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Dear Sister Dames,
I hope you will read and share the How Dames Step Up
column below. It illustrates how Dames rise to the challenge when
adversity strikes. What an amazing group of women you are! Thank
you. As
we all deal with the impact of COVID-19 on our personal lives and in
our businesses, I'd like to offer some ideas that may be helpful during
this period of mandatory stay-in-place: 1. Keep your brain and your thoughts directed in a way that's meaningful. Managing
your mind is essential, especially if you have employees who are
overworked and exhausted, if you have clients who demanding a ton of you
or if you have to lay off employees. This pandemic
clearly makes our lives harder and it is emotionally draining. You can
only do your best and not beat yourself up because you can't keep your
world revolving in the same, constant orbit. No one can. Be a good
listener. Help in every way you can. Be kind. Be patient. While
some people are quite resilient, we are all a bit more fragile in times
like these. Find ways to calm yourself through meditation or prayer or
whatever works, and try to use whatever resources you have to preserve
your business so you can, yourself, offer a resource on the other side
of this dreadful time in our world.
2. I'm watching people take risks in ways I have never seen before. If you are testing
new ways to sell, package, deliver your food/service or if you're a
consultant and you're trying out new kinds of marketing strategies or
platforms or social media connections, go for it! Of course,
it's scary. Change can be terrifying. Yet, it's also a
superpower. I encourage you to embrace new possibilities rather than be
paralyzed by the unknown. Stopping cold has a fairly sure end point.
3. Embrace innovating
and solving instead of shutting down and fretting. There isn't
any value in finding a group of people to commiserate with right now.
Sure it might feel good. Sure it might feel validating. It's not going
to propel you forward. I'm learning this every day in my business.
Every day there's a new problem to solve and I take action to find
a solution. I've been saying to a lot of my business friends
lately that you may not be able to do what you used to do, but you can
do something differently that you never expected.
4. Finally, our businesses are about service. Whether you are a food photographer, a publicist, a chef/restaurateur, a wine merchant, an author or practice in any number of professions in our industry, service is key to what we do. So, be
focused on helping, serving, providing, supporting. Whatever you
can do to keep working on your business or on yourself, every
bit will help you make it through this.
This pandemic will pass eventually. In the greater scheme of the world, this is temporary. There will be a moment where everything comes back together.
Your
committee chairs and board are doing all they can to minimize the
negative impacts on our Chapter's efforts so we can continue to serve
our communities.
Should you have a chapter question, concern or idea, please shoot me an email at president@lesdamesdc.org or give me a call (410) 212-2224. Stacey Adams President Washington, DC Chapter, Les Dames d'Escoffier International
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The LDEI Board of Directors has extended the deadline for
Grande Dame nominations to Thursday, April 30. Please send
your ideas for our Chapter's nomination to Lori Gardner (membership@lesdamesdc.org).
As you may recall, Nora Pouillon was named Grande Dame in Nashville last year and Joan Nathan
in 2015 during our international conference in Charleston. 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. The
nomination process begins at the chapter level.
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There has been an uptick in the use of our chapter's listserv. First VP Lori Gardner
created it as a forum for us to communicate with each other in real
time. So, especially now, we encourage you to stay connected by
sharing articles, recipes, concerns, and ideas. You may sign up
through the email or subscribe by sending an email to ldedcmembership+subscribe@groups.io
Questions? Email
membership@lesdamesdc.org
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Dames answering the call to serve in our communities
Here is a list of Dames and their restaurants and shops that
are continuing to serve our communities and keep our industry alive.
Please avail yourself of their services and encourage your friends to do
the same. Also, please check the restaurants' websites for the most updated information about pickup and delivery.
Gladys Abi-Najm: Lebanese Taverna is offering
Home cooked meals to go for delivery or carry out. A meal for four is
$39 (traditional hummus, salad, rice, chicken or beef shawarma) ; the
salmon dinner is $14 (grilled salmon filet, baba ghannoush) and its
Mezza Madness is $39.
