Join us for a day of learning and community building with Les Dames DC! 
Meet the DMV's leading women in food, beverage, and hospitality
as they share their expertise in advocacy, content creation, and kitchen wisdom. 
Participants include Joan Nathan, Tambra Raye Stevenson, Jamie Leeds,
Bonnie Moore, Mary Beth Albright, Amy Brandwein, Susan Barocas, Charissa Benjamin, and many more.  Proceeds of this generously sponsored forum, held at DC’s historic National Union Building,
will go toward supporting women and women-led food-related organizations
in the DC area, through grants, mentoring, and scholarships. Advance registration required. 
Click here to register.  Click here to learn more about the full day of activities.  

Please join us for a virtual conversation
Vegan Means Business: Embracing Plant Power
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 | 5:00 to 6:30 PM

Tickets must be purchased in advance. 
Click here for your tickets!

Cost: General Admission $25, Free for Members of Les Dames d'Escoffier International. Zoom link will be emailed to registrants a week before the event.

Join Les Dames DC chapter for a fun and informative pupusa-making workshop in honor of World Refugee Day, on June 20, 2023. Dame Ana Reyes, owner of El Tamarindo, the nation’s first El Salvadorian restaurant, will share her family’s history from leaving El Salvador to establishing a community landmark in Washington DC. You’ll learn to make mouthwatering pupusas from scratch and about the cuisine and culture of El Salvador. Our Global Culinary Initiative Chair, Dame Amy Riolo, will discuss the mission of World Refugee Day and how to help during the current crisis. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

Cost: General Admission $55; $45 for Members of the DC Regional Chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier. Ticket price includes workshop, 2 pupusas, 1 non-alcoholic beverage & gratuity.  Click here for your tickets! 

Dame Ana Reyes is a first-generation Salvadoran American entrepreneur, community activist, and operator of El Tamarindo, her family’s 40-year-old Salvadoran and Mexican restaurant located in Washington, D.C.'s Adams Morgan neighborhood. El Tamarindo has become a community staple and is credited with popularizing pupusas, El Salvador’s national dish, a thick flatbread that can be stuffed with various fillings. Ana is passionate about sharing her family’s legacy and culture through food. 

6:30 pm Welcome, Meet & Greet
7:00 pm Workshop begins
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There is very limited street parking available.
The closest Metros are U Street Cardozo and Dupont, each .5 miles away. The closest parking garage is Colonial Parking at 2421 18th St NW.
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A portion of the proceeds will go to support Les Dames d'Escoffier DC's Regional Chapter's fundraising for grants, mentoring, scholarships, education programs and operations to support women to succeed in culinary-related industries.

We hope you can join us for this virtual event on June 1st.  Our host, Dame Leni Sorensen will share a bit of the political and military story of Juneteenth but will primarily discuss how Black Americans celebrated that belated Emancipation Day, first in Texas and then across the nation. She will highlight the traditional use of seasonal produce, red and sweet foods and will discuss who grew and cooked the meals.

Cost: General Admission $20, Free for Members of the DC Regional Chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier. Zoom link will be emailed to once you register for the event.

Click here to register for this virtual program.

Leni Sorensen was born in California, was a member of the 1960s folk music recording group The Womenfolk, farmed for eight years in South Dakota, and is the mother of four and the grandmother of seven. Throughout all those years she cooked, taught cooking, and talked about food; at one time catering to movie crews, at another, starting a tamale business. She worked for over thirty years as a university lecturer, museum consultant, hands-on presenter, and researcher with a focus on African American slavery, American agriculture, and women’s work in colonial and post-colonial America. Retired from six years as the African American Research Historian at Monticello she continues to lecture, consult, and write on topics of food history and teaches home provisioning and rural life skills from her home in Western Albemarle County. Her most recent appearance as a history presenter can be seen in episode three of the Netflix production “High on the Hog; A Culinary Journey from Africa to America.”  www.indigohouse.us
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A portion of the proceeds will go to support Les Dames d'Escoffier DC's Regional Chapter's fundraising for grants, mentoring, scholarships, education programs and operations to support women to succeed in culinary-related industries.

