Victor Hirtzler

Victor Hirtzler (ca. 1875, Strasbourg – February 9, 1931, Strasbourg) was a French chef who was head chef of San Francisco, California's St. Francis Hotel from its opening in 1904 until 1926. One of America's first celebrity chefs, he publicized himself and his hotel by inventing dishes, writing cookbooks, and hosting meals.

Biography Hirtzler was born in approximately 1875 in Strasbourg, German Empire. He trained at the Grand Hotel in Paris, France, served as cook and food taster to Czar Nicholas II, before moving to Sherry's and the Waldorf in New York City. In 1904 he moved to San Francisco to manage food service at the recently opened St. Francis Hotel on Union Square.

The hotel survived the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and opened for breakfast as usual that morning, shortly after the quake, to the surprise and admiration of the city's residents. Hirtzler created and named a dish after Enrico Caruso, a prominent guest at the time. However, the hotel interior was soon gutted by fires sweeping the city, showy costumes that included a red fez, and frequent appearances to greet guests and dignitaries throughout the hotel, Hirtzler "exceeded even the Hollywood portrait of a master chef".

Hirtzler returned to Strasbourg in 1925, returning to San Francisco briefly in 1926 for the opening of the Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill. He died in Strasbourg, France, on February 9, 1931, as announced in the Hotel Monthly (Chicago, John Willy). Late in life, Victor had married Regina Caspary (1882–1955), of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, daughter of the wagon-maker and bottling company owner, Adam Caspary (1835–1907).

Publications L'Art Culinaire. Beginning in 1910 Hirtzler promoted his hotel, and his status as a chef, by publishing cookbooks structured as a series of multi-course menus for three meals per day, every day of the year. He titled the initial version (in a "popular" and more expensive "subscription" edition with a 9-page introductory list of "patrons") L'Art Culinaire, after Le guide culinaire, the landmark cookbook by French chef Georges Auguste Escoffier, whom Hirtzler considered a rival. This 1919 edition is the best known of Hirtzler's St. Francis cookbooks.