{"id":6797,"date":"2017-11-17T22:51:16","date_gmt":"2017-11-18T06:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/?p=6797"},"modified":"2025-12-08T22:52:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T06:52:16","slug":"hangtown-fry-still-authentic-dining-in-san-fran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/2017\/11\/17\/hangtown-fry-still-authentic-dining-in-san-fran\/","title":{"rendered":"Hangtown Fry Still Authentic Dining in San Fran"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Susan Bell. Photo: Photo courtesy of Basil Vargas]<\/em><\/p>\n

Lovato\u2019s book traces the curiously named San Francisco delicacy hangtown fry \u2014 an oyster and bacon omelet that first became popular during the Gold Rush \u2014 so called because of the hangings that took place in Placerville, its town of origin.<\/p>\n

A born storyteller, Kimberley Lovato \u201990 has published a mouthwatering guide to her beloved adoptive city\u2019s most intriguing restaurants, markets and artisanal food shops.<\/p>\n

Want to taste the prize-winning pie of a 12-time World Pizza Champion? Eat your homework at America\u2019s only independent cheese school? Track down the home of the Mission-style burrito?\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the intriguing exhortation \u2014 appetite- and curiosity-whetting in equal measure \u2014 that appears on the back cover of alumna Kimberley Lovato\u2019s new book,\u00a0Unique Eats and Eateries of San Francisco<\/em>(Reedy Press, 2017). Lovato, a food-lover by nature and a San Franciscan by choice, says that when the opportunity came along to write a food guide to her beloved adoptive city, she didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat intrigued me about this project was that it was not a review of restaurants,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really about the stories behind the restaurants, the anecdotes or memories of the chefs and owners who created them.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>\"Landscape<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimberley Lovato\u2019s new book features behind-the-scenes tales of San Francisco chefs like Tony Gemignani, a 12-time world pizza champion who limits creation of his award-winning pies to just 73 a day. Photo by Sara Remington.<\/p>\n

The result is a nontraditional restaurant and travel guide that features a feast of delectable tidbits about the city\u2019s most celebrated eateries, as well as many of its more secret culinary destinations. Lovato has succeeded in marinating these diverse ingredients to create a delicious smorgasbord of \u201c90 palate-pleasing bites\u201d of San Francisco food lore. The book is a moveable feast, a portable collection of mouthwatering tales that can be savored equally by visitors or long-time residents.<\/p>\n

For Lovato, San Francisco is a place where food and memory are inextricably linked. \u201cIt\u2019s hard not to be hypnotized by a city that buzzes at this level of culinary velocity,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

As one key to understanding the city, she cites cioppino, a fisherman\u2019s stew loaded with crab, clams, fish and sometimes shrimp, that is the city\u2019s signature dish. \u201cIt actually goes back to a time when Italian immigrants working on the water front would throw leftover scraps into a pot with tomatoes and boil it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>\"Portrait<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimberley Lovato honed a love of writing while at USC Dornsife. Photo courtesy of Reedy Press.<\/p>\n

Traveling with a knife and fork<\/strong><\/p>\n

Food, she believes, is an important stepping stone to gaining a deeper understanding of the history and culture of a place.<\/p>\n

She describes her first book,\u00a0Walnut Wine and Truffle Groves: Culinary Adventures in the Dordogne<\/em>\u00a0(Running Press, 2010), as a way to introduce readers to the people behind the kitchen door by sharing a meal with them. \u201cI love to travel with a knife and fork at the ready,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Lovato, who earned a bachelor\u2019s in international relations with a French minor, said her USC Dornsife education has helped her career as a writer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a fairly sheltered upbringing, and going to USC opened my eyes to people from all over the world \u2014 different cultures, food, music.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating, Lovato took a job with a small electronics manufacturer, but she realized five years later that corporate America wasn\u2019t for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead I focused on doing what I love \u2014 writing \u2014 and took a job with a local newspaper,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, one of her first assignments involved interviewing a Greek chef, thereby setting the groundwork for her future career.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\"Portrait<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimberley Lovato believes that food is an important key to understanding the history and culture of a place.<\/p>\n

Authentic dining<\/strong><\/p>\n

For her latest book, she said she wanted to include classics, as well as places that were a surprise to her, too.<\/p>\n

While researching the book, she stumbled upon the Hang Ah Tea Room, the country\u2019s oldest dim sum restaurant, in a Chinatown alleyway, far from the beaten tourist track. \u201cThe sign is missing a letter and it\u2019s kind of dark and you think, \u2018Hmm, I\u2019m not sure I want to go in there,\u2019 but it\u2019s delicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lovato\u2019s book traces how fortune cookies \u2014 originally a Japanese creation \u2014 came to America via San Francisco. She writes about the curiously named San Francisco delicacy hangtown fry \u2014 an oyster and bacon omelet that first became popular during the Gold Rush \u2014 so called because of the hangings that took place in Placerville, its town of origin.<\/p>\n

\u201cHangtown fry is a rare treat in San Francisco today, but can still be found on a few menus, like that of Tadich Grill,\u201d Lovato said. \u201cIf you visit San Francisco and order cioppino or hangtown fry, you\u2019re really trying an authentic and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Susan Bell. Photo: Photo courtesy of Basil Vargas] Lovato\u2019s book traces the curiously named San Francisco delicacy hangtown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","darknews-slider-full":"","darknews-featured":"","darknews-medium":"","darknews-medium-square":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"News MoLo","author_link":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/author\/admin\/"},"category_info":"News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6797"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6798,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6797\/revisions\/6798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}