Public Events
Upcoming Events:
From Greece to the Levant: EVOO, Wine & Mezza at Laconiko. November 7, 1-4pm
Join us for a special culinary journey through the Mediterranean at the Laconiko stylish tasting room in Manassas, Virginia. Immerse yourself in Mediterranean culture tasting the world’s most-awarded Greek olive; sipping wines of the Levant; and dining on a feast prepared by local chef and Dame Nura Mendez of Sahtain Nunu.
Celebrate Greek heritage while enjoying the first tastes of the just-arrived new harvest from the Laconiko groves on the shores of the Peloponnesek. Learn about and taste Greek wines from expert Sotiris Bafitis, and experience a cooking demonstration of Levantine cuisine followed by lunch prepared by Chef Nura. The journey begins with a welcome drink from the Laconiko cellars followed by a presentation about and tasting of the New Harvest olive oil , paired with fall apples and pita triangles, followed by a Greek wine tasting and a beautiful Levantine mezza spread. Then, watch beloved Lebanese and Syrian dishes come to life during a live cooking demonstration, followed by a deconstructed buffet where you can build your own plate with a wine pairing of your choice.
Member Ticket Price: $75
General Public Ticket Price: $95
Join us for a Festive, Free Holiday Tips & Tricks Zoom! Thursday, November 19, 3pm.
Kick off the holidays with ideas, advice, and plenty of seasonal cheer! Join us for an informative, interactive Holiday Tips & Tricks Zoom on Thursday, November 19, from 3pm to 4:30pm. We’ve lined up a talented group who will share quick, clever tips to help you plan the perfect party, no matter what — and how! — you’re celebrating.
Featured Presenters:
* Leslie Frelow, The Wine Concierge
* Mel Gold, SSP America
* Keema Johnson, Keep it Tasteful
* Cary Kelly, Cary in the Kitchen
* Amanda Richardson, Amanda Loren Studios
* Shani Whisonant, Begin with Butter
This inviting session will offer new ideas and approaches to holiday celebrations and will give you the opportunity to connect with fellow Dames. Whether you’re hosting, contributing a dish or drinks, or seeking inspiration, there’s something here for everyone.
The Zoom link will be provided in your registration confirmation.
This event is free; however, we invite you to donate in support of the Les Dames d'Escoffier, Washington, D.C. Regional Chapter.
Experience a Neighborhood Indoor Vertical Farm at Area 2 Farms! Saturday, November 14, 2026, 10am.
Discover how fresh, organic food is grown right in the urban heart of Arlington, VA. On this behind-the-scenes guided tour, you’ll explore the Research and Development hub of Area 2 Farms. Learn more about their innovative technology and ideas that are transforming the way we grow—and move—food.
Go inside Area 2 Farms, a USDA Certified Organic indoor farm growing dozens of crop varieties using an innovative modular, rack-based system. See how the farm’s patented SILO technology automatically moves crops through carefully controlled cycles of light and darkness to create an ideal growing environment.
During the tour, you’ll:
Discover how the SILO system works,
Learn how crops are selected and grown indoors,
Explore plant breeding and crop-development projects,
Meet expert members of the Area 2 Farms team,
Enjoy a “flight” of microgreens tasting, including unique and hard-to-find varieties, and
Learn about the farm’s vision to “Move the farm, not the food.”
Look for Rosanna’s Mobile Espresso, owned by Dames Randi and Maria Milton, which will be parked next to the Farm for our event and ready to take orders before the tour begins. If you’d like to make a purchase, check out the menu ahead of time to help speed things along.
Join us for this unique behind-the-scenes farm experience.
This event is open to Dames and the public.
Cost is FREE, includes option to purchase from the week’s harvest.
Wednesday, December 16
Pre-Event Meet & Greet
5:30-6:30, $25
Interview 7:00, $15
Pre-Event + Interview, $35
Presented in Partnership with
921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
Spend a Delectably Engaging Evening with Carla Hall and Tom Sietsema
Celebrity chef/talk-show host Carla Hall and former Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema return to Hill Center for a conversation and they both have so much news to share! Carla has been touring the country with her new cookbook, “Carla Bakes: Sweet, Savory and From the Heart” (4 Color Books) and Tom is now the food correspondent for The Washington Sun. This time, Tom will interview Carla — turnabout from “Ask Tom (Almost) Anything” — but if you saw them here just over a year ago, you know their exchange will be lively and personal.
