Dione Lucas (born Dione Wilson, 10 October 1909 – 18 December 1971) (pronounced dee-OH-nee) was an English chef, and the first female graduate of

Le Cordon Bleu Le Cordon Bleu (French for " The Blue Ribbon") is an international network of hospitality and culinary schools teaching French ''haute cuisine''. Its educational focuses are hospitality management, culinary arts, and gastronomy. The institutio ...

. Her father was the architect, jeweller and designer

Henry Wilson Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 ...

, and her sister was the violinist Orrea Pernel (1906-1993). She married another architect, Colin Lucas (1906-1984).

Life

Dione Lucas was fundamental in establishing an extension of the famous

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

culinary school in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in the 1930s. She married the architect

Colin Lucas Sir Colin Renshaw Lucas, (born 25 August 1940) is a British historian and university administrator. From 1997 to 2004, he was the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. In May 2006, he was appointed Chair of the Board of the British Library for ...

. on 9 April 1930.Schinto, Jeanne. 'Remembering Dione Lucas' in ''Gastronomica'' Vol. 11, No. 4 (Winter 2011), pp. 34-45
/ref> In 1931 she and Rosemary Hume (with whom she has trained in Paris), set up a cookery school in Sloane Street, London, the interior of which was designed by Colin Lucas. They had a flat in Chelsea and they would reputedly serve their students' creations to passing trade at chairs and tables on the pavement. Lucas is thought to have helped Hume create her first cookery book, as Hume's spelling was known to be poor. Lucas worked as a hotel chef in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and later claimed that Adolf Hitler often dined there and had a taste for stuffed squab. She later opened a Cordon Bleu restaurant and a cooking school in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

- on the ground floor of 117 E. 60th St. She also ran the Egg Basket restaurant by

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a di ...

in New York. One of the earliest television cook-show hosts, Lucas's ''To The Queen's Taste'' was broadcast on CBS in 1948-1949 from the restaurant. She had another show in the 1950s. Dione Lucas was the first woman featured in a cooking show on television on WPIX-11 in New York. In one of her New York restaurants, ''The Gingerman'', Lucas helped to introduce the

omelette In cuisine, an omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from beaten eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan (without stirring as in scrambled egg). It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around fillings such as chives ...

to the American palate. She can be seen as a predecessor and influence to

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...

.Collins, Kathleen
''Watching What We Eat: The Evolution of Television Cooking Shows''
(2009) Dione Lucas authored several cookbooks on

French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...

Quotes

*"The preparation of good food is merely another expression of art, one of the joys of civilized living." *"I do not mean to spoil your appetite for stuffed squab, but you might be interested to know that it was a great favorite with Mr. Hitler, who dined at the hotel often. Let us not hold that against a fine recipe though."

Works

Books

* ''Au Petit Cordon Bleu: an array of recipes from the ‘École du Petit cordon bleu'' (1936, with Rosemary Hume) (29 Sloane Street, London) *''The Cordon Bleu Cook Book'' (1947) *''The Dione Lucas Meat and Poultry Cook Book'' (1955, with Anne Roe Robbins) 324 pages. Illustrated. * ''Good Cooking. (1960) 64 pages.Illustrated. (Australian Consolidated Press, Sydney) *''Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook'' (1964) (Bernard Geis Associates) * ''The Dione Lucas Book of French Cooking'' (1973 with Marion Gorman) *''The Dione Lucas Book of Natural French Cooking'' (1977, with Marion & Felipe Alba) *''Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook'' (1982 with

Darlene Geis Bernard J. Geis (August 30, 1909 – January 8, 2001) was an American editor and publisher who founded the now-defunct Bernard Geis Associates, which published and promoted several best-sellers in the 1960s and 70s, including Jacqueline Susann's ...

)

Television

*''To The Queen's Taste'' (December 1946 - 1948) ABC *''The Dione Lucas Cooking School'' (February 25, 1948-December 29, 1949) CBS *''The Dione Lucas Cooking Show'' (1950-1956) CBS *''The Dione Lucas Hour (1956-1958) Syndicated * ''Dione Lucas’s Gourmet Club'' (1958-1960) Syndicated *''Dollars and Sense Cooking'' (1960-1962) Syndicated

External links

Papers of Dione Lucas, ca.1930-1995.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Dione British television chefs 1909 births 1971 deaths Alumni of Le Cordon Bleu