He created the group as "he felt the city needed a simon-pure, amateur gourmet society".
"Lucullans" were characterized as the "most sensitive and cultivated palates in New York, a sometimes questionable center of civilization and sophistication".
[9] Numbering approximately 50 gentlemen at a time, the dinner attendees were prohibited from conversing about business, politics, and religion.
[2] After the first year, the Lucullus Circle lost only two members, one who died and the other who resigned due to his health.
After Philippe's death, his wife, Helga, took over planning the gentlemen's dinners, as well as coordinating the wines and greeting the attendees; she was the only woman present at these events.