From Wikipedia.com (I'd never seen the first option before, but I've heard the Waldorf chef story from more than one source, I believe!)
There are two main possible origins of the dish.
One version is that it was created in the late 1880s for financier LeGrand Benedict or his wife, by Charles Ranhofer, the chef of Delmonico's restaurant in New York City after one of the Benedicts complained there was nothing new on the menu. The Epicurean, Ranhofer's comprehensive 1894 cookbook, covering thirty years' worth of Delmonico's fare, contains a recipe for an essentially identical dish under the name of "Eggs à la Benedick."
Other sources state it was the result of an order placed by stockbroker Lemuel Benedict one morning in 1894 at the Waldorf Hotel when he had a hangover. Benedict claimed in a New Yorker interview shortly before his death that his order of dry toast, crisp bacon, poached eggs and a side of hollandaise sauce had been noted, usurped and warped by Oscar Tschirky, maître d'hôtel there. Oscar substituted English muffins and Canadian bacon, and added truffles.
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There are two main possible origins of the dish.
One version is that it was created in the late 1880s for financier LeGrand Benedict or his wife, by Charles Ranhofer, the chef of Delmonico's restaurant in New York City after one of the Benedicts complained there was nothing new on the menu. The Epicurean, Ranhofer's comprehensive 1894 cookbook, covering thirty years' worth of Delmonico's fare, contains a recipe for an essentially identical dish under the name of "Eggs à la Benedick."
Other sources state it was the result of an order placed by stockbroker Lemuel Benedict one morning in 1894 at the Waldorf Hotel when he had a hangover. Benedict claimed in a New Yorker interview shortly before his death that his order of dry toast, crisp bacon, poached eggs and a side of hollandaise sauce had been noted, usurped and warped by Oscar Tschirky, maître d'hôtel there. Oscar substituted English muffins and Canadian bacon, and added truffles.