Grande Dame
On alternating years, Les Dames d'Escoffier International bestows the honor of naming a woman as Grande Dame of Les Dames d'Escoffier International. This honorary title is given in recognition of extraordinary and unusual contributions to the fields of food, wine, other fine beverage, nutrition, the arts of the table, or other fields that relate to these disciplines. This title may be awarded to both non-members and members of Les Dames d'Escoffier.
On alternating years, Les Dames d'Escoffier International bestows the honor of naming a woman as Grande Dame of Les Dames d'Escoffier International. This honorary title is given in recognition of extraordinary and unusual contributions to the fields of food, wine, other fine beverage, nutrition, the arts of the table, or other fields that relate to these disciplines. This title may be awarded to both non-members and members of Les Dames d'Escoffier.
2019 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Nora Pouillon
Nora Pouillon, chef, restaurateur, award-winning author, and the first to open a Certified Organic restaurant in America is is a 25-year member of LDEI's Washington DC Chapter and a pioneer in the organic farm-to-table movement. Pouillon's culinary career spans well over 40 years culminating at the 2017 James Beard Awards ceremony where she accepted the esteemed James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award. Prior to that landmark accomplishment, she was named one of the "Most Powerful Women in Washington" by Washington Magazine and was the first recipient of the Genesis Award from Women Chef and Restaurateurs (WRC), which recognizes women who have achieved a true "first" in the culinary profession. The Chefs Collaborative of which she was a founding member, inducted her into their Pioneers Table. In 1994 Pouillon wrote the cookbook; "Cooking with Nora – Healthful Seasonal Menus from Restaurant Nora," which was the finalist for the IACP Julia Child Cookbook Award; and in 2015 Knopf published her memoir, "My Organic Life: How a Pioneering Chef Changed the Way We Eat Today."
Nora Pouillon, chef, restaurateur, award-winning author, and the first to open a Certified Organic restaurant in America is is a 25-year member of LDEI's Washington DC Chapter and a pioneer in the organic farm-to-table movement. Pouillon's culinary career spans well over 40 years culminating at the 2017 James Beard Awards ceremony where she accepted the esteemed James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award. Prior to that landmark accomplishment, she was named one of the "Most Powerful Women in Washington" by Washington Magazine and was the first recipient of the Genesis Award from Women Chef and Restaurateurs (WRC), which recognizes women who have achieved a true "first" in the culinary profession. The Chefs Collaborative of which she was a founding member, inducted her into their Pioneers Table. In 1994 Pouillon wrote the cookbook; "Cooking with Nora – Healthful Seasonal Menus from Restaurant Nora," which was the finalist for the IACP Julia Child Cookbook Award; and in 2015 Knopf published her memoir, "My Organic Life: How a Pioneering Chef Changed the Way We Eat Today."
2015 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Joan Nathan
Joan Nathan has been inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who In American Food and Beverage. Her most recent cookbook Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France, made both the New York Times and the National Public Radio 2010 best cookbooks lists. Over the course of her career, Nathan has had a significant impact on the culinary profession. In 1974, while working for New York City Mayor Abraham Beame, she co-founded the Ninth Avenue International Food Festival, which continues today. Nathan has consulted on several White House Passover Seder menus and was also asked by First Lady Laura Bush to participate in the National Book Festival. The Obama administration invited Nathan to stage a Passover culinary demonstration at the White House.
Joan Nathan has been inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who In American Food and Beverage. Her most recent cookbook Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France, made both the New York Times and the National Public Radio 2010 best cookbooks lists. Over the course of her career, Nathan has had a significant impact on the culinary profession. In 1974, while working for New York City Mayor Abraham Beame, she co-founded the Ninth Avenue International Food Festival, which continues today. Nathan has consulted on several White House Passover Seder menus and was also asked by First Lady Laura Bush to participate in the National Book Festival. The Obama administration invited Nathan to stage a Passover culinary demonstration at the White House.
2013 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Dolores Cakebread
Dolores Cakebread co-founded the winery in 1973 with Jack Cakebread and is executive vice president of culinary and ambience for Cakebread Cellars. Dolores is past president of Les Dames d’Escoffier, San Francisco Chapter, and is a member of the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the San Francisco Professional Food Society. She’s also a graduate of the University of California Cooperative Master Gardeners Program.
Dolores Cakebread co-founded the winery in 1973 with Jack Cakebread and is executive vice president of culinary and ambience for Cakebread Cellars. Dolores is past president of Les Dames d’Escoffier, San Francisco Chapter, and is a member of the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the San Francisco Professional Food Society. She’s also a graduate of the University of California Cooperative Master Gardeners Program.
