In the Kennedy Style

Letitia Baldrige's dedication reads, "For all those who have heard about the grace and charm of the Kennedy White House and wondered, was it really that extraordinary? The answer is 'Yes.'" The vibrant couple who moved into the White House in January 1961 were unlike anything that venerable home had ever seen. They were young, attractive, and cosmopolitan, and they were intent on putting their own indelible stamp on American culture. During the next three years, John and Jacqueline Kennedy wrote an entirely new chapter in the annals of presidential entertaining. Baldrige, Jackie's social secretary, and René Verdon, the White House chef, worked with them behind the scenes to bring off state dinners that are still talked about today (like the famous "Nobel Laureate Dinner"). Alas, the Kennedy days are over, but Baldrige and Verdon bring back the memories in this marvelous book, which pairs Baldrige's fun, gossipy recollections of each star-studded social occasion with Verdon's sophisticated pre-nouvelle cuisine menus (including recipes simple enough for today's home cook). It's the photographs of the glittering guests, Jackie's ravishing gowns and perfect collarbone, and Kennedy--tan and handsome in black tie--that invoke the most wistfulness for that "one brief shining moment" that for some represented the pinnacle of American cultural history. After all the dirt, this book is like a long drink of cool water. END