This specialty foods shop is open daily from 11:00 a.m. to
7:00 p.m. "We feel we have a responsibility to you, our amazing
customers, to provide a safe and clean environment to purchase much
needed food right now," says Stacey. "We have enhanced our product
lines to offer more basic staples of perishable and non-perishable food
items in addition to our always delicious specialties including
imported cheeses, olives, pastas and condiments as well as homemade
prepared dishes. As restaurants close, you can look to us to
purchase ingredients and prepared foods from a place that you know and
trust. Our daily cleaning has been enhanced by hourly sanitation
measures and even more frequent wipe-downs of critical areas." info@tastingsgourmetmarket.com
Amy Brandwein's Centrolina and Piccolina are
closed for dining but both restaurants are offering takeout and
delivery. Amy's Centrolina Mercato remains open offering her full line
of fresh produce, meats and fish as well as and staples and wine. All
grocery items can be delivered as well.
Ellen Gray: Equinox is offering Nox Boxes (as in Equi-NOX) with contactless pick-up and delivery. Enjoy
three courses for $45.00 or four courses for $50.00 with bread service.
Or order a la carte! Tax, gratuity and delivery fees not included.
Equinox is also offering Passover in a Box!
Enjoy a special five-course menu at home, created to honor the
traditions of the holiday, as well as a complimentary "old
family-favorite" bottle of Manischewitz Concord Grape to accompany your
feast.
Ruth Gresser: Pizza Paradiso carry
out daily Dupont, Spring Valley and Georgetown locations and Friday to
Sunday at her Hyattsville restaurant. DC Pizza Paradiso also offering
carry out beer and wine.
Maria Kopsidas of Cookology,
has created at her Ballston location "ReHeat and Serve Meal Kits" for
pick up. These catered meals have been created by Cookology's Chef
Javier Loayza and Cookology21 student and Chef Tech, Andrew Garcia. As
the only two chefs in the kitchen, sanitation standards are kept high
while the chefs prep and cook. Once the dishes are made, they are cooled
and packed and kept refrigerated until picked up. Each kit serves
four to six people, generously and is $16.25 per person, plus wine or
beer (optional) and 6% tax.
Ris Lacoste's eponymous restaurant RIS offers
takeout and curbside pickup between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 and
6:00 p.m. and free delivery to its West End and adjacent
neighborhoods between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. through her Ris' Soup Kitchen,
Monday through Friday. Order her carry-out soup, romaine
wedge salad and bread for $15. Her daily offerings including crispy
Thai Brussels sprouts, Chicken Milanese and Ris Meatloaf, plus dessert
and a wine basket offering. Info at hosts@risdc.com
Katharine Mardirosian 100 Bowls of Soup,
in Herndon VA is open for take-out and curbside pick-up only on Monday,
Wednesday and Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please call ahead to
place your order (703) 466-5130. Katherine is posting soup recipes to
encourage home cooking.
Michelene Mendelsohn and her family's Sunnyside Restaurant Group
which includes We The Pizza, Santa Rosa Taqueria and Good
Stuff Eatery, are open for delivery and takeout. As a special
service, it is generously offering Kids Eat Free during the
COVID-19 pandemic at all of its restaurants.
Debbie Moser:
Central Farm Markets.
The Bethesda Central Farm Market is scheduled to be open as usual at
Bethesda Elementary School on Sunday, April 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30
p.m. The NOVA Central Farm Market is open at a temporary location,
Church of the Holy Comforter in Vienna from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Nona Nielsen-Parker: Atwaters Restaurant (Baltimore)
has carryout and curbside pickup at all five locations. Atwaters is
taking orders for quick pick up at all farmers markets prepaid on its
website. Christianne Ricchi: i Ricchi
has announced the i Ricchi Food Club. "I have been feeding you in
"my house" for over 30 years," says Christianne, "and starting today I
am here to help you feed your soul and family in YOUR home as we all
adapt to this new social-distancing reality." The i Ricchi Food
Club is a pre-paid pickup food service that curates authentic Italian
cuisine with a pre-set four-course menu for two to eight people. Each
week, Christianne hand-crafts a different dining experience that will
transport her clients through Italy with paired wines and spirits.
All you have to decide is how many times a week you want to join in her
virtual culinary travels . She does everything else. For more
information call 202-835-0459 or click here.