Added perks: The D.C./regional chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, of which Carla’s been a longtime member, will host a pre-event meet-and-greet at Hill Center with Carla and Tom, featuring savory and sweet treats from “Carla Bakes.” East City Bookshop will be onsite to sell the cookbook and Carla will happily sign books.
Les Dames d’Escoffier is the preeminent global professional association for women shaping the culinary and hospitality industries.
Chef Carla Hall is happy to share the inside scoop on her latest cookbook, which is also her first baking book: Carla Hall Bakes: Sweet & Savory, From My Heart to Your Kitchen. She also publishes the biannual, digital Sweet Heritage magazine that celebrates food, culture, and personal stories.
Previously, Carla hosted the Emmy Award–winning culinary travel show Chasing Flavors (Max) and served as a judge on multiple seasons of the culinary competitions Harry Potter: The Wizards of Baking, Halloween Baking Championship, and Holiday Baking Championship.
Carla, a Nashville native, Howard University alum, D.C. resident, and member of Les Dames d’Escoffier Washington DC Regional Chapter, is active in several charities and nonprofit organizations, including Beyond Bedtime, GenYouth, the USO (ambassador!), the Alzheimer’s Association, the James Beard Foundation, FEED America, and the Jacques Pepin Foundation. In 2024, Les Dames d’Escoffier International honored her as a Grande Dame, its lifetime achievement award for extraordinary contributions within the fields of food, beverage and hospitality.
Journalist Tom Sietsema is the food correspondent for the Washington Sun (formerly NOTUS), the D.C.-based political news site from Politico co-founder Robert Allbritton. Previously, he was the food critic for The Washington Post (2000-2025), where he received a James Beard award for his year-long series on the 10 best food cities in America. His Next Course newsletter publishes online twice a month.
A Minnesota native, Sietsema is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He has also worked at Microsoft Corp., the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the San Francisco Chronicle and The Milwaukee Journal.
Grab a seat at our new premier supper club
October 21, 7pm, Gunther & Co, Baltimore
Les Dames d’Escoffier DC invites you to the inaugural evening of À Table, a new supper series featuring some of the regions best chefs and restaurateurs.
Join us at Gunther & Co., owned by Chef Nancy Hart Trice, in charming Brewers Hill, Baltimore, on October 21 from 7–9 PM for an intimate evening centered around connection, conversation, and exceptional food.
Share the table with leading women chefs, historians, educators, cookbook authors and other culinary industry leaders and local food enthusiasts to experience a curated event that you won’t find on the regular menu.
Past Events:
The Compost Doctor is in. September 26, 10-11:30am.
To help mark Food Waste Prevention Week, join composting expert Elana Goldstein for a workshop about turning your food scraps and yard/garden trimmings into a valuable soil amendment. Whether you’re a backyard composter looking to troubleshoot, a household unsure what can really go in your curbside bin, or simply compost curious, you’ll walk away with useful insights.
At the DC Community Compost Cooperative Site at the Newark Street Community Garden Elana will demonstrate how composting works, talk about various ways to compost in the region and allow ample time for questions. Any and all questions are welcome!
Keeping with the food waste prevention theme, we’ll also have an optional scrappy baking potluck at some picnic tables in the community garden. If you’d like, find a spice or another shelf stable item that’s gone unused. If it passes the senses test, turn it into a baked good to share!
This event is free and open to Dames and their guests.
Farm Market Sustainability Tour. Saturday, July 11, 8 a.m.
Join the Green Tables Committee for an insider’s tour of sustainability practices at the Arlington Courthouse Farmers Market. We’ll start across the street at Rossana, an espresso truck owned by our members Maria and Randi Milton, to learn about how their specialty coffees, teas, and bites are prepped without gas generators. Then, with the FRESHFARM market manager as our guide, we’ll get the inside scoop on the market vendors’ sourcing, growing practices, alternative energy usage, and other ways they lighten their footprints while providing locally produced food. To beat the heat, we’ll start at 8 a.m. And don’t forget to bring your reusable bags because you’ll probably want to get some shopping in after the tour! Free, except for purchases at the market. Space is limited, sign up here.
Saturday, July 11, 8 a.m. Arlington Courthouse Market (in the Courthouse parking lot), 1400 N Courthouse Road, Arlington, Va.
Please Underestimate Me! Carla Hall’s World Premiere Show.
