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A Deeper Look into the History of Les Gourmets…
By Alexandra Clark, Executive Director
January 24, 2010
With 64 days left until March 27, 2010 it seems like the 59th Les Gourmets is both just around the corner and yet an eternity away.

Our team of executive board rookies has had a lot of experience on the service level of Les Gourmets, and they are bringing refreshing perspective and incredible talent that is allowing this event to evolve rapidly throughout our planning and research into something that is uniquely Les Gourmets and yet seemingly unlike anything we have ever done before. Though, upon further research, that seems to be what Les Gourmets is all about.

The archives of The School of Hospitality Business (formerly the school of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management) tracked the evolution of this event from the dinner dance it started as in 1951 to the seven-course black tie dinner with reception that it is today. “The old girl” has seen ticket prices recorded as low as $2.50 a person, changes of venue to the Union and back, themes of Olymipic efforts, Ancient Rome, and even Gangsters. She has had girls in short skirts passing our complementary cigars to all guests to Model T's to traditional dragon dancing. At one point, Les Gourmets was on “the cutting edge” with its own personalized letterhead and now we have a website with a blog for goodness sake!

Honored by the tradition which we are upholding, we have been working on a project to compile the history of this grand evening as it has taken place over the past nearly 60 years: We have been compiling a list of the themes and executive directors of the past 59 years.

On a personal note, as things are getting hectic it is nice to know that there are 58 people who have held the same position that I hold now. It seems as if someone is once the Executive Director of Les Gourmets, they are always the Executive Director of Les Gourmets as seemingly all of them have offered themselves as a resource in one way or another. From Zoe Slagle's (BA '59) offer for coffee to phone calls from Chelsey Ingersoll (BA '09) "just checking in" to a manual I found from Kris Youngs (BA '89) that daringly begins, "So you want to be Director of Les Gourmets?"

This archival project has exposed a persistent sense of humor and hard work that has run through the veins of this event and The School of Hospitality Business for years. It is a refreshing reminder of where we come from as many of us prepare to enter the "real world". Thank you to everyone out there who has contributed to Les Gourmets as a guest, donor, friend, entertainer, guest chef, advisor, volunteer, BOD member or supervisor. We have created a monster and are having too much fun.

If you have any information that you would be interested in contributing to our archives project, such as photos, titles of Les Gourmets past, or information on held the Executive Director spot in a certain year, we would be thrilled to expand our records further. Please email them to Alexandra Clark at LesGour@msu.edu.

Blog Archive
More than Just Waiting Tables (3/16/10)
Adding a Little Flair (3/3/10)
The People who Manage People (2/24/10)
Donations: The Blog (2/16/10)
A Preview of Reception (2/9/10)
Food, Food, and More Food (2/1/10)
»A Deeper Look into the History of Les Gourmets« (1/24/10)