Dinners the archive imagines from real lives: who sat down, what was served.
A supper on West Twelfth Street
1957 · Greenwich Village, New York — Beard gathers the writers and editors who will define American food writing over the next three decades.
1964 · Chelsea, London — David's plain Sunday table, where three writers who share a taste for the south argue about authenticity.
1972 · East Hampton, Long Island — Claiborne stages a shore dinner for Beard and Fisher, complete with a pit dug in the sand.
1966 · Provence, France — Child rents a house in the south and cooks for David and Claiborne, who each claim the region as their own.
1975 · Sonoma, California — Fisher sets a plain table in wine country for Beard and Child, and the talk turns to appetite and memory.
1961 · Greenwich Village, New York — Beard and Fisher, two of the great American eaters, spend an evening on oysters, onion sandwiches, and gossip.
1963 · Manhattan, New York — Claiborne cooks for David, the writer he most wants to publish, and tries to talk her into an American column.
1978 · Boston, Massachusetts — Child brings Beard and Claiborne to Boston for an evening that doubles as a celebration of American food writing.
A Christmas rehearsal in London
1972 · London, England — Cradock stages a Christmas demonstration dinner for Carrier and Freud, who trade barbs about showmanship and honesty.
1978 · London, England — Carrier hosts Grigson and Freud for an evening that sets elaborate French showpieces against plain English cooking.
1982 · Wiltshire, England — Grigson sets a long country lunch for David and Floyd, and the talk turns to markets, authenticity, and wine.
A quiet supper with Clement Freud
1985 · London, England — Freud cooks a deliberately plain supper for Cradock and Carrier, arguing that eggs are the test of any cook.
1987 · Provence, France — Floyd cooks outdoors for Olney and David, and three very different cooks argue about the south of France.
1978 · Provence, France — Olney cooks for Child and Franey, and three French-trained cooks debate how simple a dish should be.
A summer supper at East Hampton
1980 · East Hampton, New York — Franey cooks a quick, elegant supper for Claiborne and Colwin, testing the promise of the 60-Minute Gourmet.
1975 · Bloomington, Indiana — Clayton bakes all day for Beard and Child, who arrive expecting a lesson and leave with loaves.
1983 · Louisiana — Wilson cooks gumbo, jambalaya, and étouffée for Claiborne and Bailey, with stories between every course.
1988 · Long Island, New York — Bailey sets a relaxed summer table for Lukins and Colwin, and the three of them talk about cooking for friends.
A tasting at the Silver Palate
1986 · New York, New York — Lukins tests a new menu on Colwin and Fisher, two writers who will tell her the truth.
Home cooking in a small kitchen
1989 · New York, New York — Colwin cooks in her tiny New York kitchen for Lukins and Smith, proving that good food needs no space.
A new American dinner in Washington
1990 · Washington, D.C. — Clark cooks a modern American menu for Franey and Smith, and the talk turns to where American food is going.
1968 · Dallas, Texas — Corbitt serves her famous Zodiac Room lunch to Beard and Claiborne, who have come to see what Texas is doing.
1628 · Florence, Italy — Galileo shows his telescope to Kepler and a young Descartes, and the three of them argue about what the instrument can prove.
A last conversation at Arcetri
1638 · Arcetri, near Florence — Under house arrest, Galileo receives Descartes and talks through the arguments he can no longer publish freely.
1687 · Cambridge, England — Newton presents the Principia to Locke and Leibniz, and the talk turns to the calculus and the rights of kings.
1540 · Frombork, Royal Prussia — Copernicus dines alone at Frombork, correcting proofs and rehearsing the arguments for a moving Earth.
1498 · Rome, Italy — Alexander VI dines with his son Cesare, the Florentine envoy Machiavelli, and the young Copernicus, and the talk turns to power and the heavens.
1502 · Rome, Italy — Cesare Borgia hosts his father and Machiavelli and lays out the campaign that is remaking the Romagna.
1520 · Calais, France — Francis I entertains Charles V, Erasmus, and More at the edge of the Field of Cloth of Gold, and the talk is all of empire and faith.
1455 · Florence, Italy — Cosimo dines quietly at home with his young grandson Lorenzo and the visiting Rodrigo Borgia, and reflects on the family he is building.
1478 · Florence, Italy — Lorenzo, wounded and grieving, gathers allies and observers at table and begins the diplomacy that will save Florence.
A dinner during the Convention
1787 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — Franklin hosts Washington, Madison, and Hamilton between sessions of the Constitutional Convention and argues for compromise.
The general's table at Mount Vernon
1790 · Mount Vernon, Virginia — Washington gathers the men building his administration around a Virginia table and lets them disagree about the nation's finances.
The evening before independence
1776 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — Adams brings the delegates who will vote for independence together over oysters and johnnycake on the eve of the decision.
1802 · Monticello, Virginia — Jefferson entertains Madison and Hamilton as president, balancing the Louisiana question against the constitutional quarrels that divide them.
1787 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — Madison hosts Franklin, Washington, and Hamilton and tries out the arguments on faction and the separation of powers that will become the Federalist.
1796 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — Washington gathers the men who have made and opposed his administration before announcing that he will retire.
The president and the sedition laws
1798 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — Adams dines with Abigail, Hamilton, and Jefferson as the Alien and Sedition Acts divide the country over the war with France.