Suzanne Simon's and Bettina Stern's Chaia Tacos are closed but continue to offer takeout. Innovatively, they have created a Chaia Enchilada Supper Club with
a changing lineup of tacos offerings each day to order on Mondays and
Wednesdays for pickup on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 5:30 and 6:30
p.m. at their Georgetown and Chinatown locations. Janet Yu's Hollywood East Cafe is open for takeout, curbside pickup and delivery services. Dim Sum is available! Order online at hollywoodeastcafe.com or download the app. Dames are creating ways to expand markets for their specialty products Jodi Lehr: Santa Lucia Estate Coffee
Santa Lucia Estate Coffee is reaching out to the community to build an
online market beyond its hotel and restaurant clients. It offers free
shipping and is a great way to try a new coffee without leaving the
house. Dames are offering cooking demos to help the home-bound eat more interesting and healthful foods...and learn along the way. Pati Jinich is creating cooking demo videos and posting them on her social media sites. Follow here on Instagram. Alba Johnson
is conducting free virtual video cooking class for children and young
teens while they are at home with closed schools. Chef Alba offers
a video call with a group or one-on-one to conduct a demo for a
simple recipe from start to finish. The recipes and demos are
arranged and scheduled in advance with the chef and parent or organizer.
For large groups, such as Girl Scout troop earning badges, Chef Alba
schedules a zoom or other platform to conduct the demo from various
locations. Contact her at aejhome@yahoo.com Dames are retooling their businesses to meet the needs of clients in the COVID19 age. Katherine Tallmadge has created a "Silver Lining" approach
for her nutrition clients and those who subscribe to her newsletter.
She assembled a pantry list, offers recipes and other ideas to make the
best and healthiest choices during this challenging time...or any time. Dames are using their talents and connections and working with their clients to help during this crisis. Jill Collins is assisting her client, Hook Hall, the event space on Georgia Avenue, with the Hospitality Workers Relief Program, Hook Hall Helps. This
effort was created to provide food and necessary supplies to our
colleagues in restaurants, hotels, clubs, bars and entertainment venues
who have lost their jobs. Initially organized by Hook Hall owner, Anna
Valero, the project has seen leaders in the industry join as partners.
The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington was the first to
step up. Occasions Catering followed to provide a large refrigerated
truck for food donations and send its smaller trucks to pick up and
deliver donations. Sysco and PFG/Performance Food Group have donated
hundreds of pounds of supplies and produce. Queen Vic owner and chef
Ryan Gordon volunteers to turn the daily deliveries into hot meals for
the displaced workers. Hook Hall employees and volunteers
are assembling care kits for pick up at Hook Hall. The kits include
shelf-stable foods and paper goods and will be distributed
from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. daily through the duration of the COVID19
pandemic, as long as supplies last. Also, Industry Family Meals are
provided from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. daily as well. For details, click here.
Media from all over the world has covered Hook Hall Helps. In its first
two weeks Hook Hall Helps distributed over 5000 supply bags and
dinners. Sheila Crye: moderated
a video conference of the IACP Cooking Schools and Teachers group,
attended by 25 members. Sheila says: "The independent cooking schools
are really suffering during this "pause" in the economy. Most of us are
interested in developing paid online classes. We exchanged information
comparing the various platforms and shared experiences. We also started a
couple Google Docs. One is for sharing links to pertinent articles and
online resources and the other is a spreadsheet with our contact
information. I feel that my clients might pay a reduced price for online
participation classes. That is, I send them the shopping list and
recipes and we cook simultaneously. Will let you know when I have more
to report." Lori Gardner is aggregating information on her Been There Eaten That blog about the DC area restaurant industry "DC Area Restaurants and COVID-19: How Can We Help?"
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DAMES WHO READ - DAMES ONLY BOOK CLUB
DATE: Monday, April 20
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
PLACE: ZOOM call, organized by Drew Faulkner
BOOK SELECTION: The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice by Trevor Corson. Available both as a book and an ebook. Some members have downloaded on Audible.
First VP Lori Gardner is working to set up a Zoom "Getting to Know You" next week. Stay tuned!
No in-person programs will be organized until further notice
due to the threat of COVD-19. We are looking at doing more public and
Dames-only webinars; so, if you have subject and speaker ideas,
please reach out to Second VP Edee Hogan, edeehogan@aol.com. We will resume planning events as soon as is deemed safe for our community and members.
