Johanna Mendelson-Forman will be a speaker on Culinary and Gastrodiplomacy for the "Cooking the Nation" event hosted by New York University in Abu Dhabi.  The event will celebrate the decision by Abu Dhabi to brand the country's cuisine as "Nomadic" and feature the work of Hanan Sayed Worrell who wrote Table Tales: The Global Nomad Cuisine of Abu Dhabi. Johanna also moderated a panel discussion on November 5 for the School of International Service Global to Local: Food Insecurity program that included Ellen Kassoff-Gray as a speaker.
 

Tambra Raye Stevenson will be a panelist with Dr. Jessica Harris and Dr. Psyche Williams-Forson at the 5th Annual Smithsonian Food History Weekend on Saturday, November 9 at 10:30 am at the American History Museum. The moderated panel, "Women Saving Communities Through Food," will focus on women and food activism in American history. Tambra's children's book, Little WANDA Finds a Cure For Nana will be available for purchase at the museum store.  Click here for more information.  ​

​Wendy Bazil reports that the garden writer for the Washington Post wrote an article about the front yard "farmette" that is cultivated by her colleague at the Montgomery County Food Council. Wendy did a plant-based cooking demonstration at the colleague's open house which featured produce from that garden. Read about it and Wendy in the article.
 
Janis McLean, executive chef of the Sound Bites Café at National Public Radio, and Nancy Baggett, author of The Art of Cooking with Lavender, recently teamed up to present a lavender demo and menu for the NPR staff. Said Janis, "Everyone who came in to the cafe was wowed! And the recipes were beyond outstanding!" 
 
The highest "hurrah" to our own Nora Pouillon, named as Les Dames d'Escoffier International's 2019 Grande Dame. She will officially receive this recognition at the LDEI National Conference in Nashville later this month. The owner of this country's first certified-organic restaurant, Restaurant Nora, she has been a member of our Chapter since 1991. Her support of DC Les Dames has been unwavering. Over the years she's hosted many events and meetings in her restaurant space. In fact, Restaurant Nora was where we held our annual meeting in June 2017, the very month she closed the restaurant after its unparalleled 38-year run. 

Amy Brandwein's Amy Palmer drink, a riff on the Arnold drink that subs the lemonade with lemon granita at her new Piccolina restaurant in CityCenterDC, was featured in Florence Fabricant's "Front Burner" column in the New York Times' Dining section.
 
Johanna Mendelson Forman will present at the YEDI Istanbul Food Conference, one of the largest food conferences in the region, on September 23 about War and Peace Around the Dinner Table. The group will then host refugee women for a luncheon prepared by the women from their recipes with the help of well-known Turkish chefs. Many international food stars will be in attendance. 
 
Deb Moser's and husband Mitch Berliner's Central Farm Market was featured in the Bethesda Magazine, (September/October  2019), article by Carole Sugarman with photographs by Deb Lindsey, Susan James, Sophia Maroon and Sandra Miller are all vendors at the market.
 
Tambra Raye Stevenson was invited to pitch some new ed technology and toys she developed to improve health and gender equality at "Her Impact Summer Pitch Competition powered by the Ford Motor Company Fund" on Wed, Sept 10. Tambra is the founder of WANDA: Women Advancing Nutrition, Dietetics, and Agriculture, an organization inspiring women and girls to become 'food sheroes' in Africa and Diaspora. 
 
Taueret Khepera Thomas participated as a panelist during the Congressional Black Caucus session, Building Economic Power in Black Communities through Business and Entrepreneurship, at The Association of Black Foundation Executives symposium on September 14 in Washington, DC. The symposium program focused on successful methods Black-owned business owners can generate capital, create infrastructure and identify support to grow and thrive.  
 
