​
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.

​A Dames (and friends) event

Tickets:  Click here to buy your tickets!

Do you know where your food comes from? Who produces, processes, and prepares it, and in what conditions? Why is fresh food available in some communities and not others? And who—if anyone—is responsible for ensuring that everyone has access?
 
With every bite of food we eat, we have an opportunity to help remake an unjust and unequal food system.
 
Food for the People explores these questions by looking at the greater Washington, D.C. area’s food system and the inequalities that shape it.
 
Join us at the Anacostia Community Museum as we take a deep dive into the food issues of the nation’s capital—past and present. This indoor and outdoor exhibition features artifacts, art installations, videos, and hands-on interactives. We will have a guide to take us on a special Les Dames Escoffier Washington DC Regional Chapter tour.
 
The details:
 
When: Saturday, September 10, 2022, at 2 pm
Where: Anacostia Community Museum 1901 Fort Place SE, Washington, DC 20020
Who: Registration is open to Dames and one guest 
Cost: $10 per person. FREE parking on-site.
Space is limited to the first 20 guests. Dames and guests only please. 

​The pandemic exposed food and nutrition insecurity across the country and in the Nation's Capital. Les Dames DC is hosting this Zoom program to highlight the work being done in the community by women who have taken on this public health challenge. This important panel will be moderated by Tambra Raye Stevenson, founder/CEO, WANDA; Women Advancing Nutrition, Dietetics and Agriculture. Panelists are Cheryl Bell, executive chef of Miriam’s Kitchen, the DC-based organization whose mission is ending chronic homelessness in the District, Mary Blackford, whose Market 7 gives underserved communities in Wards 7 and 8 a place to buy prepared food and fresh produce from Black-owned businesses, and Amanda Stephenson, whose Ward 8 Fresh Food Factory’s market sells affordably priced local products.

March 28, 7 p.m.

Register in advance for this meeting: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctduqrrTgiEtzCONMr2H1sMBiwTLNI_Zqu

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

THIS IS A FREE EVENT - PLEASE CONSIDER A DONATION
While this event is free of charge, we respectfully ask that you consider a donation. Your generosity supports our scholarship program, which underwrites the professional studies and advancement of women in the food, beverage and hospitality industries and our grants program, which funds tax-exempt charitable or educational organizations that are making a difference in the global food community. If you would like to donate to Les Dames, please click here.  Thank you!

                     
You don't want to miss this!  On Sunday, February 20 as New Orleans natives, Simone Rathle and Chef David Guas take you on a MARDI GRAS culinary (and cocktail!) journey. Chef Guas, the award-winning founder of Bayou Bakery, will create a favorite Mardi Gras dish – New Orleans Style Shrimp & Grits. Those who sign up will get the recipe in advance so that you may cook along with Chef Guas (and have that delicious recipe for dinner that night.) To whet your Louisiana whistle, Simone will craft a cocktail so that you may toast the Mardi Gras celebration as though you were right there on Bourbon Street. And… there will likely be King Cake involved. Sunday, February 20 at 6 pm.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED IN ADVANCE TO OBTAIN ZOOM LINK.  
Click here to register.

Please sign up by Saturday, Feb 19 so that we may forward the recipes to you.

We’ve made it through the hard part. There’s definitely light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve pivoted, we’ve adapted, we’ve changed and we’ve learned. The state of restaurants today doesn’t look the same as it did a year ago, and certainly not two years ago. We are a resilient industry and the road ahead, while it still holds challenges, looks promising.
​
Join Les Dames Escoffier DC on Thursday, September 30 as three industry leaders talk about what the future can hold, what lessons were learned and the situation as they see it. 

Moderated by Charissa Benjamin, founding partner of Savor PR, a DC-based full-service, woman-owned public relations agency representing hospitality and lifestyle brands, the panel will include:

Kathy Hollinger, president and CEO of The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and the preeminent voice for the industry in DC.

Micheline Mendelsohn, deputy chief executive officer of Sunnyside Restaurant Group, which operates and franchises six successful restaurant concepts nationally and internationally including We The Pizza.

Jeanine Prime,  co-owner Cane and St. James Restaurants 

Join the Les Dames d’Escoffier DC Chapter on Sunday, October 10 as we spend the afternoon at Fields 4 Valor, a small, not-for-profit Community Supported Agriculture farm in Brandywine, MD.  Veteran Peter Scott, a trained Chef-Butcher-Cheesemaker, found that farming with a mission brought him peace that was hard to find in other work. For the last 3 years he has been providing fresh farm food to financially stressed Veterans and their families. The farm relies on volunteers to harvest and deliver to those in need; requests for his help have increased,  and therefore, his need for some extra volunteer hands has increased too.
 
We’ll be spending the afternoon at the farm helping to build box frames for bees, rake leaves and prepare the vegetable patch for the spring. Peter will talk to us about how a sustainable farm is created.  There will be a bee keeper on hand to introduce us to bee keeping and an environmentalist who will introduce the youngest among us to bugs that help and hinder a farmer. 
 
After some hard work in the field, everyone is invited to gather at the fire pit to roast hotdogs and eat some sweet treats made by Dog Tag Bakery.

Click here to buy your tickets for members of the public. 
Click here to buy your tickets - DC Dames only please 
 
When: Sunday, October 10, 1:30-5:30 p.m.
Where: Fields 4 Valor, 14411 Baden Westwood Road, Brandywine, MD
What to Wear: Sturdy shoes with over the ankle socks, long pants, long sleeve shirt, ball cap
What to Bring: Sun screen, small water bottle, a folding chair or blanket
Optional: gardening gloves, a rake, spade, hoe
 
Tickets: $17 Members of LDEI; $20 Nonmembers.
Tickets support Fields 4 Valor, and the scholarship and grant programs of Les Dames d’Escoffier-DC
If it rains, the reschedule date will likely be Sunday Oct 24th. If a guest has to cancel, their ticket will be considered a donation.
Kids are free but children over 12 would be most appropriate. No dogs are allowed.
 
For more information, see:
Fieldsforvalor.org
www.facebook.com/fields4valorfarms
https://today.advancement.georgetown.edu/georgetown-magazine/spring-2021/2021/from-battlefield-to-bakery-to-business/

Sponsored by Green Tables Committee.

This event has been postponed but will be rescheduled shortly.

We’ve made it through the hard part. There’s definitely light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve pivoted, we’ve adapted, we’ve changed and we’ve learned. The state of restaurants today doesn’t look the same as it did a year ago, and certainly not two years ago. We are a resilient industry and the road ahead, while it still holds challenges, looks promising.
​
Join Les Dames Escoffier DC on Thursday, September 30 as three industry leaders talk about what the future can hold, what lessons were learned and the situation as they see it. 

Moderated by Charissa Benjamin, founding partner of Savor PR, a DC-based full-service, woman-owned public relations agency representing hospitality and lifestyle brands, the panel will include:

Kathy Hollinger, president and CEO of The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and the preeminent voice for the industry in DC.

Micheline Mendelsohn, deputy chief executive officer of Sunnyside Restaurant Group, which operates and franchises six successful restaurant concepts nationally and internationally including We The Pizza.

Ashleigh Pearson, owner of newly opened Georgetown chocolate shop Petite Soeur, is a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, who has worked at Marcel’s in DC and Thomas Keller’s Per Se, as well as being a Les Dames scholarship recipient.