This is Seattle’s harbor; I haven’t been to SF in years.
Morning Edition today had the story of how Rice-a-roni came about, a result fortuitous intersection of an improbable set of lives. The original recipe for vermicelli-rice came from Pailadzo Captanian, an Armenian genocide survivor who resettled in San Francisco.
I never would have guessed; I would have said it was developed in a commercial kitchen.
The link above includes the “Pilaff” recipe and has photos of the Captanian family’s recipe cards.