2011 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Nathalie Dupree
South Carolinian Nathalie Dupree is a best-selling author with 13 hardback and two softback cookbooks and more than 300 television shows. The Founding Chairman of the Charleston Food and Wine Festival, she also was a founder of Southern Foodways, the Atlanta and Charleston Chapters of Les Dames d’ Escoffier, the American Institute of Wine and Food and the International Association of Culinary Professionals, of which she was two time President.
South Carolinian Nathalie Dupree is a best-selling author with 13 hardback and two softback cookbooks and more than 300 television shows. The Founding Chairman of the Charleston Food and Wine Festival, she also was a founder of Southern Foodways, the Atlanta and Charleston Chapters of Les Dames d’ Escoffier, the American Institute of Wine and Food and the International Association of Culinary Professionals, of which she was two time President.
2009 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Shirley Corriher
Shirley O. Corriher has a B.A. in chemistry from Vanderbilt University, where she was also a biochemist at the medical school. She has problem-solved for everyone from Julia Child to Procter & Gamble and Pillsbury. She has taught and lectured throughout the world. She has long been a writer-- authoring a regular syndicated column in The Los Angeles Times Syndicate's Great Chefs series as well as technical articles in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Her first book, Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking is a bestseller and won a James Beard Award for excellence.
Shirley O. Corriher has a B.A. in chemistry from Vanderbilt University, where she was also a biochemist at the medical school. She has problem-solved for everyone from Julia Child to Procter & Gamble and Pillsbury. She has taught and lectured throughout the world. She has long been a writer-- authoring a regular syndicated column in The Los Angeles Times Syndicate's Great Chefs series as well as technical articles in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Her first book, Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking is a bestseller and won a James Beard Award for excellence.
2007 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Alice Waters
Alice Waters, chef, author, and the proprietor of Chez Panisse, is an American pioneer of a culinary philosophy that maintains that cooking should be based on the finest and freshest seasonal ingredients that are produced sustainably and locally. She is a passionate advocate for a food economy that is “good, clean, and fair.” In 1996, Waters’s commitment to education led to the creation of The Edible Schoolyard, nationally recognized for its efforts to integrate gardening, cooking, and sharing school lunch into the core academic curriculum. Waters is Vice President of Slow Food International, a nonprofit organization that promotes and celebrates local artisanal food traditions and has 100,000 members in over 130 countries. She is the author of eight books, including The Art of Simple Food: Notes and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution.
Alice Waters, chef, author, and the proprietor of Chez Panisse, is an American pioneer of a culinary philosophy that maintains that cooking should be based on the finest and freshest seasonal ingredients that are produced sustainably and locally. She is a passionate advocate for a food economy that is “good, clean, and fair.” In 1996, Waters’s commitment to education led to the creation of The Edible Schoolyard, nationally recognized for its efforts to integrate gardening, cooking, and sharing school lunch into the core academic curriculum. Waters is Vice President of Slow Food International, a nonprofit organization that promotes and celebrates local artisanal food traditions and has 100,000 members in over 130 countries. She is the author of eight books, including The Art of Simple Food: Notes and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution.
2005 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Marcella Hazan
When Marcella Hazan published her history-making volume, THE CLASSIC ITALIAN COOK BOOK made its nationally acclaimed appearance in 1973, it opened wide the doors through which Italian culinary culture subsequently entered American life and transformed it. It was Marcella’s example that first released people from the intimidating tenets of gourmet cooking, that trail-blazed the road of simple cooking with fresh ingredients that millions now travel on. She proclaimed, “Cook not from the head, but from the heart!” Hers was the voice that started a major gastronomic revolution and that continues to be a clear, persuasive call.
When Marcella Hazan published her history-making volume, THE CLASSIC ITALIAN COOK BOOK made its nationally acclaimed appearance in 1973, it opened wide the doors through which Italian culinary culture subsequently entered American life and transformed it. It was Marcella’s example that first released people from the intimidating tenets of gourmet cooking, that trail-blazed the road of simple cooking with fresh ingredients that millions now travel on. She proclaimed, “Cook not from the head, but from the heart!” Hers was the voice that started a major gastronomic revolution and that continues to be a clear, persuasive call.
2003 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Abigail Kirsch and Rosemary Kowalski
2001 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Jerry Anne DiVecchio
1999 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Edna Lewis
1997 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Madeleine Kamman
1995 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Anne Willan
1993 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Marion Cunningham
Grand Dames Honored by Chapters before the formation of LDEI
- Carol Brock
- M.F.K. Fisher
- Julia Child
- Grace Chu
- Nika Hazelton
- Helen McCully
- Caroline Rose Hunt
- Helen Bullock
- Julie Dannenbaum