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Christopher Idone Obituary
Founder of the catering company, Glorious Food in the 1960s, and author of numerous cookbooks, including Glorious American Food and Brazil his forthcoming cookbook, God's Love We Deliver Cookbook, compiled with Jon Gilman, will be published this September.
In 1982 his first book, Glorious Food (Stewart, Tabori and Chang) launched what became a genre of lush, large-format illustrated cookbooks.
His second book, Glorious American Food (Random House,1985) won numerous awards including Cookbook of the Year and Best General Cookbook from the IACP. Lauded as a history of America as seen through its food. James Beard wrote, "It is rare that one finds a book on food that epitomizes both luxury and well-tailored simplicity and it's a mark of Christopher Idone's brilliance that he encompasses both." And, Marion Burros followed with a review in the New York Times Book Review, "Among the best (of this year's cookbooks) are those that celebrate American food and…the most beautiful, if not the most definitive, is…Christopher Idone's Glorious American Food." Salad Days followed in 1989, Cooking Caribe in 1992, Lemons in the spring of 1993 (winner of the James Beard Award) and Apples in the fall 1993.
In the mid-1990s, Idone had fallen in love with Brazil --the country, its culture, and its cuisine. Now photographing as well as cooking, styling and writing, the result was Brazil: A Cook's Tour, which went on to reprint more than eleven times with Katie Workman as his editor at Clarkson Potter.
After Glorious Food, Idone also worked as a food consultant for a wide variety of venues; appeared on the Today Show and Good Morning America, and contributed (as writer and photographer) to House and Garden, The New York Times Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, Allure, Food Arts, Harpers Bazaar, Elle and Gentleman's Quarterly. Christopher's dinnerware – another fresh take on style – was sold exclusively at Neiman-Marcus and Henri Bendel.
Christopher is survived by his brothers Peter and Philip and his sister, Carol.
Contributions in his memory can be made to God's Love We Deliver Cookbook, 166 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10013. GLWD.org
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Christopher Idone
Laura
May 9, 2025
A fine gentleman! I miss his creativity.
lena tabori
May 7, 2025
We lost him in 2015. What a gift he was to everyone. Elegant, gracious, funny, brilliant, creative, soft-spoken, beautiful. The books he created, many of which I either published or packaged, were invariably exquisite, ambitious and packed with glorious recipes accompanied by glorious photographs. Time for them all to be republished. Will I ever stop missing him and his welcoming smile.
Laura Morris
May 6, 2024
Chris was beautiful, elegant and innovative. we are blessed to have had him in our lives.
Enid Futterman
May 6, 2021
Five years later, I still miss you.. I re-read all the memories here just now and they ring truer than ever.
Laura Morris
May 6, 2020
A wonderful and sweet person. He will always be in my heart. Am lucky to have had the pleasure.
Diana Van Buren
May 6, 2019
I think about Christopher every time I go to the Union Square Greenmarket, every time I have an extra theater ticket, every time I make a tomato sandwich on white bread. I miss him. That feeling of loss will probably never go away.
Libba esteve
July 11, 2016
Christopher will always be remembered by me and my children as he was a major part of our lives in Wainscott and Brasil.
Carol Idone
June 9, 2016
In the name of Christopher's family I would like to express our sincere thanks to Jon Gilman for having made this final acknowledgement to him available, and to Lena Tabori for havng assisted Christopher with so many acts of kindness and service. Also, our thanks go out to all of his friends who shared comments, sentiments and impressions of their experiences of and with Christopher, and to those who took the opportunity to simply read what was written about him. Now the time for closure has arrived. Carol Idone
Christopher with his siblings, July 30, 1971
Carol
May 27, 2016
Agnes Gillman
May 26, 2016
Chris was my husband's(Tom Gillman) first cousin, and we were very proud to have his book "Glorious American Food" adorn our coffee table. Rest in peace Chris...you did a good job.
Christopher with his siblings, July 30, 1971
Carol Idone
May 26, 2016
During my youth and well into young adulthood, Christopher was my Big Brother. He opened to me vistas and showed me how to peer through rose coloured glasses. And so much more. Needless to say, he did my wedding. I cherish the memories.
