1. This document provides information about Les Dames d'Escoffier International (LDEI), a global organization of professional women leaders in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries. 2. LDEI was founded in 1976 and now has over 2,100 members in 36 chapters across the US, Canada, UK, and Mexico. 3. The organization aims to empower women, drive excellence, and promote leadership through networking, knowledge sharing, educational programs, and philanthropic events.

1. Copyright © LDEI 2016. Designed by CiCi Williamson
Edited by Katherine Newell Smith
Les Dames
d’Escoffier
International
LDEI
Leading the Way to
Excellence in the
Food, Beverage and
Hospitality Industries
April 2016

2. Hello from LDEI !
Current LDEI President
Maria Gomez 2015–2016
San Diego, Los Angeles-Orange County
and Mexico Chapters
“It is through our passion, love, vision,
respect, support of one another, and
commitment, that we will keep growing
and create the legacy for future
generations.”
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3. The Way We Feel about LDEI
Past President Lori Willis understands that
strategic, meaningful growth and active
participation is the lifeblood of any
organization.
“The recent announcement of six new
chapters means that LDEI is not only
growing, but actively delivering on its
promise of improving the lives of women
across the globe.”
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4. The Way We Feel about
Les Dames d’Escoffier International
Past President Dianne Hogerty says, “I’ve
loved this organization from the first
time I heard about this group filled with
accomplished, exciting women who
don’t rest on their laurels.”
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5. The Way We Feel about LDEI
Past President CiCi Williamson says,
“I’m a member of many organizations,
but if I had to choose only one, it
would be LDEI. It’s become my
extended family. The networking,
camaraderie, and all the good things
Les Dames do for each other and the
community are a perfect match for
accomplished business women who
want to give to other women in
return.”
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6. Who Are We?
VISION STATEMENT
LDEI is an international organization of
women leaders who create a
supportive culture in their
communities to achieve excellence in
the food, beverage and hospitality
professions.
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7. To do this, LDEI members
 Share knowledge
 Support members
 Provide leadership
 Coordinate educational opportunities
 Host philanthropic events for the larger community
 LDEI is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization
 Membership is by invitation only and members are selected
by our individual chapters
 Members must abide by LDEI’s bylaws
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8. Origin of Our Name
Our namesake is Auguste Escoffier
(1846 – 1935), known as “The Chef of Kings and The
King of Chefs.” He was the most innovative chef in
history, one whose philosophy, accomplishments
and philanthropic deeds serve as both model and
inspiration to culinary professionals today.
To read more about Escoffier, go to: www.ldei.org
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9. Men-Only Escoffier Societies
In 1936, a group of epicures, many of them former pupils of Auguste
Escoffier, gathered at the Waldorf Astoria to form the all-male
organization of dedicated gastronomes, Les Amis d'Escoffier Society of
New York, Inc. Membership comprises chefs de cuisine, hotel executives,
restaurateurs and business executives.
Now a major institution in the culinary world, the Society gathers
monthly for epicurean dinners. Other male-only Escoffier societies are in
other cities.
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10. A Brief Les Dames History
In the early 1970s, Carol Brock (New York) set about to create the first organization for
professional culinary women. She was inspired by the Boston Les Dames des Amis
d’Escoffier, a dining and philanthropic society formed in 1959, in response to the all-
male Les Amis d’Escoffier.
Carol Brock, 2012
Induction
Serviette
designed by
Halston for Les
Dames
d’Escoffier
Carol received a charter from the New York
Les Amis d’Escoffier Society to form a ladies
chapter. She wanted to raise the image and
presence of women in food, wine and
hospitality – industries still largely dominated
by men.
In 1976, 50 women became Les Dames
d’Escoffier New York.
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11. In 1985, after five chapters were formed (New York 1976,
Washington, D.C. 1981, Chicago 1982, Dallas and Philadelphia 1984),
their presidents met in New York to form LDEI.
LDEI Formed in 1985
Boston’s Les Dames des Amis
d’Escoffier joined LDEI in 1991
and became its Boston chapter.
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12. The LDEI Logo
 The Washington, D.C. Chapter
commissioned a logo
 Later, it was adopted by all chapters
as the LDEI logo
 Wheat represents food and grapes
represent wine
 The official color is French blue
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13. Organization of LDEI
 LDEI is a chapter-driven
association where local chapters
are autonomous 501 (c) (3)
organizations
 An international board of
directors, a council of delegates,
and an executive director
provide guidance
 As of October 2016, LDEI
comprises 36 chapters in the
U.S., Canada, Great Britain, and
Mexico with over 2,100 members
2015 Board of Directors
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14. 36 Chapters of Les Dames
Ann Arbor
Atlanta
Austin
Birmingham
Boston
British Columbia
Charleston
Chicago
Cleveland
Colorado
Dallas
Hawaii
London Chapter’s Sue Carter (right) and
Valentina Harris (center) and LDEI Past
President Katherine Newell Smith
(Washington D.C.) (left)
Houston
Kansas City
Kentucky
London
Los Angeles
Mexico
Miami
Minneapolis
Monterey Bay
Nashville
New York
North Carolina
Northeast
Palm Springs
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland
Sacramento
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
St. Louis
Washington, D.C.
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15. Chartered in 2015
 Ann Arbor
 Kentucky
 North Carolina
 Mexico
 Portland
 Sacramento
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16. LDEI:
1.Provides a supportive culture for professional networking
among members
Dames from British Columbia
Chapter (l-r) Cate Simpson,
Susanne Ross, Becky Paris Turner
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Charleston
Autumn Affair

