Something to Chew On

Let’s get one thing straight: “American Dining: California’s Role” has nothing to do with a similarly named sushi concoction.

“Sushi is one trend I didn’t cover,” said Lynn LaBate, exhibition administrator at the Fullerton Museum Center and curator of the show that runs there through Oct. 26.

What she did cover is our appetite for dining out, by providing a historical overview of the restaurant in the United States and by focusing on 11 chefs and restaurateurs who have influenced contemporary cuisine.

What surprised LaBate most in mounting the show was that so many food trends--indeed, the shaping of the entire food service industry--can be linked to a series of highly perceptive (and in many cases, marketing-savvy) individuals.

She rattled off a roster including Thomas Jefferson, who, besides drafting the Declaration of Independence and serving as president, earned a place in history as the Father of American Cuisine; he introduced citizens to wine and refined European dishes. And Spago’s Wolfgang Puck, who put a new emphasis on food presentation, and Patina’s Joachim Splichal, known for inventive, whimsical recipes (ravoli stuffed with raspberries) are two Southern California chefs whose imprint can be seen on menus far beyond their respective restaurants.

Another industry innovator was Fred Harvey, founder of the 17-unit Harvey House chain, who helped to not only standardize restaurant cleanliness and quality in the late 19th century but also to settle the West by hiring an army of waitresses, called the Harvey Girls.

Also on the list are New York restaurateurs John and Peter Delmonico, whose eatery reinvented the experience of dining out in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

“Delmonico’s set the standards for fine dining in America for almost 100 years, from 1828 until it closed in 1927,” LaBate said. “It was the first fine-dining establishment to allow a woman to dine alone, the first to feature a separate wine list, the first to separate bus boy duties from waiter duties, the first to encourage people to go out to lunch.”

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In the second half of the 20th century, Orange County’s Carl Karcher logged an astonishing number of fast-food firsts: drive-up windows, cushioned seats and carpet in the dining rooms, all-you-can-drink beverage stations and salad bars.

A less successful invention was the ‘50s-era Restomatic, designed as the first completely automated restaurant and menu card. Diners would simply press a selection, e.g., Hungarian goulash, see a button light up and watch the order arrive via conveyor belt. In case of a mishap, they could push “call waitress.” LaBate knows of only one that got off the ground, in Australia.

Other fast-food concepts, of course, caught on big time: McDonald’s has employed more than 13% of the nation’s total work force at one time or another, opens as many as five restaurants a day worldwide, and serves mutton burgers in India to appease Hindus, who hold cows sacred.

In another section of the exhibition devoted to California Classics, a policy printed on a circa 1940 menu from Clifton’s Cafeteria reads: “Dine free unless delighted. . . . Your meal check is a price tag. Only you can judge the real value of our service. Our cashiers will cheerfully accept whatever you wish to pay--or you may dine free.” Owner Clifford Clinton, the son of missionaries, deemed that “no guest need go hungry for lack of funds.”

And on a 1927 menu from the archetypal Mexican restaurant El Cholo in Los Angeles, many entree prices (none more than 50 cents) have been crossed out and lowered by 5 or 10 cents.

The show also highlights architectural landmarks. Among 75 known examples of programmatic architecture, for instance, was the swine-shaped Pig Cafe; the caption says, “Location unknown.” (Otherwise, we’re there!)

Other structural innovations proved more lasting: “The architectural style called Googie was a hallmark of the postwar ‘50s boom economy,” LaBate said. “People wanted atmosphere as much as food.

“Googie involved the use of new materials like plastic and cement, a strong roof line and a sign that was recognizable from a moving vehicle. Norms and Ships were radical departures in the ‘50s. That style can now be seen throughout the nation, and it originated here.”

A 4-foot-tall Bob’s Big Boy is on display, as are two other signs (both on loan from the Track 16 Gallery in Santa Monica) easy to spot from a moving vehicle: the Van de Kamp neon windmill and the original Brown Derby neon hat from the restaurant’s now-closed Wilshire Boulevard location.

“When people leave this exhibit, that [Brown Derby sign] will stick in their minds,” LaBate predicted. “The scale is so large. Usually these signs are on the rooftops of buildings--it’s a very impressive piece, and here it’s very accessible.

“[My husband and I] just rented a movie, Tom Hanks’ ‘That Thing You Do.’ And there was the sign in the movie! People will recognize these things over and over again, in movies and in literature. Dining is so ingrained in our national consciousness.”

* “American Dining: California’s Role” runs at Fullerton Museum Center, 301 N. Pomona Ave., through Oct. 26. Open noon-4 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday and until 8 p.m. Thursday. $2-$3. Free 6-8 p.m. Thursday. (714) 738-6545.