Members in the News
Anina Belle Giannini had the incredible opportunity to visit Jacques Pépin at his home in Madison, Connecticut with her family last month. They played pétanque, drank rosé and played with Chef Jacques' dog, Gaston. Photographer Tom Hopkins captured this photo for an article for The Georgetowner.
Kudos to Sylva Lin, whose unique neighborhood grocery store and catering company, Culinary Architecture, received a certificate of recognition last month from the city of Baltimore. The honor, signed by Mayor Brandon Scott, notes that the company’s “unwavering commitment to quality, sustainability and local partnerships sets a powerful example of how food can bring people together and positively impact spaces.” On Instagram, Sylva thanked the city’s leaders for “recognizing the incredibly diverse backgrounds, cultures and lives of Asians living in Baltimore.”
“Welcome to the Confessional. I wasn’t inspired by the death of the pontiff, but this is as good a time as any,” writes Kristen Hartke, in her teaser for her new Substack newsletter, The Kitchen Confessional. Hartke, a food writer who teaches food reporting at American University, explains the concept: “Sometimes I can’t sleep at night because there are stories that I haven’t been able to share yet, or there are things that just didn’t make it into the stories that I have been able to write. And then there are the restaurants I’d like to rant about, or behind-the-scenes snippets from the strange professional food world I inhabit, or that recipe I just whipped up for dinner, or maybe some musings about travel or politics or the sweet lost dog I was searching for in Central Park for several months, or a million other things.”
By all means, check out the interview in the May/June issue of Bethesda Magazine, in which our very own President Lori Gardner is featured in the “What I Know” column on the last page. Les Dames d’Escoffier International as well as our chapter are prominently noted. In the article, Lori–who has served in leadership roles at large and small nonprofits throughout her career–talks about the importance of empathy, collaboration and flexibility. And also, as she says in the last sentence, “you hope people are having fun.”
Another book announcement: Julia Rutland tells us she’s excited about the publication of her newest cookbook, Cast-Iron Cooking: Fresh & Timeless Comfort Food for Sharing. Published by AdventureKeen, the book showcases more than 150 recipes, and also provides tips for the purchasing, care, and seasoning of this beloved type of cookware.
The annual meeting of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) brings together the area’s restaurant leaders, innovators and policymakers, and among the attendees at the March 19 gathering were our own (from left) Erinn Tucker, Linda Roth, Daniella Senior, Ris Lacoste and Micheline Mendelsohn. (Not pictured, Tiffany MacIssac, Annie Boutin-King). Daniella (second from left) also participated as the only restaurateur on a panel about how the new administration is shaping our local restaurant industry.
The third annual Black Women in Food Summit is taking place April 25-26 at the Eaton DC hotel downtown, and Charissa Benjamin (left), founder and principal of Savor PR, and Tambra Raye Stevenson (right), founder and CEO of Women Advancing Nutrition, Dietetics and Agriculture (WANDA), are two of the speakers at the event, which celebrates talent, resilience and innovation in the food industry. The theme of this year’s summit is “Limitless: Claiming Space for Abundance.” Here’s more information about the Black Women in Food Summit.
Way to go, Amy Brandwein, who was named a semifinalist in the Outstanding Chef category in the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards. Amy is the chef/owner of Centrolina and Piccolina de Centrolina in Washington D.C. (photo from Feb Entre News)
Accolades also go to Laura Calderone, founder of Relish Catering in North Bethesda, who made BizBash’s list of Industry Innovators 2025: 10 F&B Professionals Who Are Rewriting the Rules of Event Catering. The honor recognizes caterers nationwide who are “changing the game through forward-thinking sustainability efforts, stunning presentations, clever business practices, and much more,” according to BizBash.”It's been a long journey to receive this acknowledgment, but I'm very proud of the work my team and I have put in to achieve this,” Laura tells us. To learn more about Laura and her company, check out the BizBash interview here.
The November/December issue of Bethesda Magazine has a bunch of articles by and about our members. Carole Sugarman wrote the cover story, “Let’s Get Coffee,” which features 16 Montgomery County coffee shops, and Deb Lindsey shot the cover photo and others that accompany the piece, which starts on page 52. In addition, Janet Cam is profiled in a story about markets that cater to the diverse backgrounds of the county’s residents; the author, David Hagedorn, wrote about going shopping with Janet to Rockville’s Great Wall Supermarket. It appears on page 112. Check them out here.
Maisha Spann is excited to announce her promotion to Chef of the Folger Shakespeare Library’s soon-to-open Quill & Crumb Cafe. With seven years of experience at Elior North America, including roles with sister companies Design Cuisine and Corporate Chefs, she will now join a third, Constellation Culinary, to lead and manage the cafe. Quill & Crumb will serve freshly made soups, salads, sandwiches, pastries, and a selection of coffee and tea. Anticipated opening is late November. Maisha also founded and runs two businesses of her own–Food is Love Personal Chef Services and Say Grace Children's Culinary Academy.
Kudos to Debbie Moser, president of MeatCrafters Inc., who reports that her company’s duck breast prosciutto was selected as the Food Winner for Garden & Gun Magazine’s 15th Annual Made in the South Awards. The awards celebrate all kinds of Southern craftsmanship, and Debbie’s “miracle cure,” as the headline reads, “stood out almost in a class of its own,” according to the judge, chef and restaurateur Alexander Smalls.
As co-founder of DMV Black Restaurant Week, Erinn Tucker (middle) is proud the organization was selected as a partner by DoorDash for its first Accelerator for Local Restaurants program in Washington D.C. The Accelerator provides restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs with the education and resources they need to diversify their revenue and expand their business. She’s even more excited to report that two of the 24 businesses selected were owned by Dames: Angela Chester-Johnson (left), CEO of Plum Good LLC, and Bernie Rousseau (right), owner of Scratch Kitchen Olney–and that the two have completed the program, having received cash, membership to the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, and lots of help with resources.