May 23, 2016
I was the publisher of his ground breaking book, Glorious Food, the packager of his brilliant Glorious American Food which Random House so intelligently published, his publisher again when he did Lemons. Katie Workman edited Brazil at Clarkson Potter but Christopher and I never lost our friendship. He was original, and brilliant. He changed the course of food books by integrating images. He understood the deep connection between land, food and culture, explored the context of food--where recipes came from and how they evolved. He wanted to do an egg book--which he considered the perfect food. He was instinctively aesthetic, graceful and utterly eccentric and adorable. I have a hole in my heart which I am finding difficult to fill. I keep expecting his wonderful welcoming smile. I
Diana Van Buren
May 19, 2016
I was a freelance reader for the Cooking and Crafts Club -- a division of the Book-of-the-Month Club -- when I first "met" Christopher. I was given the galleys of "Glorious American Food" to read, and I raved about it. They ended up choosing it as a main selection for the Book-of-the-Month Club itself. The first time in their history that they chose a cookbook. But it was much more than that, and was, as we now know, a bellwether. I didn't meet the man who wrote it until I worked at Cafe Luxembourg, where he was a regular, and from there, we became friends, and I had the great pleasure and pain of working with and for him. It was always fun, even when it wasn't. You know what I mean. We enjoyed going to the theater together when we weren't talking about restaurants. I loved Christopher. I miss him.
Christopher and me working on the food for a NY Times story.
Diana Van Buren
May 19, 2016
Christopher and his sister Carol at Maxim's. September 8, 1980.
Enid Futterman
May 18, 2016
Christopher was an original. He revolutionized the sourcing, cooking and serving of food, from Glorious Food's first dinner for my then husband's birthday in 1972, to this minute. Everything he did was delicious in every way and his influence cascaded down the decades and can be seen and felt all over town and all over the country. Christopher's sense of humor was as keen as his sense of taste. Once, on a fairytale trip to Paris, in celebration of his partner's 40th birthday, in a crowded celebrity-studded discotheque, after a well ... glorious black-tie dinner at Maxim's, he shouted in my ear above the din, "Darling, it's a movie, and you're in it." I will miss that gorgeous grin. With love and sympathy to my dear friend, Christopher's sister, Carol, and his brothers.
Christine Biddle
May 16, 2016
Dear Christopher.you will be so missed and always remembered. I so often chuckle at some great adventures.with Tony May John of God....our nutty officethe Tuna book.so many stories of Brazil.May you rest in peace. Love, Christine
Lorraine Krusa
May 15, 2016
We remember him with laughter and fun as children, with our mothers, the two sisters. He will be missed by his family. We are thankful that he is at peace. His cousin, Lorraine
L
May 15, 2016
My deepest condolonces to the family. In this time of grieving I encourage all to look to God and his word for hope. John 5:25 gives us hope that we will see Christopher again.
Louise Beit
May 15, 2016
I, too, thought of him every day when I looked out of my window at his apartment, which now Ralph Lauren has ingeniously interrupted. But he was thought about since my young life when I, a lover of beauty, was introduced by him to the beauty of taste, scent, and form - the candlesticks here, the flowers there, the white beans like this - and here is Stravinsky. His smile, his laugh and his camaraderie will be remembered.
Laura Ellen Morris
May 14, 2016
Christopher will always be in my heart. Truly beautiful and talented . My condolences to you all.
Lloyd Griscom
May 14, 2016
Christopher,
We are all part of the same whole and we carry you with us and we with you because we are not really separate at some level. Help us to recognize and realize our real nature, fresh present wakefulness for the benefit of many. ☮Abrazos amigo
Whitney and Allen Clark
May 14, 2016
We met Christopher in Paris about 50 years ago, and thought he was wonderful. He was our friend forever, seeing us occasionally at our home or in the city, going to dinner or a concert. We have been calling and emailing since a couple of months ago, knowing he has been in ill health for a long time, and very worried. So sad. He was extremely fun to be with and much too modest and private. He was incredibly creative, charming, funny and beautiful. We will miss him terribly. Our condolences to his family. And to all the people who loved him
May 13, 2016
Sincere condolences goes out to the Idone family for your sad loss. May GOD be with the family as you mourn.
May 13, 2016
Sincere condolences goes out to the Idone family for your sad loss. May GOD be with the family as you mourn your sad loss.
steven jenkins
May 13, 2016
so sad. what a good guy. figurative career, huge talent. he didn't know me, but i knew him. sorry to intrude.
Marcela Letelier
May 12, 2016
Thanks to our friend Graziella we had the opportunity of sharing a Chritmas lunch in our house in Chile,with Christopher. Wonderfull, entertaining, witty ,modest.....and a great cook.
You will be miss.....we keep the memories
Gill Fuller
May 12, 2016
I think of him every day as I look out my window and see his apartment. I met him in the Hamptons when he was selling small pick nicks with baskets. Then he gave us girls cooking classes , which our men friends came and ate with gusto. Miss him.
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