Toni Tipton-Martin's newest book, Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking, will be published Nov. 4 by Penguin Random House. ​

Claire Gill has founded a new nonprofit, the National Menopause Foundation.  www.nationalmenopausefoundation.org  Its mission is to create a positive change in how people perceive, understand and experience menopause through education, peer-to-peer support, activism and research. The organization will be supported through individual and corporate giving. 
Claire at cgill@nationalmenopausefoundation.org welcomes input and volunteers to provide content and programs about managing menopausal symptoms and ideas to inspire women to thrive during midlife.

Ellen Kassoff and husband Chef Todd Gray were featured in an August 15 Eater.com article about their innovative solutions to reduce food waste at Equinox and their two restaurants at the Museum of the Bible.  Click here for the article. 

Julia Rutland authored two cookbooks that were published over the summer by Adventure Publications: Blueberries and On a Stick Cookbook: 50 Simple, Fun Recipes for the Campfire. Julia also completed coursework to become a Loudoun County Master Gardener.

Erinn Tucker, a co-founder of DMV Black Restaurant week, was included in a Washington City Paper feature about the Nov. 3-10 event.  Click here for the article.  In addition Erinn received a faculty immersion grant to Bangalore, India to study food and context for two weeks. With fourteen other hospitality faculty grantees, she cooked in the studio of Chef Shazia Khan, winner of Master Chef India Season 2, for two days. Khan also led the group on a food shopping trip through the historic Russell Market.
 
Janet Yu was featured in Alexandra Greeley's Local Cooks column in the final issue of Food Service  Monthly. Click here for the article. 

​In Washington D.C., where the nation’s business is often conducted at restaurant tables, politics have always been on the plate. This town’s restaurants are run by specialists who know how to handle the elected officials, Cabinet secretaries, White House staff, lobbyists and TV pundits who are regular clientele. But lately, spurred by social media, the country’s politics have entered their dining rooms. And, even the most experienced have had publicized politically-charged incidents.
 
This forum will explore this distinctive element of DC dining.  Longtime area restaurateurs will share their experiences and give insight into how they handle the heightened political mood in DC’s dining rooms. 
 
Hosted by the DC chapter of Les Dames d’ Escoffier www.LesDamesDC.org, an international organization of women in food, beverage and hospitality industries, and moderated by veteran journalist Carol Joynt, herself a former restaurant owner, the event promises to pull back the curtain on serving DC’s who’s who.
 
Moderated by: Carol Joynt, award-winning author, journalist, former restaurant owner and host of The Q&A Cafe
Panelists:
Ashok Bajaj, CEO, Knightsbridge Restaurant Group which includes Bombay Club, Rasika, Oval Room
Amy Brandwein – owner, Centrolina & 3-time James Beard Foundation nominee
Ruth Gresser – founder & owner, Pizzeria Paradiso restaurants
Laurent Menoud - general manager, Café Milano
Maria Trabocchi – co-owner, Fabio Trabocchi Restaurants, which include Fiola, Fiola Mare, Del Mar, three locations of  Sfoglina, Fiola Miami, and Fiola at Dopolavoro Venezia
William Washington - director of operations, Schlow Restaurant Group and former general manager BLT Prime in the Trump Hotel
Stephanie Wilkinson - owner, The Red Hen, Lexington, VA
 
Monday October 14, 2019
3-5 pm
National Press Club – 529 14th Street NW, Washington DC
Tickets: $35 (includes light desserts + cash bar)
 Click here to purchase your tickets. 
TICKET INFO: www.LesDamesDC.org
MEDIA:  Media may request credentials by emailing name, media affiliation, phone number to jill@JillCollinsPR.com

Nashville, here we come! Registration for our 2019 LDEI Conference Nashville: Rhythm and Roots, October 24-27 is now available for registration online and a printed brochure will be coming to your mailbox soon.  Click here to register.

Book soon to receive the discounted hotel rate at the fantastic Loews Nashville. This vibrant metropolis, known as Music City - and capital of the state that tipped the scales and gave women the right to vote - is now a national culinary destination with so much to share. It's filled with history, beauty, and an amazing chapter of LDEI that is ready to roll out the "BLUE" carpet for all of us in October. 