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As most of us are staying closer to home these days, we need
effective ways to reach out to one another. Wild Apricot, our new online
communications platform can help our members do that.
We will use this platform for networking, member engagement, and, when our programs are back up and running, for logistics, such as event registration. You'll
first need to log on, identify your professional affiliation and your
areas of expertise and add a current photo if you have one easily
available. We hope you will sign on to Wild Apricot to help make the most of your LDE-DC membership.
We are seeking 100% participation, so don't delay!
If this is your first time to log in, please use this link to reset your password.
An email will be sent to you to reset your password.
Once you've logged in, you will be prompted to accept the terms and
conditions. Then, you can go into your profile and update and verify
your contact information. Your profile includes many areas like social
links, profession, photo, etc. Only members can view your profile
information.
If you have any questions about Wild Apricot, please email admin@lesdamesdc.org
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OF INTEREST
Guy Fieri and the National Restaurant Association has
launched a Relief Fund to give $500 checks to restaurant workers
affected by the Coronavirus.
Here's how it works: Restaurant workers can apply for a grant
paid for by the NRAEF fund starting Thursday, April 2, and will receive
a one-time $500 check within three weeks to use toward
housing, medical bills, student loans, groceries, and other expenses.
The NRAEF stipulated that these grants would be administered on a
"first-come, first-serve basis." To apply or to donate click here.
Tuesday, June 9. Gunther & Co. Fourth Annual Chefs Cycle for No Kid Hungry! Fundraiser. 3650 Toone Street, Brewers Hill, Baltimore, MD 21224. (free parking) Nancy
and Jerry Trice will ride 300 miles in Bend, OR to help solve the
problem of childhood hunger in America. Currently one in seven
children in our country suffers from food insecurity and the percentage
of kids who regularly miss meals is higher in Baltimore and DC. Over the
past three years, the Trice's have raised more than $100,000 to support
this cause which translates to more than one million classroom
breakfasts. Please join them on June 9. This event features
Baltimore's top restaurants and bartenders who will create delicious
food and cocktails along with an incredible array of silent auction and
raffle prizes. Hope to see you there! Click here for ticket and donation
information.
SAVE THE DATE. Thursday, October 15. Food History Gala. October 16 and 17, Food History Weekend. National Museum of American History, 1300 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, D.C. 20560
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Entre News is our LDE-DC chapter e-newsletter. It is published on the first and third Wednesday of each month. It is on hiatus during the month of August. Deadline for HURRAH! and other news is the second and fourth Thursday of each month. Please
send a BRIEF paragraph with your professional and personal news that
you would like your sister Dames to know about in HURRAH!
HURRAH!
is not meant as an advertising opportunity for a cooking class or
event, rather it offers a shout out to members for recent
accomplishments and honors. Please submit your HURRAH to eneditor@lesdamesdc.org in a succinct 75 words of less.
DAMES CORNER is a brief feature to help us get
to know our sister Dames a bit better. We will randomly choose Dames to
profile who have differing professional backgrounds so the coverage is
more interesting.
OF
INTEREST offers Dames a chance to let their sister chapter members know
about events they are involved in that might be of interest to a
majority of the membership. Its
function is not to promote products, cooking classes, culinary trips,
etc., rather to alert members to public programs that might be of
professional interest, especially if Dames are featured. We request OF INTEREST entries to be no longer than 150 words. Less is always better.
JOB OPPS can open Dames networks to employment opportunities.
Thank you for you continued interest and participation.
Katherine Newell Smith
Founding Editor, Entre News
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Social Media Connections
Connect with Sister Dames
 LesDamesDC
 @LesDamesDC
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We need ALL members who have FB, Twitter and Instagram accounts to
follow and actively re-tweet our members' tweets to spread the great
news about our activities and programs!
Connect with Les Dames d'Escoffier International
Please share news, events and updates. Join the LDEI members-only LinkedIn Group to stay connected with other Dames.
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Join a Committee....
You
were invited to join Dames because of your talents and achievements and
you promised to be part of our chapter's committee work; so, now it is
time to
Get Involved!
