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

Le Cordon Bleu Le Cordon Bleu (; French: " The Blue Ribbon"; LCB) is a French hospitality and culinary education institution, teaching haute cuisine. Its educational focuses are hospitality management, culinary arts, and gastronomy. The institution consists ...

. Her father was the architect, jeweller and designer

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

, 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 city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

culinary school in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the 1930s. She married the architect Colin Lucas. 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 (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and later claimed that

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

often dined there and had a taste for stuffed

squab In culinary terminology, squab is an immature domestic pigeon, typically under four weeks old, or its meat. Some authors describe it as tasting like dark chicken. The word "squab" probably comes from Scandinavia; the Swedish word means "loose ...

. She later opened a Cordon Bleu restaurant and a cooking school in

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

, 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 founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...

in New York. One of the earliest television cook-show hosts, Lucas's ''To The Queen's Taste'' was broadcast on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

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 An omelette (sometimes omelet in American English; see spelling differences) is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs), fried with butter or oil in a frying pan. It is a common practice for an omelette to include fillings such as chiv ...

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

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

.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 of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

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)

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