Robert 'Bobby' Cook -- owner of S.F. tavern that was full of owls - Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, October 12, 2006


Robert "Bobby" Cook was a man who liked owls.

He collected owl paintings, owl sculptures, owl knickknacks, owl stained-glass light fixtures and stuffed owls. He displayed them all inside C. Bobby's Owl Tree, a downtown San Francisco tavern that he owned for 30 years.

"He just enjoyed owls,'' said his son Michael Gardner. "Something about owls stuck in his mind.''

Mr. Cook, 75, died Sept. 14 of cancer in a San Francisco hospital, a few hours after mixing martinis for his regular customers and shutting down his bar for the night.

The bar, an old-fashioned neighborhood tavern on the southwest corner of Post and Taylor streets, was jammed with all things owl. Mr. Cook never met an owl he didn't like, so few patrons were able to avoid the stare of a stuffed, sculpted or painted bird.

Mr. Cook was a no-nonsense fellow behind the bar. He was friendly with good customers and a tough guy with troublemakers. He had many techniques for escorting a client from the premises, his son said -- all of them effective.

Patrons were encouraged to chat with Mr. Cook and, if they didn't, they could lose their barstools.

"You're not contributing anything to this conversation,'' Mr. Cook would tell a closemouthed customer. "Go sit at the other end of the bar.''

Mr. Cook, a native of Ongenburg, N.Y., became enchanted with owls as a boy after coming across a friendly owl during a hike in the woods and believing it to be a good luck omen.

He came to San Francisco in the 1950s and worked for two decades as a waiter at Gino's restaurant until he had saved enough money to buy the bar and go into business for himself.

The Owl Tree, where the jukebox played Frank Sinatra records and the house specialty was the martini and nobody ever got credit, reflected its owner's sensibilities.

"He made a lot of people happy,'' his son said. "And others, well, he knew how to escort 'em out and call the cops.''

Mr. Cook enjoyed listening to music, attending the theater and walking his beloved Jack Russell terrier, Chester.

He is survived by Gardner and by two other sons, Christopher and T.J. Cook, both of San Francisco.

A funeral will be held today at 7:30 p.m. at Halsted N. Gray-Carew and English mortuary, 1123 Sutter St., San Francisco.

Page B - 5 URL: sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi
TL