St. Julien's Restaurant

 

Back in the early 1950's, three men, Joe Flanagan, Bill Munro, and George Skaff, formed a partnership and opened up the St. Julien's Restaurant in the financial district of San Francisco.  I could be wrong on this, but I think it was around 224 Sansome Street near California St.  It was an old building and they leased it, having a large basement and a main floor with a second floor made up of a string of small rooms with balconies looking down into the main restaurant dining area.  Each room had a dining table and seats with cushions and could seat about four people.  And each room had its own door which could be locked.  I'm sure the restaurant was known for satisfying almost every human desire and need in those days.  For a price.

 

Before it opened, the three spent a lot of money remodeling the restaurant and giving it a very French atmosphere with dark woods.  Perhaps the most spectacular part of the place was the huge bar that was on the right as you walked in.  It was extremely long and I think it was imported.  The day that the bar arrived, I remember it took the whole day to get it into the restaurant.  Above the bar was a mural of French ladies which was a bit suggestive yet still in good taste.  The rest of the main floor was the dining area, kitchen, all with a very French flavor.

 

I was probably about 8 or 9 when the restaurant opened.  I would go in with my father on Saturday mornings before the restaurant was opened.  My job was to go behind the bar and break all of the empty liquor bottles.  In those days, the bottles had to be broken to make sure that they weren't used again with a cheaper liquor.  Switching was very common in those days.  If you got caught with empty bottles, you would be fined.  I loved doing this job.  There was a tube that I put the bottles in and let go.  They would drop down the tube into the basement and break in a large container for the garbage pickup.  It was a fun job for me and I loved doing it.  When through, Bill Munro would check and God help me if I had missed a bottle.  Then I got paid.  I got to sit down at a small table toward the kitchen in the back of the dining area and a waiter, getting ready for the lunch crowd, would bring me crepe suzettes.  Those crepes were like no other with a very unique orange sauce which I can still imagine today.  Then I would sit there and read my books or do my homework into the evening.

 

Later, my mom would show up and she became the "hat check" girl in the small room as you entered the restaurant.  Women would check in their coats, men their hats and coats; all got a check number.  Mom loved doing it as she always got tips.  Dad was by now behind the bar as the restaurant opened and people started to come in for lunch and dinner.  Often I would have dinner there with my parents and often had Lamb Chops with little paper sleeves at the end so that you could hold them without getting your fingers greasy.  The food was just fabulous and the waiters treated me like a king.  They all had accents from Italy or France and they were the greatest men.  They loved working at St. Julien's as the tips were very high.  The St. Julien's had the best waiters in San Francisco.  Bill Munro would not accept anyone who was not the best in their profession.

 

Rumors are that it was a favorite haunt of Sally Stanford who oftened dined with her men in her own private room on the second floor.  The Chancellor of Stanford was a regular customer at the bar along with many other famous people of San Francisco.  It was the place to be seen in those days.  But my father didn't get into that part of the restaurant with me very much.  All I knew is that he played dice at the bar with patrons and usually won their money.

 

What better partners my dad had in those days.  Bill Munro who turned out to be one of the best restaurant owners of San Francisco and President of the Restaurant Association for years.  George Skaff who was one of the most unbelievable maitre d's in San Francisco; he never forgot a customer's name and always welcomed them in to dine by their name.  His memory was phenomenal.  And my dad who did the books for the restaurant and also provided all of the seafood since he also owned Standard Fisheries at this time.  He was also the best dice thrower behind any bar.

 

They finally sold their lease on the restaurant around 1959 so that a high-rise could be built in its place.  In the few years that the restaurant was in business, it never really made a lot of money and just kind of broke even.  All three did get a good amount of money for selling the lease and that was the end of the St. Julien's.  George Skaff then went onto the Franciscan Restaurant to be their maitre d' for many years thereafter.  Bill Munro built the Pam Pam Restaurant on Geary St. and later Biff's in Oakland.  Joe Flanagan went back to the seafood business and began expanding its operations.  All three stayed close to each other and remained friends for the rest of their lives.

 

It was a sad day for me as I no longer could get crepe suzettes, but I did keep a lot of very good memories of the place.  Often I would go to other restaurants years later like Alioto's, Tadich, and see some of my old waiters who had gone on to work in other places.  They all spoke highly of St. Julien's as one of the best places to have worked.  And they all remembered me as just a kid who got to eat some of the finest food in San Francisco in those days.