The Magic Pan is a small American chain of fast-food and take-away creperies using the recipes of a now-closed chain of full-service restaurants that specialized in crêpes, popular in the early 1970s through early 1990s, which peaked at 110 Magic Pan locations[when?] throughout the United States and Canada.[1]
The restaurant took its name from the motorized device with individual pans used to make crepes, designed and patented by owner Laszlo Fono.[2] A "carousel" held eight pans and turned them over a gas flame. An attendant dipped pans into crepe batter, then turned them upside down and placed them on the carousel, so the thin crepes cooked on the bottom of a clean greased pan facing upward.
History
editThe first Magic Pan was established by refugees former skiing champion Laszlo Fono and Eva Paulette (Belatini) Fono in 1965 in a small storefront on Fillmore Street in San Francisco, less than a decade after the couple escaped from Hungary on foot.[3] Two years later, they opened a larger venue in Ghirardelli Square.[4]
The Quaker Oats Company acquired Magic Pan from the Fonos in 1970, and it became the company's primary restaurant chain.[5] Quaker Oats sold the company[6] to an Oakland, California-based company, Bay Bottlers, in 1982.[7]
In 2005, the Magic Pan name was re-introduced by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises as a fast-food crepe stand in Northbrook, Illinois. This resurrected version of Magic Pan does not have the crepe-making machine used in the original chain. Instead, it uses recreations of the original recipes.[8] The revived chain opened a second ___location in the food court of the Mall of America near Minneapolis, Minnesota.[9] The Paradies company currently operates Magic Pan in U.S. airports including Denver and Washington National.[10][11]
Food
editThe recipes were based on the palacsintas (stuffed blini) Paulette remembered from her childhood in Budapest.[12] Among the menu items were crêpes filled with chicken divan, "chicken elegante", burgundy beef, ratatouille, spinach and mushroom soufflé, dessert crepes with strawberries and sour cream, Chantilly cream, coffee/chocolate sauce ice cream, and "cherry royale."[8] Gulyas (goulash), pea soup, and salads were also offered.
References
edit- ^ "Quaker May Sell Its Restaurants". New York Times. 1981-11-12.
- ^ "Laszlo Fono Obituary (1929 - 2023) - San Francisco, CA - San Francisco Chronicle". Legacy.com.
- ^ "San Francisco Chronicle - Bay Area news, sports, tech, food". www.sfchronicle.com.
- ^ Sylvia Lovegren (2005). Fashionable Food: Seven decades of food fads. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-49407-4.
- ^ "The Quaker Oats Company". Funding Universe.
- ^ Stephanie Chavez (1982-06-23). "Quaker to sell its Magic Pans". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011.
- ^ Richard Martin (1984-03-26). "Friedrich replaces Ryan as president of Magic Pan". Nation's Restaurant News.
- ^ a b Steve Brady (2008-01-21). "The "magic" of the Magic Pan restaurant".
- ^ Janet Rausa Fuller (2005-08-23). "Magic Pan crepes returning: Local restaurant whiz revives popular 1970s name at mall stand". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on 2012-10-22.
- ^ Magic Pan - FlyReagan.com
- ^ Magic Pan - FlyDenver.com
- ^ "Lost Tables: The Magic Pan". losttables.com.