The
Wine and Food Society, later the International
Wine & Food Society, was founded in London, England in 1933, by André Simon, the marketing representative in the United Kingdom for the champagne house of Pommery. He set the official date as October 20, and plans for the
first event were made over dinner at the home of the Dowager
Lady Swaythling in Kensington
Court on October 31. In attendance with Simon and his wife were A.J.A. Symons, who became the Society’s first Secretary, and Lady Swaythling. In January, 1934, a society banquet
for nearly 400 people was held at the Savoy in London, launching from a small nucleus an international organization which burgeoned
to proportions that even André initially could not imagine.
The
Society was the world's first association of amateur gastronomic enthusiasts not associated commercially with the wine or
food trade. Today, there are many such organizations, but the IW&FS remains the most widespread, independent gastronomic society in the world.
The
very thought of a society for wine and food was, in the early 1930’s, a bold idea indeed. That period was not a propitious time in which to start an international association of gastronomes. Propaganda
Minister Goering spoke of “guns before butter”; children were being told that nasty-tasting
food was good for them, and anything that smacked of extravagance was distinctly unfashionable.
André
rose to the occasion. Although some considered him eccentric, he espoused a philosophy
that worked during that era of austerity and has continued appeal today. He urged
high culinary standards while deploring waste, declaring it criminal to ruin valuable foodstuffs by bad preparation. He believed that quality could and should be maintained while adjusting to restraints
imposed by economic circumstances. Wine, he insisted, was a natural beverage;
dry martinis were not. His goal was an "institution" whose aim was to “...bring together and serve all who believe that
a right understanding of good food and wine is an essential part of personal contentment and health, and that an intelligent
approach to the pleasures and problems of the table offers far greater rewards than the mere satisfaction of appetites…”
His
position was always one of moderation and simplification. Although he was brought
up in France and accustomed to long, elaborate meals, he eschewed the proliferation of complex
dishes, preferring a restrained sequence of wines to accompany a limited number of courses.
He preferred his aperitifs (champagne, if at all possible) without hors d'oeuvres.
A proper dinner, he insisted, should begin with soup, and the fish to follow required only the most basic preparation. He served lesser wines at the beginning and reserved the mature, noble ones for the
main course and the cheese. It was always quality, and not quantity, that mattered.
While
his philosophical outlook made him well suited to the times, it was surely the sheer power of his personality which forged
and sustained the Society in those early years. His skilled diction, his witty
conversation and his entertaining stories, all delivered with a disarmingly engaging French accent, opened doors for him;
his knowledge and dedication gained him respect.
In
December, 1934, André traveled to the United
States, hoping to found several
new branches for the Society. There was much he enjoyed about the United States, but he disapproved of the Americans' affinity for iced water and hard spirits. There followed journeys to Australia and South
Africa that endowed the Society
with a healthy and vigorous worldwide representation. The network grew slowly
under the direction of the founder with great help from his close friend, Symons. Symons died at age 41 during
World War II. Thereafter, the Society was the child of André’s efforts,
alone. The Society’s Journal, Wine
and Food, which he founded and edited, was what kept the organization together
during the war. By 1947, there were about 1500 members worldwide. Today the worldwide membership exceeds 8000.
