When I moved to Bakersfield in 1980, there were a limited number of restaurants suitable for special-occasion dinners such as a wedding anniversary: Maison Jaussaud’s, Lemucchi’s Tam O’Shanter, The Coachlight Inn, maybe Freddie’s Skyway House. The really adventurous might hop on the Amtrak, dine at the Imperial Dynasty in Hanford and take the train back. Or drive to The Dutch Frontier in Ducor, about an hour north of town.

Sadly most of the these are closed now, even the Imperial Dynasty closing in 2006 after 123 years and meriting a story on NPR.

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