Our
committees offer the perfect opportunity to get to know your sister
Dames, share your skills and to give back to the community through
service. Every committee needs dedicated participants. Please
contact the committee chairs and offer your time and skills, now.
2019-2020 Committee Chairs
Membership - Dames Who Dine:
Karen Lippold
dameswhodine@lesdamesdc.org
Membership - Engagement:
Carole Sugarman
Women in Gastronomy:
Laurie Bell
Eileen Dykes
Grants:
Jessica Botta
Scholarships:
Nona Nielsen-Parker
Green Tables:
Karen Vartan
Edee Hogan
Global Culinary Initiatives:
Amy Riolo
Public Relations:
Jill Collins
Development:
Annie Boutin King
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2019-2020
Julia Rutland
Financial Officer
Drew Faulkner
Communications Officer
Jill Collins
Directors
Olga Boikess
(Programs)
Karen Lippold
(Dames Who Dine)
Diane Neas
(Parliamentarian)
Karen Vartan
(Green Tables)
Alternate:
Carole Sugarman
(Member Engagement)
Janet Yu
(Past President)
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To view the latest approved board meeting minutes, go to www.lesdamesdc.org and
click on the Members Only tab and enter the password. Click on the dropdown menu for LDE-DC Board
and you will see a link to the board meeting minutes. During each
monthly board meeting, the board approves the previous month's minutes
and they are then posted to our website.
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It is easy to find chapter documents and resources, our event archives and past editions of Entre News.
We now have a single password that all Dames must use to access the Members Only section of the website. The password is ldedc2014.
Please do not share this password with anyone outside of the
Chapter. We are revising the members only section but the password
remains as above.
If you are having trouble logging into the website please contact our Communications Officer at communications@lesdamesdc.org
Under Member Login, you will see a revised menu where you can find:
- past and current Entre News issues posted under the Entre News Archives tab.
- archives of past chapter activities in the LDE-DC Dame Only Events menu along with upcoming events.
- helpful files including chapter letterhead, name tag template, LDEI logos and tax-exempt certificates under Documents and Forms.
- our chapter's standing rules, bylaws and membership roster under Bylaws, Roster & Minutes.
- A roster of Dames that can be printed out.
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LDEI Quarterly Deadlines:
The deadline for sending in Member Milestones and Chapter News for the SUMMER issue of the LDEI Quarterly is APRIL 10. Our archived Quarterly magazines
are available online. If you are not receiving hard copies of
Quarterly, please check your online contact information at www.ldei.org If it is correct, please contact Greg Jewell info@ldei.org to make sure you are on the mailing list.
Quarterly Guidelines:
Photography/Images-Electronic images must be properly
focused, in color with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (TIFF or JPEG).
Cell phone photos are acceptable if they meet resolution requirements.
Do not send photos taken off the internet or embedded with text in Word
files or PDF files. Identify individuals in photos from left to right in
the message of your email. Include photo credits, if required. CAPTIONS
ARE REQUIRED FOR PUBLICATION.
Member Milestones - Edited by Dorothy Koteski (Phil)
Share your professional news with Dames in all chapters in our LDEI Quarterly. Shout, don't whisper, about your accomplishments. We all want a chance to say "Brava!"
Submit Member Milestones by filling out the interactive form at: http://link.ldei.org/ldei-member-milestones. Any field
marked with an asterisk (*) is required. Note that some forms
have character limits due to space constraints. To
submit a photo, reply "Yes" to "Would you like to submit a high
resolution quality image?" Then click "Next". You will be taken to a
second page where you can upload your images.
Be sure to click the SUBMIT button to upload your
responses. You will receive an email confirmation that your submission
was received. Press releases and cookbook covers are not accepted. Entries received after the deadline may appear in a following issue.
Please know that you can also email your information, if you
prefer. The email addresses listed under the Submission
Guidelines will always be active and will forward to the correct
person.
Submit Chapter News by filling out the interactive form at: http://link.ldei.org/ldei-chapter-programs.To
submit a photo, reply "Yes" to "Would you like to submit a high
resolution quality image?" Then click "Next". You will be taken to a
second page where you can upload your images. Be
sure to click the SUBMIT button to upload your responses. You will
receive an email confirmation that your submission was received.
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