 Beard brought French cooking to the American middle and upper classes during the 1950s, appearing on TV as a cooking personality.David Kamp (who discusses Beard at length in his book, "The United States of Arugula") noted that Beard's was the first cooking show on TV.He compares Dione Lucas' cooking show and school with Beard's, noting that their prominence during the 1950s marked the emergence of a sophisticated, New York-based, nationally and internationally known food culture.