On a leafy street in New York City’s Greenwich Village stands a brownstone that was once the home of James Beard and now is the headquarters of his namesake foundation. Beard, a chef and author, was a key figure in 20th-century American cooking, helping to transform dining culture with his cookbooks, articles, and the first television show about food, 1946’s I Love to Eat. A droll man of obvious appetite, Beard once declared, “I believe that if ever I had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough tarragon around.” He had a circle of fabulous food-loving friends and would take any excuse to entertain, so his four-story home’s garden became the site of now-legendary dinner parties.