When is a lobster not a lobster? When it is a crayfish. This question
and answer might well go into the primer of information for those who
come to San Francisco from the East, for what is called a lobster in San
Francisco is not a lobster at all but a crayfish. The true lobster is
not found in the Pacific along the California coast, and so far efforts
at transplanting have not been successful. The Pacific crayfish,
however, serves every purpose, and while many contend that its meat is
not so delicate in flavor as that of its eastern cousin, the Californian
will as strenuously insist that it is better, but, of course, something
must always be allowed for the patriotism of the Californian.
Lobster, served cold with mayonnaise, or broiled live lobster are most
frequently called for, and while they are both excellent, we find so
many other ways of preparing this crustacean that we rarely take the
common variety of lobster dishes into consideration. Probably nowhere in
San Francisco could one get lobster better served than in the Old
Delmonico restaurant of the days before the fire. A book could be
written about this restaurant and then all would not be told for all its
secrets can never be known.
In New York City they have what they are pleased to call "Lobster
Palaces," but there is not a restaurant in that great metropolis that
could approach the Delmonico of San Francisco in its splendid service
and its cuisine arrangements; neither could they approach the romance
that always surrounded the O'Farrell street restaurant. It was here that
most magnificent dinners were arranged; it was here that extraordinary
dishes were concocted by chefs of world-wide fame; it was here that
Lobster a la Newberg reached its highest perfection, and this is the
recipe that was followed when it was prepared in the Delmonico: