An imagined gathering
1978 · Boston, Massachusetts
Child brings Beard and Claiborne to Boston for an evening that doubles as a celebration of American food writing.
Child is filming in Boston and has taken a house for the crew, and tonight the table is for the two men who did the most to make her work possible. Beard is old and unsteady but refuses to miss it; Claiborne drives up from New York with a case of wine.
They eat the dishes they have cooked for one another for twenty years: Child's boeuf bourguignon and chocolate cake, Beard's onion sandwich, Claiborne's crab. There is a great deal of laughter and a little sentiment, and Child — who has never been able to resist an audience — makes a small speech about how much she owes to both of them.
Host: Julia Child
James Beard — Child's early champion, who helped bring *Mastering the Art* to press.
Craig Claiborne — Child's friend and the food editor of *The New York Times*.
First course
This gathering is an editorial recreation grounded in the biographies of those present; it did not necessarily take place as described.