​Susan Barocas wrote of an enchanting Greek immigrant who bakes sweets from cherished recipes to celebrate the Jewish New Year and family. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/for-this-greek-immigrant-jewish-new-year-brings-back-sweet-memories--and-foods--of-home/2018/08/31/a3fc1a9a-ab0b-11e8-8a0c-70b618c98d3c_story.html?utm_term=.c4404840ae21


Domenica Marchetti's article "Just Roast the Whole Thing" appeared in the September 12 edition of The Washington Post Food Section. http://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-washington-post/20180912/283102774949535
Michelin Stars to Dames!
Maru Valdez's and business partner Chef Ryan Ratino's Bresca, in Logan Circle, received its first Michelin star. *
 
Polly Wiedmaier's and Chef Robert Wiedmaier's restaurant, Siren by Robert Wiedmaier, at The Darcy hotel in DC, earned its first star in the famous restaurant-rating book, the Michelin Red Guide. *
 
*The honors were announced on September 13.
The Michelin Guide is the oldest European hotel and restaurant reference guide that awards up to three stars for excellence. It was originally published in 1900 by the Michelin brothers, Édouard and André, to boost auto tire sales and offer useful information to motorists.  In 1926, they decided to provide professional reviews of restaurants giving a star to worthy establishments. Only in 1931 was a hierarchy of 0-3 stars created and in 1936 the criteria for the three star awards were published. 

Sheila Crye directed five week-long, half-day youth cooking camps this summer at her Silver Spring home and led many to compete in the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair on August 10. There her Young Chefs bakers won two grand champion ribbons, six blue ribbons, four red ribbons, three white ribbons and one yellow ribbon.
 
Johanna Mendelsohn Forman gave a keynote speech at the World Food Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark on August 30, sponsored by the Danish Ministry of Food and Agriculture. She spoke about Gastrodiplomacy in Times of Uncertainty.  Johanna also conducted workshop on global food heritage. On September 11 she will be a speaker at the Museum of Modern Art's Salon series in New York on Gastrodiplomacy as way to build community.
 
Debra Moser's and Mitch Berliner's MeatCrafters was featured on WJLA's Kidd Around Town on Friday August 24.  Host Kidd O'Shea toured MeatCrafters USDA plant and joined in the making its popular Skinny Salamis.
Click here to view: www.facebook.com/kiddoshea/videos/322050235020983/.
MeatCrafters and Central Farm Markets also was featured on Nycci Nellis' Industry Night show August 27. http://industrynight.fullserviceradio.org/

Vickie Reh's book, The Wine Table: Recipes and Pairings from Winemakers' Kitchens, (Skyhorse Publishing 2018), released September 4, details her experiences visiting and cooking with 18 winemakers in France and Italy, exploring their food and wine cultures and celebrating their understanding of the best dishes to accompany their vineyards' offerings. https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781510730830/the-wine-table/  

​Susan Soorenko's Moorenko's was listed in Visit Montgomery as one of the best ice cream spots in Montgomery County, Maryland.  https://visitmontgomery.com/eat-drink/best-ice-cream-spots/

Tambra Raye Stevenson, will lead a healthy kids cooking demo and story time of her "Where's WANDA" book series at  DC Veg Fest's Kids Zone, Saturday, September 15 at the Yards Park; appear on News Channel 8 Saturday, September 8 at 11:30 a.m. and lead a breakfast session during Chesapeake Food Summit on September 25 at Union Market.

Amy Brandwein of Centrolina and Erin Reed of Blue Duck Tavern are part of a team of RAMMY award winners presenting at the James Beard House on August 20. The dinner is part of a Best of D.C. dinner presented by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and Events DC.
https://www.jamesbeard.org/events/best-of-dc-4?category=Dinner&utm_source=Previews0718&utm_medium=Previews0718&utm_campaign=Previews0718&utm_source=JBF+Members&utm_campaign=63b21ccae2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_25e4b65d7b-63b21ccae2-155556577
 
Johanna Mendelson Forman was a guest on ABC Radio National's Blueprint for Living with host Hilary Harper on July 14 discussing gastrodiplomacy.  
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/blueprintforliving/big-macs-and-borscht-%E2%80%93-how-culinary-diplomacy-impacts-the-world/9971824 
 ​

​Laughter echoed throughout the hallways and kitchens of Atwater's Big Kitchen in Baltimore on June 16 as Stephanie Hersh recalled her days working as executive personal assistant to Grande Dame Julia Child. Her sold-out talk was such a huge hit, the audience called for a second engagement before the afternoon was over. Stephanie shared memories of everyone's favorite French chef. Some were funny; some were touching.  All were endearing. 
 
Stephanie recounted her first work day with Julia, which included the preparation of Santa Barbara seafood stew. Saturday's lucky attendees were treated to the fish dish for lunch, prepared by our host, Nona Nielsen Parker, and accompanied by Atwater's famous bread, wine, salads with Nona's house-made dressings and scrumptious cookies and brownies. Watch for an encore from Chef Steph this fall.

Nona Nielsen Parker, Stephanie Hersh and Diane Neas at the luncheon.

​Susan Barocas, is co-chair of this summer's Hazon Food Conference, August 1-5 at the Isabella Friedman Retreat Center in northwest Connecticut. See Of Interest for more information about the conference.
 
Amy Brandwein was named Chef of the Year by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington at its 36th Annual RAMMY Awards on June 10 at theWalter E. Washington Convention Center.
http://www.ramw.org//news/restaurant-association-metropolitan-washington-announces-2018-rammy-award-winnersPIX
 
Johanna Mendelsohn Forman was a delegate at the EAT FORUM in Stockholm, June 11-18.  Johanna has been working with chefs as change agents through the work of the SDG2 HUB which produced the Chefs Manifesto, a set of eight principles about ways chefs can contribute to reducing food waste, hunger, reducing climate change thru climate smart agriculture.
https://eatforum.org/event/eat-stockholm-food-forum-2018/
 
Claudia Kousoulas publishes her book, Bread & Beauty, A Year in Montgomery County's Agricultural Reserve, in September. The book profiles farmers and producers and shares the remarkable story of how in the 1980s, Montgomery County, MD set aside one-third of its land, 93,000 acres, for agricultural uses. Today, the Reserve provides skilled local jobs, preserves habitat and natural environment and is a nearly complete source of local food. 
https://www.breadandbeauty.org
 
Sophie Maroon's Dress It Up Dressing launched its new line at Whole Foods in May and will expand to The Fresh Market nationwide in July.

NOTE: In the last issue of EN we gave a shout out to Susan Soorenko for her soon-to-open Moorenko's Ice Cream in historic Ellicott City. As you likely know, Ellicott City was devastated, once again, by catastrophic flooding and Susan's shop was badly damaged. Thankfully, she had not yet moved equipment into the space. If you want to reach out to Susan and offer any kind of assistance, please send her a note to find out what is needed, susan@moorenkos.com
 
Joan Bacharach's, Treasured Landscapes: National Park Service Art Collections Tell America's Stories book and web exhibit that she curated with staff at over 55 national parks, received the Organization of American Historians 2018 Stanton-Horton Award for Excellence in National Park Service History.
 
Trisha King, Gluten-free Bakery Girl, announces that her St. Michael's shop is now shipping nationwide.
http://glutenfreebakerygirl.com/ ​