​Amy Brandwein is a finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Mid Atlantic.

Pati Jinich was a guest on ABC7 WJLA "Let's Talk Live" on March 1, promoting Women in Gastronomy.    http://wjla.com/news/lets-talk/celebrating-food-with-pati-jinich as well as on WTOP News.  https://wtop.com/food-restaurant/2018/03/3-ingredients-go-a-long-way-in-weeknight-cooking/  Pati is also a finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding TV Host for her PBS cooking show, Pati's Mexican Kitchen.

Paula Shoyer's recipe for chocolate quinoa cake from her new book The Healthy Jewish Kitchen was featured in Food52 as a Genius Recipe.


Nancy Hart's and husband Jerry Trice's Gunther & Co. was featured in Baltimore Magazine's  50 Best Restaurant 2017 and Nancy was profiled in its Meet the Makers, unsung restaurant heroes.  http://www.baltimoremagazine.com/2018/3/5/50-best-restaurants-in-baltimore. Also, Nancy and Jerry are active in No Kid Hungry and are hosting their annual fundraiser for Chefs Cycle on April 10th at their restaurant.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-no-kid-hungry-chefs-cycle-fundraiser-at-gunther-co-tickets-41841363645. They will be riding 300 miles in Santa Rosa May 15-17.

Cathy Barrow just signed a deal for her third cookbook, due to arrive October, 2019: When Pies Fly. Sweet and Savory Free-Form Pies and Filled Pastries, with Karen Murgolo, her editor at Grand Central Life & Style, a division of Hachette. She begins work on it right away! Cathy's second book by the same publisher, Pie Squared. Irresistibly Easy Sweet and Savory Slab Pies, is scheduled for release this October.

Amy Brandwein has been named a semifinalist for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic by the James Beard Foundation!
https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/the-2018-james-beard-award-semifinalists>

Aviva Goldfarb's first travel article was published in The Washington Post's Sunday Travel section. "If You Only Have Time for Three Meals In San Francisco, Make Sure They're Here."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/if-you-only-have-time-for-three-meals-in-san-francisco-make-sure-theyre-here/2018/02/07/66ba1cc0-06bc-11e8-b48c-b07fea957bd5_story.html?utm_term=.cd6c66b5a653 

Rachel Hayden is now director of marketing for Rebecca Linder's Linder Global Events team. In her new position she will head up Linder's social media and marketing efforts and work with its clients to amplify their messaging.  Prior to joining Linder in January, she served as director of public relations for The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia for the past eighteen years. There she handled media relations and marketing, building its social media presence, acting as a project manager for the Inn's room and design projects as well as promoting Chef Patrick O'Connell
and his books and orchestrating the Inn's 25th and 30th anniversaries and other memorable events.

Rosa Mendoza left Adams Burch last March after nine years as a table top specialist and in April joined Long & Foster as a real Estate broker in its Bethesda office. (This is a nearly year-old Hurrah!) 

Polly Wiedmaier's and Robert Wiedmaier's Marcel's restaurant has been named as a semifinalist by the James Beard Foundation for Best Service! 
https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/the-2018-james-beard-award-semifinalists>
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​Paula Shoyer just published her new book  "The Healthy Jewish Kitchen: Fresh, Contemporary Recipes for Every Occasion" (Sterling Epicure, 2017). It offers recipes for more healthful Jewish classics, that are also updated for the modern table, along with international and American recipes that reflect food trends beyond the Jewish culinary world. Her book was featured in The Washington Post's Food section January 2 and that article was picked up in papers across the U.S.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/how-to-eat-jewish-and-be-well/2018/01/02/f4b1d9f0-eaa1-11e7-9f92-10a2203f6c8d_story.html?utm_term=.354bcd50d601 

​Wendy Bazil's recipe entry of Spiced Carrot Cake Muesli in the James Beard Foundation's "More Taste Less Waste" contest is in the final voting phase. If she wins, her charity, Crossroads Community Food Network, will receive $5000. The link to vote is https://www.jamesbeard.org/moretastelesswaste-vote. Voters are entered in a sweepstakes to win a trip to New York City and tickets to the James Beard gala.

Paula Shoyer has released her fourth cookbook The Healthy Jewish Kitchen (Sterling 2017) featuring traditional Jewish recipes updated and made with natural ingredients, plus new trends made kosher. 

Susan Wallace has launched her company, Sweetfreakz, specializing in chocolate brittle and other desserts. She recently demonstrated at the Olney Farmers' Market. (Ed. note: For those of us who have tasted Susan's seriously delicious chocolate brittle at various Dames' event, you are probably thinking. "It's about time!")

Janet Yu's Hollywood East Cafe (the site of our Autumn GMM next Tuesday) was chosen as one of Tim Carman's  "10 best places to eat on the cheap in D.C. because nobody needs a $28 sandwich" in the September 25 edition of The Washington Post. Her dim sum selections were highlighted. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/the-10-best-places-to-eat-in-dc-on-the-cheap-because-nobody-needs-a-28-sandwich/2017/09/25/3c630600-97de-11e7-87fc-c3f7ee4035c9_story.html?utm_term=.841767e83e1f&wpisrc=nl_buzz&wpmm=1
 

Bette Alberts, Madame Le Maître (chapter president) of the Washington, D.C., Commanderie de Bordeaux, led the chapter to host its international Board of Governors meeting in June, celebrating the organization's 60th anniversary. Bette is the first woman to head a chapter in the U.S. Commanderie de Bordeaux which comprises 33 chapters with 1200 members across the U.S. It is also affiliated with the worldwide network of 82 members in 26 countries under the Bordeaux-based Grand Conseil du Vin de Bordeaux.
 
