​Cathy Barrow's new book, Pie Squared: Irresistibly Easy Sweet & Savory Slab Pies (Grand Central Publishing), is a finalist for the Baking and Desserts category of the James Beard Foundations Book Awards. Cathy is clearly on a roll! Her first book, Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Kitchen was the IACP Award Winner for Best Single Subject Cookbook in 2015!
 
Najmieh Batmanglij was featured on PBS News Hour with Jeffrey Brown as she prepared her feast for Nowruz, the Iranian New Year holiday, and reminisced about her life in Iran, France and the U.S. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/a-culinary-tradition-for-the-persian-new-year
 
Amy Brandwein,  chef of Centrolina, her restaurant in DC's City Center, is a finalist for the Best Chef Mid-Atlantic from the James Beard Foundation. The JBF Gala awards ceremony will be held  Monday, May 6, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
 
Pati Jinich has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Culinary Host. https://emmyonline.tv/2019-daytime-emmy-awards/nominees-performer-non-drama-2019-daytime-emmy-awards/. Also, " Pati's Mexican Table" is a James Beard Foundation finalist for its Broadcast Media Award of best Television Program, in Studio or Fixed Location. 2019 JBF Media Awards will take place on Friday, April 26, at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City. 
 
Susan Soorenko is finally opening her Ellicott City Moorenko's Ice Cream at 8054 Main Street in April. The opening was delayed because of the flooding in Ellicott City last year. Susan will also have a shop within a shop (Serendipity and More on Prince Street) in Frederick later this Spring.      

Susan Barocas wrote an article, "Walking Distance to Everything,"  for the Washington Post Travel Section's March 17 edition.  The story described the walking accessibility of New Haven, Connecticut's rich food, culture and history scenes.  
 
Domenica Marchetti's story in the Washington Post Food Section on March 13, "It Takes Some Time but you too can Ragu," describes how to achieve the delicious complexity of the long-simmered Italian sauce.  
 
Tambra Raye Stevenson was accepted into American University's School of Communications PhD program in Fall 2019 with a merit award working with the AU Game Lab. Also Tambra's WANDA session proposal, "Gaming for Development: Using the Power of Games to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals" was accepted for the 2019 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in April.

Amy Brandwein  is a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef Mid-Atlantic.  Nominees have been chefs for at least five years, worked in their respective regions for at least the past three years and set new or consistently excellent standards.  The finalists will be announced on  March 27  by the 2018 JBF Best Chef Hugo Ortega at his eponymous Houston restaurant, Hugo's.  

Ruth Gresser  has been nominated as Outstanding Restaurateur by the James Beard Foundation. Candidates have demonstrated high national standards in restaurant operations and entrepreneurship; they  must be working restaurateurs who have been in the business for at least 10 years and cannot have been nominated for the award in the past five years. Ruth also was featured in the March issue of Bethesda Magazine for the opening of her newest Pizzeria Paradiso location in DC's Spring Valley neighborhood.

Marcel's, a restaurant owned and operated by Polly Wiedmaier and husband, Chef Robert Wiedmaier, is a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Service Award.  Nominated restaurants have been in operation for five or more years and excelled in hospitality and service.     ​

​Ruth Gresser  opened a new Pizzeria Paradiso last November at 4850 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. near American University in Spring Valley. Ruth's first Pizza Paradiso debuted 27 years ago in DuPont Circle. Since then her chain-lette has grown to include branches in Georgetown, Alexandria, Hyattsville plus her newest Spring Valley addition.  The space, including the patio, seats 165; so it is much larger than her other sites. The pies are baked in wood (mostly oak) ovens that reach 650 degrees and diners have more than 13 toppings to consider including seasonal and weekly specials. At all her restaurants, Ruth has a robust beer program to complement the pies. "Yeast goes well with yeast," she says. 

Christianne Ricchi  celebrated the 30th anniversary of Ristorante i Ricchi on January 11. D.C. Council will also honor the restaurant with a special proclamation for its longevity as a bright light in  DC's culinary scene. 
 
