Grande Dame Eda Saccone was a restaurateur and founder of Les Dames des Amis d'Escoffier (now known as Les Dames d’Escoffier).
Steeped with restaurant experience and a desire to break into a male-dominated gourmet society, Eda Saccone quietly peeled away layers of opposition to achieve victory for a group of determined women. Growing up in the shadow of a resourceful mother and a dedicated father, both immigrating to Boston early in the 20th century, Eda DiScuillo Saccone absorbed her mother's perseverance, tenacity and acumen. After graduating high school, Eda was destined to follow in the footsteps of a specialty clothes buyer but marriage intervened. She nurtured her family and constantly doted on her granddaughters, nieces and nephews and was a source of encouragement and support, always showing kindness and a positive interest, particularly to the younger generation. Being socially inclined, she co-founded an Italian heritage club that has been thriving for forty-two years. Like many women of that time, her focus shifted from her family outward. She found her niche—the hospitality industry. Partnering with her husband, Pasquale, they opened the Devereaux House restaurant in Marblehead, Massachusetts in the mid 1940s.
Envious of her husband's yearly dinner with the Boston Chapter of Les Amis d'Escoffier, an all-male organization of eminent chefs and food and wine aficionados, Eda planned a dinner party of her own. With her husband's help, she hosted an evening in her home with the general manager and executive chef of The Ritz-Carlton, Charles Banino. After impressing him with a sumptuous dining experience, Eda succeeded in gaining his endorsement to host the maiden Les Dames des Amis d’Escoffier Dinner. Joseph Donon, chairman of the New York Les Amis d'Escoffier and Auguste Escoffier's last student, learned of Eda's gastronomic talent and vision for a female culinary society and decided to support her endeavor. The unprecedented success of this event in 1959 landed it on the 11 o'clock TV news and the front page of every major Boston newspaper: the first-ever all-women's dinner.
In 1981, Dame Eda Saccone and her committee added another dimension to Les Dames and established a scholarship foundation that provided grants to deserving students in the hospitality industry.
There had been a few select women members of the prestigious Les Amis d'Escoffier Society of New York, but it was Mrs. Saccone's certain demand for women's recognition that established the inaugural all-female culinary society: Les Dames des Amis d'Escoffier.
In 2009, Founder and Grande Dame Eda Saccone celebrated her 100th birthday. The following spring, the Boston chapter celebrated its 50th anniversary year; fifties nostalgia permeated the gala 50th dinner and the legend lives on.
Eda died on January 20, 2012. Michel A. Escoffier, great-grandson of Auguste Escoffier and president of the Auguste Escoffier Foundation and Museum of Culinary Art in Villeneuve-Loubet, France, had this to say about Eda.
“La Grande Dame Eda Saccone has left us to rejoin her beloved husband, but I'm sure she is keeping a protective eye on us all. What a strong but also lovable personality she had! She was at the very origin of "Les Dames" back in 1959 when she convinced our great friend Joseph Donon, founder of Les Amis d'Escoffier Society that women were also capable of successfully running a professional kitchen and therefore deserved to form a chapter of their own. My parents and I first met Eda and the Giovino family in the mid-eighties and became good friends instantly. Since then I visited them on many occasions and kept close ties with Boston. More recently, my son graduated from NEU in 2007. I also flew to Boston from California and back in 48 hours to attend "Les Dames" 50th anniversary dinner in 2010. I therefore feel a little bit as part of the family, and today my heart goes to Lucille, Frank and their daughter Adrienne, to join them from France in saying farewell to 'Mum'. Eda, we love you!”
The beloved wife of the late Pasquale Saccone she was the devoted mother of Lucille S. Giovino of Westwood and the loving grandmother of Adrienne, Ann-Margaret and Mariana Giovino. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews. Contributions in Eda's memory may be made to the LDE-Boston Scholarship Fund, sent to Les Dames d’Escoffier, P.O. Box 65, Andover MA 01810.
Make a donation in Her Memory. All donations in Eda's memory will benefit the Les Dames d'Escoffier Boston Chapter's Scholarship Fund.
