With the loss of my father and then my mother, Frank and I didn’t anticipate the impact that tectonic shift would have in our lives. It certainly has been a journey of love, grief, gratitude and remembrance. AF
My mother and I first launched this website in 2024 as a virtual memorial to my Dad so people from around the world who could not attend the memorial could share their stories of when they intersected with my father on his travels, in the restaurants, or on the ski slopes.
Now Frank and I are celebrating Paulette’s unique and magnificent life and legacy here too.
My parent’s hospitality was rooted in warmth and attentiveness. They were very special people. They took their time to anticipate and ensure that every guest, whether a lifelong friend or a first-time customer had the experience of feeling nourished and genuinely cared for.
I will be adding vintage menus, recipes, art and stories about from their 50 year’s in the restaurant business and more. Some of the recipes that I have found in boxes are quantities for 20 people or more. I am slowly at work distilling the recipes for single family use. Please feel free to connect and make requests of your favorite dishes.
Frank and I invite you to post at our blog page to share memories of Paulette and Laszlo and your unforgettable meals with the Fonos.
A Beloved Culinarian
November 5,1934 - June 8,2025Paulette Fono, a beloved and trailblazing force in the culinary world, passed away leaving behind a legacy that transformed the way Americans experience food and culture.With elegance, resilience, and an artist’s eye for detail, Paulette brought a taste of Europe to the American table, not just through meals—but through immersive, heartfelt experiences.
Born in Hungary, Paulette lived through extraordinary times. In 1956, with immense courage, she and her husband Laszlo Fono fled the oppression of Communist Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution. Their journey was not only one of physical escape, but of vision and purpose—to live in freedom and to share the rich beauty of their cultural heritage with the world.
Together, Paulette and Laszlo would go on to shape the San Francisco Bay Area’s culinary identity and influence American food culture for generations. Their first groundbreaking creation, The Magic Pan, introduced crepes and French country cuisine to mainstream America. With over 40 locations nationwide—including Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Aspen, Chicago, Boston, and New York—the Magic Pan wasn’t just a restaurant; it was a movement.
While Julia Child was on television demonstrating how to cook French fare, the Fono’s were actually offering thousands of their costumers the chance to taste and experience French food—firsthand, many for the first time.
In autumn of 1994, Andrea and Paulette started writing a book of memories and stories of all their restaurants yet now it is left for Andrea to complete the book as an autobiography of growing up with two such extraordinary parents.
A Life Well Skied
January 5,1929 - September 23,2023Laszlo Fono, a champion skier born in Budapest, courageously escaped the oppression of Communist Hungary during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution with his wife Paulette, emigrating to America for freedom in 1957. They spent 8 years in Denver, Colorado. True to form, in 1958, the unstoppable Laszlo won the US National Cross Country Skiing Championship in 30km.
In 1965, the couple moved to San Francisco where Laszlo was best known as co-founder of The Magic Pan restaurant, introducing French crêpes to America, expanding to over 48 Magic Pans nationwide.
As visionary restauranteurs, together with his business partner Paulette, they spent fifty years creating multiple successful trend-setting European eating establishments known for their menu and design concepts. In 1974, the Fonos opened Paprika’s Fono in Ghirardelli Square as a celebration and tribute to their Hungarian heritage.
Culminating in unique eateries at Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto CA: the Italian café and gelateria Bravo Fono (1979), Café Andrea (1987), Madam Paulette’s (1987), and Babbo’s (1989) mediterranean style restaurant.
The truly impeccable service and consistently delicious dishes created a gastronomic experience that loyal customers returned to for decades. The family invites you to join us at www.TheFonos.com to share memories of Laszlo and your unforgettable meals with the Fonos.
Visitors to the restaurants will remember Laszlo’s Hungarian accent as he recounted never-ending ski stories of his youth. Since the Soviet Union’s domination of Hungary in 1948, Laszlo felt the direct impact of the stripping of his family’s business estate and fortune. He channeled his grief into competitive sailing and cross-country skiing.
This earned Laszlo the opportunity to travel to international race competitions, a rare privilege during the Stalinist years. His pride in being a member of the Hungarian Olympic Ski Team was always alongside a bitter disappointment at Stalin’s last-minute denials (for fear of defections) of the team’s right to travel to the winter Olympics in 1952 and 1956.
But the friendships lasted … Throughout life, he’d regularly meetup with his skiteam buddies, also emigrees, at Heavenly Valley to enjoy Hungarian sausagesandwiches on the lifts while reminiscing and joking about the ‘old country’. Hisbiggest boast was always that not once in all his years of skiing did he ever fall!
Annual trips with Paulette for spring skiing to Lech, in the Austrian Alps continued until Laszlo was 86! And for many more years, they savored life together on delightful gourmet travels throughout France and Italy.
The ever-sociable and dapper Fono was out walking and greeting neighborsuntil the end. Laszlo died at 94 peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by family at home in Atherton.
Laszlo is survived by his wife of 70 years Paulette Fono, his daughter AndreaFono, and son-in-law Frank Rocky. Cremated at his request, his ashes will beplaced in the family’s private crypt at his St. Anna Templom, a magnificentbaroque church located on the banks of the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary where he was baptized and married to his dear Paulette.
The family invites you to post at our blog page , to read more about Laszlo and to see pictures of Laszlo’s early life.