According to a profile at Restaurant-ing through history:
The Aladdin employed African American women cooks and young women from San Francisco’s Asian community as servers. The decor had a Chinese theme with lanterns and dragons, but the cuisine was strictly American.
The restaurant was run by sisters Hattie and Minnie Mooser, who came to know Houdini well. They even amassed their own collection of Houdini memorabilia. The Aladdin Studio closed in 1929. In 1931 Hattie and Minnie opened a new establishment called the Aladdin Tavern on Van Ness Avenue.
Below is the approximate location of The Aladdin Studio Tiffin Room today. Where Houdini dined daily!
Any idea what "batiks" and "gowas" mean? Or am I reading those wrong?
ReplyDeleteBatik is where you put wax on the cloth before you dye it to create cool designs. The gowas are gowns.
DeleteThe Chinese decor makes sense, since just on the other side of what is now the parking structure across the street (where I've parked more times than I can remember) is Chinatown.
ReplyDeleteBonus points: going half a block north up Stockton around the corner is where Miles Archer ended up after he was plugged in "The Maltese Falcon."
I was wondering if this was part of Chinatown.
DeleteI bet the proprietors of the restaurant comped Harry free dinners there in exchange for using his name as an endorsement. In return he got his name in the papers free of charge, and hot meals on the house. The deal was a win win for everybody.
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt for a moment that he dined there, but it is an odd location; not really convenient to either the St. Francis or Palace Hotels or any of the Market St. theatres. It is about a block from the Mark Hopkins, so maybe he stayed there?
ReplyDeleteGreat observation Dave! It's nice when people who are intimate with Houdini locations chime in with their knowledge. The Mooser sisters were supposedly part of that Houdini spying theory by Sloman & Kalush. Okay.
DeleteI wish I knew what SF hotels he stayed in.
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