Christian Dior mastered the art of hospitality, organizing intimate and refined dinners at his various residences. With the success of his fashion house, he acquired a countryside retreat in 1948—the Moulin du Coudret in Milly-la-Forêt—which he transformed into a weekend home for gathering his closest friends. Each guest had their own designated room, and Dior took great pleasure in sharing good meals during these stays. Among his regular guests were his right-hand woman Raymonde Zehnacker, his muse Mitzah Bricard, his collaborator André Levasseur, the illustrator René Gruau, and celebrities such as Jean Cocteau and Marlene Dietrich. A personal cook, Madame Denise, was in charge of preparing exquisite meals, while Dior himself cultivated a love for fresh produce by maintaining a vegetable garden. At Milly, he had designed a beautiful traditional garden filled with flowers, vegetables, and aromatic herbs, where he would spend long hours tending to his plants.
Christian Dior in Moulin de Coudret
This hospitality was expressed with both generosity and refinement. Christian Dior “only gave his palate—and those of his guests—the very best,” considering himself a demanding gourmand. He put as much care into hosting and dining as he did into fashion: every detail mattered, from the menu to the ambiance. Weekends at Dior’s were known for their elegant conviviality. One famous anecdote illustrates his warmth as a host: he once invited the young novelist Françoise Sagan to dinner at Milly. So eager was she to join him that she had a minor car accident on the way—an episode that became legendary among Dior’s circle. Always attentive, Dior ensured everyone’s comfort and delighted in introducing his guests to his favorite dishes in a warm atmosphere.
In Paris, Dior also frequented the city’s finest restaurants with his closest friends. The Plaza Athénée, for example, was one of his favorite haunts, reflecting his deep appreciation for haute cuisine. After each fashion show, he had a ritual of enjoying his favorite dish—a simple entrecôte-frites—as a way to conclude the day with a moment of indulgent simplicity.
Christian Dior was not only a great couturier but also a true gourmet. His love of fine dining was evident in his enthusiasm for elaborate meals and carefully curated menus. A devoted epicurean, he appreciated both sophisticated dishes and simple pleasures from the French terroir. “The ingredients we use in cooking are as noble as the materials used in couture. What I love about my craft is that it requires both intellect and hands,” he once told his friend, the chef Raymond Thuilier, drawing a parallel between haute cuisine and haute couture.
Dior cherished dishes like stuffed chicken with fresh cheese and classic crème anglaise, just as much as humble accompaniments like duchess potatoes or crisp endive salad. His broad culinary tastes reflected his eclectic palate—he could enjoy a Michelin-starred meal just as much as a simple, well-prepared snack. He had a fondness for balancing luxury and simplicity; in fact, it was said that during a trip to New York, he couldn’t resist devouring five hot dogs at Times Square, a charming testament to his unpretentious gourmandise.
Beyond his personal indulgences, Dior was highly knowledgeable about gastronomy. He took a keen interest in menu composition and regularly discussed food with professionals. Despite his busy schedule, he insisted on sitting down for a proper lunch every day, carefully reviewing the menus with his personal chef. His refined palate extended to wine: he had a deep understanding of fine vintages and placed great importance on food and wine pairings. He could speak about a grand cru with the same poetic elegance he used to describe one of his couture creations—“as if he were describing a beautiful and elegant woman,” Thuilier once noted.
Dior had a particular fondness for champagne, especially Dom Pérignon, which frequently appeared in his recipes and paired beautifully with foie gras toasts or even rustic dishes. His passion for fine food was so profound that he once jokingly suggested linking gastronomy to couture: “Who knows, one day I might need this… Maybe we’ll have a Dior ham or a Dior roast beef?” he mused to his director Jacques Rouët. This playful remark revealed just how significant cuisine was in his life—almost as important as fashion.
In 1972, fifteen years after Dior’s passing, the House of Dior published La Cuisine Cousu-Main as a tribute to its founder’s passion for gastronomy. This 101-page cookbook compiled Christian Dior’s favorite recipes. Designed as a luxury object, it was prefaced by the renowned Provençal chef Raymond Thuilier and illustrated with elegant drawings by Dior’s longtime collaborator René Gruau. The recipes were gathered by Jacques Rouët, Dior’s close associate, with contributions from gastronomic critic Robert J. Courtine, ensuring the book’s culinary credibility.
La Cuisine Cousu-Main
The content reflected Dior’s eclectic tastes: entire chapters were dedicated to soups, appetizers, meats, game, poultry, vegetables, and desserts, along with a full section on wine service—proof of how much importance he placed on the art of the table. The book alternated between simple and extravagant recipes, mirroring Dior’s personal approach to food. It featured rustic dishes like dandelion salad and traditional duchess potatoes alongside luxurious preparations. One standout recipe was perdreau au Dom Pérignon—a whole partridge stuffed with foie gras and truffles, flambéed with Cognac, and finished with Dom Pérignon champagne before roasting—illustrating his penchant for inventive haute cuisine. Each dish was meticulously explained, and the book even included advice on wine selection and service, showcasing Dior’s desire to pass on a complete art de vivre.
A particularly personal touch in La Cuisine Cousu-Main was the inclusion of a handwritten illustrated menu from a private dinner hosted by Dior on January 2, 1940. This New Year’s menu, adorned with watercolor flowers and tricolor ribbons, featured festive dishes like oysters from La Rochelle, Loire salmon, Saint-Hubert rabbit, Périgord capons, and a seasonal salad, followed by a savarin for dessert. The menu even bore the signature “Christian Dior – 47th Regiment,” a sign that despite his military service at the time, Dior never abandoned the pleasures of fine dining and hospitality.
Published as a limited edition, La Cuisine Cousu-Main became a sought-after collector’s item, with copies now selling for hundreds of euros. It was later reissued in 2013 by Asprey, and more recently, the House of Dior released a digital version, ensuring that Dior’s culinary legacy continues to inspire future generations. As the book’s foreword states, it reveals “a little-known aspect of Christian Dior’s personality,” elevating his vision of French art de vivre where fashion and gastronomy exist in harmony.
Christian Dior’s love for gastronomy reflected his deep aesthetic philosophy and innate sense of refinement. In the introduction to La Cuisine Cousu-Main, it is noted that Dior, as a “great artist,” applied as much care to composing his menus as he did to designing his collections. In other words, he approached a dinner like a haute couture creation—with the same perfectionism and pursuit of harmony.
Dior viewed cuisine as a true art, parallel to fashion. “A creation can only be perfected if the imagination behind it is faithfully realized by the hands,” he once said, emphasizing the essential union of vision and craftsmanship, whether in cooking or couture. His attention to quality was evident in every detail: he sought out “the most subtle and refined recipes,” selecting the finest ingredients as carefully as he chose the best fabrics. He often compared assembling a menu to curating a collection—balancing flavors, colors, and textures, ensuring thoughtful presentation and seasonality—all contributing to a complete aesthetic experience.
A close friend once recalled seeing Dior joyfully cooking scrambled eggs with truffles for six guests. This simple yet elegant act perfectly encapsulated his generosity as a host and his desire to share both beauty and pleasure.
In both gastronomy and couture, Christian Dior pursued timeless elegance and sensory delight. His approach to taste mirrored his approach to fashion: an exaltation of French tradition, a keen eye for harmony, and a luxurious yet understated refinement. His private dinners were moments of art de vivre, where sophistication met conviviality. From his legendary soirées to the cookbook he left behind, Dior’s culinary legacy endures—proving that for him, beauty was meant to be savored with both the eyes and the palate.