Suzanne Simon  and Bettina Stern opened their second Chaia taco restaurant at 615 Eye Street NW, in DC's  Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood on January 8.  Open from   11 a.m. to 10 p.m.,  the new 2,000 square foot space is double the size of their  Georgetown location and will offer  craft beer, wine, and cocktails on tap.
 
Tambra Raye Stevenson , will co-lead a workshop, "Tone Deaf as F$%K: Incorporating Black History into Food Education" and exhibit at Rooting DC 2019, a day-long urban gardening forum, on February 23 at the Ron Brown College Preparatory High School in DC. See Of Interest for event details and tickets.

Annie Boutin-King is profiled in Alexandra Greeley's Local Cooks column in the December 2018/January 2019 edition of Foodservice Monthly.

Amy Brandwein has been named Foodservice Leader of the Year by Foodservice Monthly Magazine and is the subject of the publication's cover story.
 
Claudia Kousoulas and Ellen Letourneau will speak to the Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C. (CHOW) about their new book, Bread & Beauty, A Year in Montgomery County's Agricultural Reserve, on Sunday, February 10, 2019
 
CiCi Williamson was hired by the Association of Food Journalists' (AFJ) to manage its food writing and reporting competition comprising 16 categories. Clearly they heard about her 12-years' experience creating and running LDEI's successful  MFK Fisher awards contest.  

HURRAH!

Nonkran Daks and her lemon grass soup recipe were featured today in The Washington Post Food section's Voraciously column. The soup is a very popular dish at Nong's Thai Basil restaurant in Chantilly, Va.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2018/12/05/this-tangy-spicy-thai-soup-recipe-will-slash-your-takeout-expenses/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.16407021c070
​

Susan Barocas  is participating on a panel in Milan, Italy on December 5 discussing "Recipes Across Borders" as part of a two-day conference, organized by the University of Milan's Culinary Mind Network, European Network for the Philosophy of Food.  The conference theme is Framing Recipes:  Identity, Relationships, Norms. Susan will also present a workshop there on "Recipes for Cultural Integration" with Johanna Mendelson Forman.
 
Johanna Mendelson Forman is giving a plenary talk in Milan, Italy on December 5 entitled "Is Social Gastronomy a Recipe for Peace." The presentation is part of a two-day gathering, organized by the Culinary Mind Network, European Network for the Philosophy of Food at the University of Milan. The conference theme is Framing Recipes:  Identity, Relationships, Norms. She will also present a workshop with Susan Barocas on "Recipes for Cultural Integration."
 
Amy Riolo released her seventh book, Creating a Cookbook: How to Write, Publish, and Promote Your Culinary Philosophy, in October 2018. Amy demystifies the cookbook creation process for new and accomplished authors. So, whether you wish to preserve family recipes or create a best-selling cookbook, this volume will be a valuable guide. Sheilah Kaufman, Monica Bhide and Nancy Baggett are featured in the book. 
https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Cookbook-Publish-Culinary-Philosophy/dp/1720009414/ref=asc_df_1720009414/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312126476072&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16640364913235341285&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007795&hvtargid=pla-570969414141&psc=1
In October, Amy also completed successful boutique Italian cuisine and culture tour with Italian Sensory Experience.

Tambra Raye Stevenson will be the keynote speaker at the Institute of Current World Affairs'   https://www.icwa.org/event-semi-annual-dinner-and-keynote-speech dinner on December 7 at the Cosmos Club. In October, the board of trustees of the African Nutrition Society chose Tambra to serve as the first North American regional representative  http://www.ansnet.org/en/about/team/tambra-raye/  to the African Nutrition Epidemiology Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In addition, Tambra and her children, Elliott, 9, and Ruby, 8, did a Halloween segment on WJLA's Good Morning Washington making healthy treats for kids.

Suzanne Simon and Bettina Stern celebrated the third anniversary of their charming Georgetown eatery, Chaia Tacos, located at 3207 Grace Street on November 19!