That’s the ironic title of uber achiever Carla Hall’s one-woman show at the Olney Theatre Center, where blocks of tickets were reserved for Dames for the June 26 and July 9 performances. We sold 70 tickets, and a portion of the proceeds will go towards benefitting our mission. Reflective, clever, and fun, the show has gotten rave reviews. As Broadway World put it, “Fans of Hall from her stints on shows like Top Chef and The Chew will already know what a charismatic and warm character she is. Stepping into live, dramatic theater, especially with a ninety-minute, one-person show, is a bold move and a big risk, but Hall carries the performance with unending, joyful energy.”
The Dames' Table: A Showcase of Talent & Taste. June 11.
At this wonderful community gathering, our chapter welcomed more than 140 guests to sample an impressive array of food and beverages from participating Dames. Gross revenue totaled nearly $33,000.
Author and culinary historian Grace Young was honored for her contributions to preserving culinary traditions and documenting food culture; Janet Cam introduced Grace and presented her with a commemorative gift from our chapter. While Ambassador of Culinary Traditions Pati Jinich was unable to attend due to filming commitments in Mexico, her message was warmly shared by Lizette Corro. Pati's remarks celebrated the impact of Les Dames' grantmaking efforts and the organizations whose work is transforming lives throughout our region.
The Media Menu: Serving Stories the Press Craves. March 26, 4:30PM
What makes a pitch email get opened? Why do some stories get covered while others never make it past the inbox? Organized by our chapter, this Zoom session is perfect for PR professionals looking to sharpen their pitching strategy and for chefs, restaurateurs, founders, and operators who handle their own media outreach. Moderated by our own Kristen Schott of Philadelphia magazine, you’ll hear from Tina Borgatta, Orange Coast magazine (LA/OC Dame), Pat Cobe, Restaurant Business (NY Dame), Anna Speigel, Axios (DC Dame) and Kae Lani Palmisano, Philadelphia magazine and WHYY's Check, Please!
Truffle Hunting in Virginia: Monday, January 19 & Saturday, January 31
On a sunny, chilly day in mid-January, Dames and members of the public were hosted by Virginia Truffles in Rixeyville, Virginia, for a two-hour educational tour and hunt organized by the Green Tables Committee. Established in 2007, the family-run, multigenerational six-acre farm specializes in French Perigord truffles, historically a foraged crop. Because Perigord truffles are not native to Virginia, the fungus is introduced to the root system of the host trees, in this case English Oaks.
The group set out to locate and dig up truffles, led by members of the farm and the trained hunt dog, Pozzi. They learned about cultivation, production and the challenges and successes of truffle farming, plus toured the lab, where the truffles are cleaned and graded. And last but not least, attendees enjoyed a tasting of truffles in an array of appetizers and a soup made by onsite Chef Adam Shea.
Green Kitchen Swap: Sunday, February 22nd
On Sunday, February 22, the Green Tables Committee hosted its second kitchen swap at Poplar, in partnership with Teaism, Slow Food DC, and DC EcoWomen, and it was just as wonderful as the first! At the near-sold out gathering, attendees brought their unwanted kitchen supplies to give away and swap with others–to reduce waste and overconsumption, build community, and support neighbors in need. About a dozen boxes of goods left at the end of the event were donated to the Immigrant and Refugee Outreach Center (IROC) and a local DC mutual aid group. Guests expressed excitement and gratitude to come together, and many requested that we keep the swap going on a regular basis.
Culinary Diplomacy: Food as a Tool for Connection - February 25
We know that food and hospitality bring people together, creating shared experiences that strengthen relationships, but what exactly is culinary diplomacy? How can it help bridge differences between countries, cultures and even in our own communities?
Join our Zoom conversation with leaders in culinary diplomacy about their work, answers to these questions, and more. Featured: Dame Lauren Bernstein, founder and CEO of the Culinary Diplomacy Project; Dame Micheline Mendelsohn, CEO of the Sunnyside Restaurant Group; and chef-restaurateur Art Smith.
Sip With Intention: A Dry January Experience. Wednesday, January 21
On January 21, Dames and members of the public gathered for an evening of conversation, light bites, and zero-proof drinks at the National Press Club. Lauren Dickerson, Lyre’s East Coast regional manager, led the intimate group in crafting a zero-proof Espresso Martini using the brand’s products along with cold brew provided by Jodi Lehr’s Santa Lucia Coffee.
Guests had a chance to sample other Lyre’s products — the non-alcoholic Italian Spritz was a hit — and enjoyed an engaging conversation between Dickerson and Bonnie Eberly of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET). A lively Q&A session followed. Les Dames could not have pulled off this event without the help of our partners: the National Press Club, Lyre’s, Santa Lucia Coffee, and WSET.