Dear Sister Dames,

  

As I write this letter, I am looking forward to attending our latest Dames Who Dine at new member and chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley's Ripple restaurant on June 2.  What an enthusiastic way to start off her membership! A big thank you to Marjorie and her crew for hosting us. If you have never attended one of our Dames Who Dine events, I urge you to do so. It is a wonderful way to get to know some of your esteemed Dames colleagues in a relaxed and casual setting.  

 

 Our Spring General Membership Meeting is at RIS Restaurant on Saturday, June 7th. Please register online to attend.

 

In advance, a big thank you goes to Ris Lacoste and her crew for hosting us. You have received written reports from our committee chairs and officers and other supporting documents via e-mail. We ask that you please read through these reports before we meet. We have a lot of important business to conduct and your advance preparation will help us run through it more efficiently and knowledgeably. In addition, we will hear from one of our latest scholarship recipients and meet and welcome eight of our 10 new members.

 

Finally, I just want to remind you to renew your membership. Why don't you attend membership meeting and pay there! Our treasurer, Nancy Mola, will be there to help you. You will see friends, help decide your chapter's business and have a delicious and fun meal and well as renew your commitment to your organization.

I look forward to seeing you all on Saturday. 

 

 

Drew Faulkner

President

 

drewcooks@mac.com  

   

Lisa Cherkasky is one of 12 food stylists and food photographers featured in LDEI's Summer Quarterly which you will receive at the end of June.

 

Dames and soon-to-be- inducted Dames were in full force at Industree's "Hail to the V*** " on Thursday, May 29 at the E Street Cinema. Carla Hall was the featured emcee and was joined on different panels by Polly Wiedmaier, Ellen Gray, Ris LaCoste, Ann Yonkers, Ruth Gresser and new member Mary Ellen Albright chatting about the challenges and triumphs of being a woman in the food business.

   

Please submit your annual Les Dames d'Escoffier dues for the 2014-15 membership year which begins July 1. You can even pay your dues in person at our Spring General Membership Meeting on Saturday at Ris.

  

The deadline for payment is June 15, 2014. Dues received after this date will be charged a $25.00 late fee, no exceptions. Members whose dues are not received by July 31, 2014 will not be eligible for membership in 2014-15, will be removed from LDEI and Chapter directories/email lists, and will need to reapply for membership.

 

Renew online by going to the "members only" section of our website. Please e-mail Treasurer Nancy Mola is you have an questions or concerns nhmola@gmail.com .

 

Membership in Les Dames d'Escoffier -DC offers a trusted connection with women leaders in the culinary and hospitality industries throughout your chapter and with Dames in 27 other chapters throughout the United States and Canada. It gives you a way to offer service to your community, too. Being a Dame also provides::

 

1.  The up-to-date and fully searchable online membership directory in the members-only section of the Web site.

 

2.  Face-to-face networking and exciting and informative programming at the members-only Annual General Meeting...this year in Boston, October 30- November 2. 

 

3.  The quarterly newsletter, appropriately named the Quarterly, that brings you chapter news and great information about members' activities. 

 

4.  Insurance coverage for chapter events

 

Please note, Les Dames d'Escoffier International dues will be raised $10.00 in the fall of 2014. We will not raise DC Chapter dues to cover this cost increase at this time. However, you can anticipate a dues increase for the 2015-16 year.

 

SPRING GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

DATE:  Saturday, June 7th

TIME:  Meeting, 11:30 a.m.; Luncheon, 1 p.m.

PLACE:  RIS Restaurant, 2275 L St NW, Washington, DC 20037

MENU & PRICE:  $43.00, inclusive of gratuity, for three course luncheon with coffee and tea. Cash bar.

 

Registration         11:00-11:30

Business Meeting 11:30-1:00

Luncheon               1:00-3:00

 

Freshly baked mini scones and biscuits

Chilled orange juice or mimosa

 First Course:

Cream of tomato soup with shaved Parmesan

or

Crisp greens and herbs with champagne Dijon vinaigrette and shaved Parmesan

Second Course:

Grilled salmon

Orange-pistachio basmati rice, pomegranate, spinach,

Honey-glazed roast sweet potato with sumac vinaigrette

or

Roast quail

Roast beets, sautéed kale with mustard and cherry sauce

 

Dessert:

Baba au "rhubarb"

Classic yeast cake soaked with Canton ginger-liqueur

Mascarpone cream, spiced vanilla rhubarb and cardamom rhubarb sorbet

or

House-made ice cream and sorbet

Cookies

Coffee and tea

$43.00 Includes gratuity

 

Please make your reservations online by June 3, 2014 at  www.lesdamesdc.org 

SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO:

Culinary Walking Tour of Wheaton

DATE: Autumn 2014

The renowned Inn at Little Washington in Washington, VA, will offer a tour and tea on Tuesday, June 10th from 1:00 pm to benefit its neighbor, Trinity Episcopal Church. The tour includes the Inn's public spaces, dining room, selected guest rooms and kitchen where visitors can meet Chef and Proprietor Patrick O'Connell. In addition, visitors will see the Inn's presidential cottage, Claiborne House, and its newly completed Parsonage.  $75 per person; $60 senior citizens over age 65.

Editor's Note