The Lucullus Circle was a US society based in New York City. It was inaugurated on 11 December 1951 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel by Claude Philippe. He created the group as "he felt the city needed a simon-pure, amateur gourmet society". [1] At the black-tie dinners, he functioned as "a cross between a benevolent dictator and a kindly father". The society was known for its wine stock and for its elaborate dinners, [2] [3] initially only for men, but later including the Ladies Dinner. [4] For $250 per year, a member could attend five lavish dinners, [4] and these dinners were attended by some of the wealthiest and most notable men in the world. [5]
The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2017 population of 8,622,698 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 20,320,876 people in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 23,876,155 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.
The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The hotel has been housed in two historic landmark buildings in New York. The first, bearing the same name, was built in two stages, as the Waldorf Hotel and the Astoria Hotel, which accounts for its dual name. That original site was situated on Astor family properties along Fifth Avenue, opened in 1893, and designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh. It was demolished in 1929 to make way for the construction of the Empire State Building. The present building, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Midtown Manhattan, is a 47-story 190.5 m (625 ft) Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze and Weaver, which was completed in 1931. The current hotel was the world's tallest hotel from 1931 until 1963, when it was surpassed by Moscow's Hotel Ukraina by 7 metres (23 ft). An icon of glamour and luxury, the current Waldorf Astoria is one of the world's most prestigious and best known hotels. Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts is a division of Hilton Hotels, and a portfolio of high-end properties around the world now operate under the name, including in New York City.
Claudius Charles Philippe, also known as Philippe of the Waldorf or The Host of the Waldorf, was a British-born French-American restaurateur, catering director, hotelier and businessman, who was the hotel banquet manager of the prestigious Waldorf Astoria New York hotel in the 1940s and 1950s. From 1961 until 1963 he worked as executive vice president of Loews Hotels, and was responsible for the planning and building of six new New York hotels.
The Lucullus Circle dinners brought about a "new golden age of gastronomy", attracting some of the wealthiest businessmen in the world at the time to feast on some "six to eight food courses and two wines with each course". [5] [6] The third dinner occurred on 10 March 1952 in honor of the Iranian ambassador. [4] At one dinner guests dined on gold dishes with gold knives and forks, while at another, the room was adorned with objets d'art from important collections. [7] Members came from the arts, business, politics as well as other professions. [8] Many of the members resided at the Waldorf Towers. "Lucullans" were characterized as the "most sensitive and cultivated palates in New York, a sometimes questionable center of civilization and sophistication". [9] Numbering approximately 50 gentlemen at a time, the dinner attendees were prohibited from conversing about business, politics, and religion. [2] After the first year, the Lucullus Circle lost only two members, one who died and the other who resigned due to his health. [1]
By 1972, however the dinners had begun to lose their appeal. New York Magazine noted that the dinners were still appreciated for their "enormous stocks of wine". but that it no longer seemed to "have the appeal of the other groups". [10] They nonetheless continued. After Philippe's death, his wife, Helga, took over planning the gentlemen's dinners, as well as coordinating the wines and greeting the attendees; she was the only woman present at these events. [5]
