The Era of Ladies Who Lunch Percolated a Frothy Nexus of Food, Fashion, & Culture

The Intersection of fashion, food, and fame, illuminated by money, politics, media, and society could be found in no place other than Gotham.

The era of the “Ladies Who Lunch” (LWL) best percolated this frothy nexus, hitting its stride mid-century - from the late 1950s and 1960’s; enjoying its heyday throughout the 1970s and ‘80s. 

Some credit Women’s Wear Daily publisher John Fairchild for inventing the phrase, “Ladies Who Lunch.” Stephen Sondheim claims to have coined the moniker: his 1970 hit play Company and LWL ballad sung by Elaine Stritch was a backhanded salute to the grand dames. Not to be “out-lunched,” New York Magazine too claims to have introduced the phrase.

Who were these elegant swans at the pinnacle of a cosmopolitan, culinary, cultural phenomenon ushering in a modern, chic, American style of dining-out and became icons in an increasingly media-centric, social-networked world?

There were many popular LWL - those lionized as the most photographed, included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Lee Radziwill, Slim Keith, Gloria Guinness, Happy Rockefeller, Babe Paley, Pat Buckley, Lynn Wyatt, the Duchess of Windsor, Deeda Blair, Brooke Astor, Gloria Vanderbilt, CZ Guest, Nancy Reagan, Betsy Bloomingdale, Nan Kempner, Gloria Vanderbilt, and the Rose Kennedy clan.  

I wrote a chapter (one of three) in the seminal history of New York's food and drink book, Savoring Gotham." Here in this post is what appears in the book. 

I was intrigued by that nexus of food, fashion, culture, and philanthropy. I wanted to learn more about them. I was honored that Women's Wear Daily allowed me into their archives to research and document. (I was told it was a first...) I was able to document how these women kept the city's culture accessible and funded; helped promote artists and talent. It was their job, if you will.

I think it’s important to honor these great dames as part of Women’s History Month.

The Ladies were, for the most part, upper-class wives of wealthy businessmen, politicians and royalty – sometimes referred to as “high-society goddesses” or in today's parlance, perhaps you'd refer to some as “trophy wives.”  All were socialites.

With feet firmly planted in old world society and a burgeoning women’s movement, these Ladies were the foundation of New York’s philanthropic efforts.  

Lunch lubricated their social networking efforts. 

Their lunch parade in and out of the restaurants showcased major fashion houses long before the “red carpet.” 

In a time before social media, these Ladies were photographed by the society arbitrators of the day: Women’s Wear Daily, the NY Post’s “Page Six” and The New York Times’ Bill Cunningham; who reported their daily comings and goings from Gotham’s glamorous restaurants.  The public “ate it up” turning to the newspapers for a look at what they were wearing and where they dined. 

This was the original social network or the Instagram of its time.

Many restaurants still had dress codes.  Le Pavilion railed against the emerging pantsuit fashion of the day and kept paper skirts for offenders to don.  On one occasion Nan Kempner refused and took off her Yves Saint Laurent pants, wearing the top as a tunic. 

Escorting the Ladies were equally brilliant and talented men. A quaint custom now, “Walkers” was the term used for mainly gay men who accompanied the Ladies to lunch. Famous Walkers included Jerry Zipkin, Bill Blass, Truman Capote, Billy Baldwin, and Arnold Scaasi. 

Before celebrity chefs, it was the front of the house that was the face of the restaurant, especially at lunch.

The successful maître d’ paid attention to the setup of the dining room: who should be seated where.  They viewed their dining guests as an “audience in a non-stop show.” 

The maître d’ needed to be at the top of his game; a finger on the throbbing pulse of Gotham’s family fortunes from old money and nouveau rich. According to Sirio Maccioni of Le Cirque, Bill Blass was often whispering in his ear, helping to navigate the potential minefield of Nouvelle Society’s indiscretions and successes.

Lunch protocol gave rise to the importance of where one was seated in the restaurant’s dining room.   The tables closest to the door were held for the prominent clients where they could be readily seen - indicating a star in the celebrity constellation. 

By any standard there was merely a clutch of restaurants that made history with their posh lunch panache. Yet, their influence transcended their numbers and their time. 

Most were located in the tony Upper East Side neighborhoods or on streets that hug Central Park in the 50s and 60s.

The first restaurant that attracted the Ladies was the Colony Club (1903), followed by the Cosmopolitan Club (1909), Le Pavillon (1941), Quo Vadis (1946), Le Cote Basque (1958), La Caravelle (1960), (Lutèce 1961), La Grenouille (1962), Lafayette (1965), Orsini’s, (1968), and Mortimer’s (1976).  

Food at the restaurants was haute cuisine French; a very few French, by way of Italy.  French food was acknowledged as “important” food.  All could trace their pedigree to the French Pavilion at NY’s 1939 World’s Fair. According to food expert Mimi Sheraton, the chefs remained in the US to “avoid dangers back home; thus helping shape the postwar dining landscape in New York City.” 

However, the rich sauces and dishes were not lunch items for the Ladies. In the spirit of the Duchess of Windsor who famously said, “A woman can’t be too rich or too thin,” LWL preferred dainty portions of comfort food with a classic French accent.  

Food

Favorite menu items included omelets, crabmeat or lobster salad, duck a l’orange, broiled fish, chicken hash, soft-shell crabs, shad roe, and soups. Most of the ladies ordered the same thing every day. 

Drink

Beverages sparked the ambiance. Martinis were popular. Later, the restaurants helped popularize drinking wine with lunch. Others preferred an aperitif, champagne, and in the ‘70s and ‘80s white wine spritzers flowed. 

Cheers to the Ladies Who Lunched!

I was smitten by these great dames. You could say they inspired me to launch my Ladies Who Lunch Conversations to explore today's inspiring women. I salute my guests at Ladies Who Lunch Conversations ~ my monthly videocast interviews on Facebook. 

Please "Follow" to learn about these incredible women and their meditation on life's challenges and successes. 

Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, (to paraphrase Liz), and enjoy learning about today's inspiring women.

Credits: 

Vanity Fair, February 2012 “Here’s to the Ladies Who Lunched” February 2012, Bob Colacello page 135

Vanity Fair, “An Immoveable Feast” 2008, Douglas McGrath

Intimate Companions, Rob Haskell, W Magazine

A Table at Le Cirque, Sirio Maccioni and Pamela Fiori

James Beard blog: Taste Tomorrow: the 1939 New York World’s Fair

Photos: Courtesy WWD