I'm jumping the gun a little, but September 24 is National Cherries Jubilee Day.

"Whaa?" you say. "There's a day for that?!"

Celebrated French chef August Escoffier was in charge of coming up with something jazzy for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. Cherries were her favorite—their season fleeting, they were ephemeral and thus dear in the world of fruits. So, the dish he invented was sweet pitted black cherries, poached in a thick simple syrup, poured into a fireproof dish and then flambéed at the moment of presentation. Since then it’s been codified a bit, routinely flamed with kirschwasser and served alongside vanilla ice cream.

Cherries Jubilee was one of those desserts that saw heavy play in fancy American restaurants from the 1930s to the 1960s, even the gold standard of intrepid dinner-party throwers of the same era.

The Harry Waugh Dessert Room at Bern’s Steak House has 86ed Cherries Jubilee. It’s decommissioned. See my Bern's dessert story here.

But now I'm worried. What will become of Baked Alaska? Peach Melba? Crepes Suzette?