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“Dinner is Served”
Learn more about food and dining at Monticello, which left strong impressions on many of the prominent visitors to Jefferson's home.
Monticello's Cooks
Monticello's Cooks
James Hemings
James Hemings was nineteen years old when Jefferson decided to bring him to France "for a particular purpose." Hemings spent the next three years as an apprentice with a variety of French caterers and cooks, and then he took charge of the kitchen in Jefferson's residence on the Champs-Elysées. His creations were served to authors and scientists, and a succession of European aristocrats from the Duc de la Rochefoucauld to the Princess Lubomirska. More on James Hemings »
The base is all the remains of a four-space stew stove where James Hemings and his predecessor, Ursula Granger, once prepared meals for Jefferson, his wife, and their family.
From Trainee to Trainer
Back in America, James Hemings was Jefferson's chef in Philadelphia and at Monticello. When he asked to be freed, his manumission was made contingent on training another member of Monticello's enslaved community in "the art of cookery." James Hemings passed on his skills to his brother, Peter Hemings who became the next head cook at Monticello.
"Choice" Meals
When Jefferson assume the presidency, African-American apprentices from Monticello were at work in Washington under Jefferson's French chef, Honoré Julien. Edith Fossett and Frances Hern spent several years at the President's House, and took over the Monticello kitchen on Jefferson's retirement from the presidency in 1809. There, they transformed what Jefferson called "plantation fare" into "choice" meals.
Sharing Skills
The skills and recipes that came to Monticello were passed from one family member to another. When Edith Fossett's son (and James Hemings's great-nephew) Peter Fossett became free in 1850 and moved to Cincinnati, he used some of those same talents to build up one of that city's most successful catering firms.
In this section
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![A view of Monticello's brightly lit, yellow-painted Dining Room with a table set for dinner in the center and a tall, three pane window to the right.]()
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![A recipe for ice cream written out by Thomas Jefferson on a long strip of paper.]()
Page“Ice-creams were produced”
The first recorded American recipe for ice cream is written in Thomas Jefferson's hand. He served it at the President's Mansion when president and enslaved chefs made and served it at Monticello.
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![Shelves with copper pans and cooking utensils like the walls of Monticello's restored kitchen, which features a brick floor, a large hearth, a large preparation table, and a row of stew stoves along the left wall.]()
Page“The Order and Economy of the House”
Learn more about the role Jefferson's wife, daughters, and granddaughters played in the running the Monticello household.
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![Oblique view of a small door on the side of the Dining Room fireplace's mantel open to reveal a wine bottle in small open box on one side of the pulley system down to the wine cellar]()
Page“A Greater Eye to Convenience”
A look at the various types of dumbwaiters at Monticello, from a revolving serving door to the famous pully-driven wine dumbwaiter.
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A Day in the Life of Thomas Jefferson