The Richest and Most Famous Private Chef in the World Joseph Donon: Gilded Age Dining with Florence Vanderbilt Twombly

The New Yorker called him, probably the richest and most famous private chef in the world, and there is every reason to believe that Mrs. Twombly’s beloved French chef, Joseph Donon, was just that. … In retirement he realized how extraordinary had been what he had witnessed in his career at Florham and with the Twomblys at their homes in New York City and Newport, a way of life gone forever, and set out to record his memories in a draft memoir he dictated to a friend, and in several interviews with The New Yorker, including a lengthy profile. It was an epoch! It was a special time, and the way those houses were run should not be forgotten.