“A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch” is a saying that has been printed on many images. American chef, cookbook author and teacher James Beard (1903-1985) has been credited with the line since at least 1973.
Wiki[edia: James Beard
James Andrew Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 21, 1985) was an American cookbook author, teacher, and television personality. Beard was a champion of American cuisine who taught and mentored generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts. His legacy lives on in twenty books, other writings and his foundation’s annual James Beard awards in a number of culinary genres.
7 November 1973, Washington (DC) Star-News, “All Those Watergate Parallels” by Betty Beale, pg. D1, col. 5:
JAMES BEARD, the food expert who once said, “A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch,” was in Washington this week to promote his new book, “Beard on Bread.”
Google Books
The Restaurants of New York, 1978-1979
By Seymour Britchky
New York, NY: Random House
1978
Pg. 55:
“A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch.” — James Beard
Google Books
1,911 Best Things Anybody Ever Said
Selected and compiled by Robert Byrne
New York, NY: Fawcett Books
1988
Pg. 190:
282
A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch.
James Beard
Google Books
To Hell with the Diet:
A Feast of Quotations for the Guilty Epicurean
By Aubrey Malone
Stroud, Gloucesgtershire: The History Press
2014
Pg. ?:
A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch.
James Beard
Google Books
Forbes Book of Quotations:
10,000 Thoughts on the Business of Life
Edited by Ted Goodman
New York, NY: Hachette Books
2016
Pg. ?:
A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch.
James Beard
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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