Mardikian is an institution in San Francisco. No visit there is complete without a meal in his famous restaurant -- and it is a lost opportunity if you don't meet the great chef himself. This book is partly autobiography -- partly reminiscences of San Francisco -- and largely recipes of specialties not only of Omar Khayyam's but of eastern dishes known to too few American housewives, but perfectly practicable, even in many cases -- in these rationed days. Particularly appealing are some of the suggestions for using meats in unusual ways, which make possible a de luxe flavor for cuts that can be found. An off-the-track cookbook.