Chef Todd Gray and Dame Ellen Kassoff, our hosts with the compost, will share their sustainability journey and pass along valuable tips on how you can start composting and save money by rescuing valuable ingredients you’re probably tossing. Wasting food wastes all kinds of resources and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. By embracing seed-to-stem cooking and diverting food waste into compost, we can help reduce methane emissions and produce an invaluable resource — often referred to as “black gold” — for growing food and maintaining healthy soil.
The afternoon will begin with a tour of Equinox’s composting system, followed by a cooking demo with Chef Todd where you’ll get to taste some surprisingly scrappy snacks. We’ll toast to compost with cocktails and mocktails made with ingredients that often go to waste, and end with insights from a panel of sustainability experts:
Caroline Howe, Aspire Program Coordinator, Innovation & Equitable Development, DC Department of Small & Local Business Development
Jeffrey Neal, Founder & CEO, Loop Closing
Lela Singh, Retail and Social Media Manager, Teaism Tea Shop
During the event, you’ll have the opportunity to bid on sustainable lifestyle items at the silent auction and raffle. Proceeds of the auction and raffle will fund the Les Dames DC Chapter’s grants and scholarships program in support of the advancement of women in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries.
Metro accessible via Farragut West and Farragut North stations.
Cost: $35 for members and non-members and includes passed bites and one drink.  Tickets must be purchased in advance, click here to buy your tickets.  

There’s always something new in social media and the food blogging world. This is your chance to learn from three successful bloggers/influencers how to maximize your brand, business or blog in the ever-changing online business world. Our panel includes Dame Anina Belle Giannini of Le Chef’s Wife, Britney Brown-Chamberlain of “Britney Breaks Bread” and Shani Whisonant of “Begin with Butter.” The panel will be moderated by Dame Bonnie Benwick.

Cost is $25 for members, $35 for non-members, and includes appetizers, soft drinks and wine donated by RATIONAL USA, courtesy of Dame Cindy Selby. Dame Kim Bryden has donated use of her office space for the event.

Street parking is available. There is also 90 minutes free parking with purchase at the Whole Foods at 600 H St., NE.

Click here to register!
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A portion of the proceeds will go to support Les Dames d'Escoffier DC Regional Chapter’s fundraising for grants, mentoring, scholarship and education programs to help support women to succeed in culinary-related industries.

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WHEN: Sunday September 11th, 2022
TIME: Arrive by 9:15 am. Foragers will leave at 9:30 am and return by noon
WHERE: Carderock Recreation Area, Potomac, Maryland (off the Clara Barton Parkway)
PARKING: Meet at this parking lot: https://goo.gl/maps/2EGbXKJMopNoEMbh8 
WHAT TO WEAR/WHAT TO BRING: Long pants & long sleeves (optional but helps to avoid contact with poison ivy), hat, hiking boots or sturdy shoes, walking stick (there will likely be some tricky footing in spots), drinking water, a snack, collection bags & backpack to stash finds, and bug repellent
WHO: Dames members and friends. Dames may bring a friend to join them
COST: $36 members /$37 non-members
TICKETS:  Click here to buy your tickets!  Tickets must be purchased in advance. 

EVENT DETAILS:
Get ready to join your fellow Dames for a seasonal foraging walk with Matt Cohen, founder of Matt’s Habitats.  On our September hunt, Matt will introduce us to delicious American Paw Paws; we’ll learn where to find them, when to pick them and how to use them. Along the trails will be other wild edible plants; perhaps wild grapes, spicebush berries, garlic mustard, black walnuts, wild ginger, and possibly mushrooms. Matt will introduce them all, as well as discuss culinary ideas, preparation techniques and seasonal foraging. Meet-up directions and reminder will be emailed before the event.  

This foraging event is limited to 20 participants.  If you are bringing a guest, please be sure to purchase their ticket at the same time you purchase yours.  If the event is sold out, we will schedule a second foraging walk.  A waitlist has been set up for this purpose as part of on-line registration.  
Paw Paw -  Asimina triloba- Our largest local native fruit, paw paws are the only species in the Custard Apple family found in the United States. Several tropical fruits such as soursop and cherimoya are close relatives. In April, paw paw trees produce showy red flowers with a fetid odor attracting pollinating blowflies and other carrion-feeding insects. The large, strongly-scented leaves are the exclusive food source for the native zebra swallowtail caterpillar. The trees are found generally in the understory of forests, thriving in bottomland habitats such as along the Potomac River. Also known as the West Virginia Mango or Hillbilly Banana, the fruits taste like a custardy combination of the two. Eat them straight from the tree or scoop out the pulp to make puddings, ice cream, bread, pancakes, and more.

Matt Cohen started Matt's Habitats in 2003, specializing in sustainable gardening practices with an emphasis on native plants, wildlife habitats, and edible gardens. In 2009 he began to lead walks throughout the year on wild edibles and plant/mushroom identification, and he continually exercises his knowledge of the natural world through conferences, personal study, and lots of time outdoors. The headquarters of Matt's Habitats is a 120-year-old farmhouse in Silver Spring. Rooftop solar panels generate most of the electricity, and vegetable and fruit gardens generate a lot of produce. His 1/4 acre yard also serves as a test plot for many of the native plants that he uses in his clients' yards. Matt donates 10% of his net profit to environmental and humanitarian NGOs including Anacostia Watershed Society, Casa of Maryland, and the Capital Food Bank. He currently serves on the board of the Mycological Association of Washington, DC.