Culinary author George Geary’s latest book combines two of his main themes.
“I really love historical things, besides food,” he said in a phone interview.
The book is called “Made In California: The California-born Burger Joints, Diners, Fast Food Restaurants that Changed America.”
It is Geary’s 14th book in a career that includes being an executive pastry chef at Disneyland and creating cheesecakes for “The Golden Girls” sitcom.
Geary, who lives in Corona, got the idea for “Made in California” when he found himself at a Wienerschnitzel in Wilmington. He noticed a plaque that said it was the chain’s first location. He got him to thinking about how many global chains got their start in California
The 256-page book profiles food-related businesses founded between 1915 and 1966, ranging from lunch counters and full-service restaurants to shops and grocery products. Each chapter includes original names, first addresses, what is on the property now and websites, when they exist.
The first is Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakeries, which was most of those things. It began as Saratoga Chips, a potato chip stand in Los Angeles, then became a bakery, a chain of coffee shops and a line of frozen foods. The company went bankrupt in 1990, with the diners taken over by Denny’s. But the brand lives on through boxes of fish sticks, breaded fillets and crab cakes in supermarket freezer cases.
“I think if I opened a company, I would make sure I had a product that could go in grocery stores, because Van De Kamp’s, Bob’s Big Boy and Marie Callender’s make more money in the frozen food sections than they did in their restaurants,” said Geary.
Giants such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Carl’s Jr. are in the book, as are more local businesses such as Du-pars, a restaurant that opened in Los Angeles’ Farmers Market in 1938, followed by a few other locations.
His book profiles chains such as In-N-Out Burger and Randy’s Donuts that are thriving with little change to their menus and some that are mostly memories.
“I enjoy the ones that are closed,” he said.
‘Nothing like it was’
Among the closed or mostly closed chains in the book are Pup ‘n’ Taco, Pioneer Chicken, Copper Penny Family Restaurants and Hamburger Hamlet.
He has fond memories of Swensen’s Ice Cream, a San Francisco brand that still has a few shops in the United States, but he said the ice cream isn’t like what he enjoyed as a child.
“I remember going to Swensen’s as a kid and they would be making it in the window. And they would bring out a tub for you to taste to see how it was fresh. And they couldn’t do it anymore. And people were buying higher end ice cream at the grocery store.”
A lot of the businesses in his book lost their way when they attempted to grow from local operations to big chains, he said.
“It’s fascinating how the company will start and you’ll see one and two and three units. And then it’s a completely different company. It’s nothing like it was.”
But people who fondly remember eating at Love’s Wood Pit Barbecue need not despair. Barbecue sauces from the chain, founded in 1948 in Encino, can be ordered online, and there’s always the possibility that somebody will try to revive it. Somebody owns the rights, Geary said.
As a professional chef, Geary said he has been met with some raised eyebrows for knowing about this stuff.
“You would never admit that you went to a fast food joint. You’d normally admit, ‘Oh, I just got something to drink.’ But when so many Americans eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner through these, you kind of have to know what’s going on.”
He said his attitude changed when he found himself at a conference with celebrity chef Julia Child and a caterer didn’t show. So they walked over to a McDonald’s.
“I thought if she could eat french fries in front of all these people, I can, too.”
Trivial pursuit
Geary’s brushes with celebrity included creating a violet birthday cake for Elizabeth Taylor’s 60th birthday party at Disneyland in 1992, during his nearly 10-year stint at the park.
He got more attention for his food props on “The Golden Girls” sitcom.
The gig came about when he was asked to create a cake for the pilot, although the friend who asked him predicted the show was “not going to make it.” It ran from 1985-1992, and Geary regularly supplied the cheesecakes that the main characters, four women living together in Miami, were supposed to enjoy.
“The cheesecake did not become something typical until 20 years later, when people started talking about it, and then I’d be in these trivia questions,” he said.He made seven identical cheesecakes for each episode he worked on in case there were multiple takes, and the crew got to eat the leftovers.
Geary’s other books include “The Cheesecake Bible,” “500 Best Sauces, Salad Dressings, Marinades & More” and “Fair Foods: The Most Popular and Offbeat Recipes from America’s State and County Fairs.”
“LA’s Legendary Restaurants,” published in 2016, covers some of the same restaurants as the current book, including the Brown Derby, a Hollywood hangout in the 1920s and ’30s.
Geary said he has leftover material from “Made in California” because it only goes up to the mid-1960s.
“There could be and there should be a second volume.”
‘Made in America’
Published: August 2021
Publisher: Prospect Park Books
Price: $40 hardcover
Information: georgegeary.com
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