Mother’s Day: Buffet Mandatory, Corsage Optional

My birthday sometimes falls on Mother’s Day. In the past this has meant that it is the moms and I lining up at the host stand for Sunday Brunch at the fancy restaurant. Not my mom, however. My mom was born during the Depression and she felt that spending a lot of money on what was essentially just breakfast food was a total waste. Unless, of course, it was a buffet. Now a buffet spoke to her. It said ‘you will not leave hungry, you will get your money’s worth’.

My mom’s favorite place for Mother’s Day brunch was the Crown Room of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. The view and abundance of food was quite the spectacle to behold—silver bowls heaped with fresh red strawberries and mounds of whipped cream. The carving station held a huge baron of beef, a whole roasted turkey and ham on the bone. There was a station with omelet’s being made to order. And for those of us who love pancakes there was an interesting concoction that I am sure was inspired by the classic English Trifle. At least a dozen pancakes about twelve inches in diameter were spread with a thick layer of raspberry jam. They were then stacked on top of each other in a silver bowl and topped with whipped cream. This gooey delicious mess was my favorite. My mom was crazy about the cold seafood display complete with an ice sculpture of the Golden Gate Bridge. I can still see her plate heaped with pink prawns and crab legs.

I can’t see an ad for a buffet without thinking of her. I wrote the piece below in her honor three years ago. I am reprinting it now because she passed away a few months ago and she is on my mind daily. She reminded me often that she would not always be around and that she thought about her own mother every day. I now know exactly what she meant.

My mother’s favorite ‘dining experience’ has always been the ‘buffet’. As a child of The Depression, I think she is overcome with joy and relief when she sees dish after dish spread out before her with a sign that reads, “Take all you can eat but eat all that you take”. Because it was a good way for a single mother in the 60s to feed her child and herself inexpensively, my childhood was full of these buffets or, as we called them in San Leandro, Smorgy’s (short for smorgasbord?). Our favorites were the The Pipers on MacArthur Boulevard and the less expensive Perry Boy’s Smorgy on the other side of town in the Marina area.