Nancy Baggett's new book The Art of Cooking with Lavender won a Bronze Award from Independent Publisher in the "Living Now" Ethnic, Holiday and Specialty Cookbook category. The awards are given to books that make a contribution to "living better" today.  Nancy's book has been very popular with lavender growers and their customers and will be going into a second printing in December.
 
Bonnie Benwick, Deputy Food Editor/Recipe Editor and Joe Yonan, Food and Dining Editor of the Washington Post won the Association of Food Journalists' Award for Best Newspaper Food Coverage, above 155,000 circulation. The presentation was made during AFJ's annual conference in Philadelphia on September 13.
 
Pati Jinich's "Pati's Mexican Table," the Emmy and James Beard award nominated cooking and travel series, began its sixth season on PBS and public television stations September 9. Pati's new 13-episode season features the Mexican state of Oaxaca a hub of art and cuisine that has been hugely influential on Mexico's gastronomy and culture for centuries. Watch the trailer.
 
Katherine Miller was recognized by Food & Wine Magazine  as one of 2017's Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink. As founder of the Chef Action Network, a nonprofit that educates chefs about food and nutrition issues and inspires them to use their influence to make a difference, Miller was named as one of 20 "trailblazers and trendsetters who are raising the bar and reshaping our world." http://www.foodandwine.com/lifestyle/most-innovative-women-2017
 
Joan Nathan has partnered with Whole Foods Market's Mid-Atlantic Region to offer prepared dishes and recipes for customers during the Jewish high holidays. Five dishes from Joan's King Solomon's Table cookbook are being featured at Whole Foods' hot bars, prepared food cases, and bakery departments in Pennsylvania, Southern N.J., Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, from Sept. 13 to 27. The dishes also can be ordered online.

Louise Nielsen and a group of her Anne Arundel Community College culinary students were invited to present at the Maryland Department of Agriculture's 10th annual Governors Buy-local Cookout on July 20 at the Maryland Government House. The Buy-Local Cookout encourages Marylanders to eat at least one locally grown or raised product each day. Chef Nielsen's Culinary Club members produced bite-size samples of three different student-designed recipes for the over 600 guests at the event. ​

​Janet Yu was quoted a number of times in The Washington Post Food section's article Destination: Dumplings!
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-washington-post/20170310/282926680193928 

Joan Nathan's 1998 Jewish Cooking In America was among five IACP Special Cookbook Awards' Culinary Classics prizes, which honor books that have changed the way people think about food, winners. Joan's book chronicled the foodways of three centuries of Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews who settled all over America, bringing with them a wide variety of regional flavors and adapting their traditional dishes with the ingredients available in their new country.

Nancy Baggett was the Keynote Speaker at the 2017 U. S. Lavender Growers Conference in Mesa, AZ on Jan. 27.  She spoke on how to create tempting recipes featuring culinary lavender and shared research and techniques from her new cookbook, The Art of Cooking with Lavender.  She also conducted a lavender tasting workshop for members.
 
Lori Gardner's  review of the new kosher restaurant Al  Haesh (Israeli term for barbecue) in Rockville appeared on the  Jewish Food Experience website on January 22. http://jewishfoodexperience.com/fired-al-haesh-rockville/
​

Marianne Ali was featured in the December 2016 issue of Washingtonian Magazine, page 80, in a piece about her experience with President Obama's visit to DC Central Kitchen. Marianne also was chosen as a model in the 2017 Raw Beauty Calendar that features cancer survivors.  Click here for the full article.   You will recognize her as the most beautiful model in the group. (Marianne is sixth from left).  Tyra Banks! Are you reading this?

Robyn Webb's latest cookbook, The Perfect Diabetes Food Collection captured the prestigious World Gourmand Award in the category of Best in Health and Nutrition for the U.S. The book will go on to compete in China this spring for Best In The World.

It seems Pati Jinich took over The Washington Post Food section April 13. Editor Joe Yonan interviewed her about her new book (released last week), Mexican Today: New and Rediscovered Recipes for Contemporary Kitchens (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Rux Martin imprint, 2016) for his columnWeeknight Vegetarian; Sarah Moulton (NY), who was the section's featured profile, applauded Pati for her and her PBS series, Pati's Mexican Table, being  James Beard Awards finalists for Outstanding TV Personality/Host and TV program, and Pati was pictured along with a mention of her Smithsonian Associates program and book signing on April 21 with Mary Beth Albright.  In addition, not mentioned in the Post, Pati and her television show have been nominated for two Emmys, Outstanding Culinary Program and Outstanding Culinary Host. She also is doing a book talk and signing on May 17 at the Mexican Cultural Institute.What a run!

Susan Soorenko's Moorenko's Ice Cream was declared the best in the state of Maryland by Pure Wow.   http://www.purewow.com/food/best-ice-cream-every-state

Thursday, April 7 at 6 pm, Hooray for Books,1555 King Street in Alexandria, booksigning for Lisa Cherkasky, for her newest cookbook You're the Chef (American Girl, 2016.) The spiral-bound paperback is filled with recipes, beautifully-styled photos and useful cooking and baking hints. It is suitable for anyone of any age who might need a little help in the kitchen. Recipe categories are breakfast and brunch, soups and sandwiches, meats and mains, salads and sides, sips and snacks, and sweets and treats. Contact: Shirley Cherkasky -shircher@gmail.com ; 703-684-5861.

Thursday, April 14 at the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital on Capitol Hill, Joyce Goldstein (SF) will be interviewed by Vered Guttman  to discuss her forthcoming book, The New Mediterranean Jewish Table. In it, Ms. Goldstein explores the kitchens of three Mediterranean Jewish cultures: the Sephardic, the Maghrebi and the Mizrahi.  Susan Barocas will prepare light Hors d'Oeuvres from the cookbook.  For more information, click here.  
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