culinary secrets known to none except the "Senora de la Casa," and
transmitted by her to her sons and daughters.
We have considered ourselves fortunate in being taken into the
confidence of one of the descendants of Senora Benicia Vallejo, and
honored with some of her prize recipes, which find place in this book,
not as the famous recipe of some Bohemian restaurants but as the tribute
to the spirit of the land that made those Bohemian restaurants possible.
Of these there is no more tasty and satisfying dish than Spanish Eggs,
prepared as follows: