Victor Hirtzler

author

Victor Hirtzler

d. 1935

Best known as the celebrated chef of San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel, he also turned his flair for grand dining into cookbooks that helped bring hotel cuisine to home readers. His life linked Strasbourg and early 20th-century California, with a reputation as one of America’s first celebrity chefs.

1 Audiobook

The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book

The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book

by Victor Hirtzler

About the author

Born in Strasbourg around 1875, Victor Hirtzler built his career as a chef before becoming the head chef of San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel. He led the hotel’s kitchens from its opening in 1904 until 1926 and became known for inventive dishes, lavish meals, and a highly public public profile unusual for chefs of his era.

He is also remembered as a food writer. His best-known book, The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book, helped preserve the style of luxury hotel dining he represented and is one reason he remains of interest to culinary readers today.

Sources located during this search disagree on his death year: a library record groups him as approximately 1875–1935, while Wikipedia and related reference pages say he died on February 9, 1931, in Strasbourg. To keep this accurate, it is safest to say that he died in the early 1930s.