Plan to arrive on Wednesday, October 23 to take advantage of a special program brought to you by a generous donation from the Brock Circle featuring Carla Hall. She will discuss her personal journey, "Being Authentic While Facing Adversity."  Arriving early for this Wednesday afternoon event will give you the opportunity to take advantage of the locally curated tours that begin bright and early Thursday morning, showing you Nashville from a unique perspective. Don't miss the chance to enjoy authentic Tennessee BBQ and listen to songwriters collaboratively create music at an optional event on Thursday night at the Green Door Gourmet.

The Nashville chapter has worked diligently to make your LDEI conference experience one you will not forget. I am very grateful to them and look forward keynote speaker Maneet Chauhan sharing her message with us.

You will find all relevant details of the tours, speakers and sessions outlined in the brochure. An after-conference Kentucky Bourbon and Culinary Tour, hosted, of course, by our Kentucky Dames, will end your LDEI Conference experience on a high note.

See you there!
-Ann Stratte, LDEI President

Gail Forman fell and broke two bones in her wrist during a visit with her son in London last week. She had surgery last Friday. We await more news.
 
Sheilah Kaufman fell July 4 on wet pavement, broke her elbow and the bone punctured the skin. She had surgery on the July 5, because there was a chance of infection. She cannot drive (or do a lot of other things) for at least two weeks.

EDITORS NOTE: If you can provide a meal, it would be much appreciated. Call Sheilah 301-299-5282 to let her know if you plan to drop off something.  10508 Tyler Terrace, Potomac, MD.

Ellen Kassoff Gray appeared on WAMU's The Kojo Nnamdi Show July 11 as part of a panel discussion about handling trash in DC and, specifically, to talk about how Equinox manages to compost its waste. Click here for more details.
 ​

Gladys Abi-Najm and her family's Lebanese Taverna were presented with a 2019 Honorary Milestone Award for their 40 years of service in the community at the 37th annual RAMMY awards ceremony held on Sunday, June 30 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Amy Brandwein was featured in the July issue of Food & Wine magazine about her work with DC Urban Greens.
https://amp.foodandwine.com/travel/restaurants/amy-brandwein-centrolina-urban-farming?source=dam
 
Ellen Gray and her husband, Chef Todd Gray were featured in the cover story for the June/July edition of Food Service Monthly focusing on their efforts to recycle and move toward zero waste in their kitchens.
http://foodservicemonthly.com/view-magazine/
 
Susan James' and husband Alan James' Stonyman Gourmet Farmers' regional farmstead artisanal cheeses were praised as "world class"  by Jose Andres in his new cookbook,   Vegetables Unleashed, A Cookbook (Ecco 2019).

Pati Jinich is part of a feature story, Starpower, about a behind-the-scenes look at local celebrities hide-aways in the July/August issue of Home and Design magazine.
https://www.homeanddesign.com/

Rachel Martin's 2017 Oceano Chardonnay, from her Spanish Springs Vineyard of Oceano Wines, won "Wine of the Year, Domestic", "Best of Show", "Best of Class", the Platinum Award and 95 points at the 2019 San Diego International Wine & Spirits Challenge in January; "Best of Show", "Best of Class" and the Platinum Award at the 2019 Critics Challenge International Wine & Spirits Competition on June 8 and 9 in San Diego and "Best of Class" and the Gold Medal at the 2019 International Women's Wine Competition held June 11 and 12 in Santa Rosa, CA.
 
Nancy Piho will host her 9th annual Shopping for Health conference in St. Louis in July. SFH brings together 25 supermarket dietitians from national chains and food and beverage industry leaders to discuss how both can offer healthier options to meet supermarket shoppers' needs.
 
Christianne Ricchi and Ristorante i Ricchi was presented with the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington's Honorary Milestone Award for her contributions over the past 30 years to the community at the 2019 RAMMYs Awards on June 30.  ​