17. LDEI:
2.Shares knowledge among members, up-and-coming professional
women in our industries and the general public
Every two years, the
Washington, D.C.,
chapter presents an
all-day symposium
Celebrating Food!
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18. LDEI:
3.Provides opportunities for member and industry-wide education and
career advancement
Kansas City Dames attend
culinary center
educational program
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19. LDEI:
4.Appreciates our industries’ histories while working to create a better
future for women in food, beverage, and hospitality professions
Chicago
Chapter
honors
Alice
Waters
Colorado
Chapter
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20. LDEI:
5.Promotes the significance of food and beverage across cultures
Edible London
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21. 6.Celebrates and promotes professional diversity of our membership
LDEI:
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Ferra Coffee
Susan Jaime
(San Antonio)
Import/Export
Bank meeting
President Obama
Chef Joanne
Chang, Flour
Myers + Chang
(NE)
D.C.’s Pati Jinich and
Carla Hall – ABC’s The
CHEW
Chocolatier
Pam Williams
(BC) (rt)

22. LDEI:
7.Creates and supports philanthropic opportunities within our communities
Hawaii Chapter teaches children
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23. LDEI members are the most important influencers in food,
beverage and the hospitality industries. Here are some figures
based on a survey sent to members that shows our influence in
six phases of the industry.
 Chefs and Restaurateurs
 Caterers
 Food and Wine Distributors and Producers
 Media
 Cookbooks
 Culinary Educators
Spheres of Influence
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24. Spheres of Influence
Chefs and Restaurateurs
Some of the most respected and influential women chefs are Dames.
LDEI members jointly are responsible for estimated yearly sales of
$181 million, representing 3.3 million meals served.
Caterers
There are many outstanding Dame caterers. One example is the official
caterer for the San Antonio Convention Center, The RK Group and its
founder Grande Dames Rosemary Kowalski. Rosemary and other
stellar Dame caterers jointly achieve annual sales of $37 million,
representing 324,000 meals catered.
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25. Spheres of Influence
Food and Wine Distributors & Producers
LDEI members Dolores Cakebread and Carolyn Wente are just two Dame
winery owners whose wines enjoy world-class reputations. Another
example is Eileen Spitalny and her partner who founded Fairytale
Brownies in 1992 and now ship sweet chocolate morsels internationally.
LDEI members producing wine and food are responsible for more than
$183 million in sales.
Media
LDEI members are award-winning TV, radio and on-line culinary show hosts
and sought-after expert guests and spokespersons in their fields.
Members generate an estimated 400 million impressions about food
and beverage annually.
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26. Spheres of Influence
Cookbooks
LDEI members are counted among the foremost culinary writers of
our time. A few notable examples are Julia Child, Alice Waters, Anne
Willan, Rozanne Gold, Joan Nathan, Najmieh Batmanglij and Joyce
Goldstein. LDEI members combined have authored at least 1,200
cookbooks with an estimated 30 million books in print.
Culinary Educators
Dame cooking teachers and cooking school owners such as Patrice
Dionot, Jane Butel, and Marie LeNotre, are regularly recognized for
excellence. Annually LDEI member-involved cooking schools
generate an estimated $3 million, influencing more than 47,000
students.
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27. Benefits of Les Dames
The visible benefits of LDEI
membership:
 A printed membership directory
 Quarterly magazine
 Bimonthly e-newsletter
 Webinars held several times yearly hosted
by Dames and other experts
 Interactive LDEI website
 Website has public and members-only
pages
 Website contains important
organizational and networking
information
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28. Members-only Website
 Access members-only section log-in name and password
 Find LDEI and chapter information through toolbar links:
 Affinity program with special prices
offered on cookware from our partners
 Logos and press release templates
 Fundraising ideas
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 Chapter news, calendars and activities
 Updated online member directory
 Public relations, branding, and social
media manual

29. - Fundraiser (Kentucky) - Festival of Sweets (New York) - Spice (Philadelphia)
- French Embassy (Washington) - L’Affaire Chocolat (Palm Springs)
- Chef’s Soiree (Boston) - Night on the Farm (Cleveland)
Chapters of Les Dames
have raised more than
3 million US$ for
philanthropic causes in
their communities
Fundraising Events
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30. Green Tables
A civic agriculture and garden initiative created to expand the
relationships among urban and rural farms and gardens to school,
restaurant and kitchen tables.
Since its inception in 2005, hundreds of members in LDEI chapters
have donated their time and talents to furthering these goals in their
communities.
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31. Global Culinary Initiative
Mission Statement
To embrace our global communities through culinary connections
that will provide educational programming, training programs and
cultural exchange.
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32. Annual Conferences
Dames gather yearly for business, fabulous food and fun!
Upcoming
2016 Washington, D.C.
2017 LA / Orange Co
Charleston
hosted 2015
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33. Annual Conferences
LDEI’s
M.F.K.
Fisher
Award
Banquet
Shem Creek Charleston
Keynote
speakers
Carla Hall
and Sara
Moulton
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Charleston

34. The Conference Features
 The LDEI annual business meeting
 Educational sessions
 Chapter leadership retreat
 Sessions for chapter enhancement
 Presentation of an international award
 Opportunities to network
 Pre- and post-conference tours
 Great food, fun and friendships!
Edible “flower”
arrangement
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35. International Awards
LDEI presents two international awards
1. Grande Dame Award (biennial) in recognition of extraordinary and
unusual contributions to the fields of food, wine, other fine beverage,
nutrition, or other fields that relate to these disciplines.
2. M.F.K. Fisher Award (annual) for outstanding culinary writing in three
categories: books, print media (magazine and newspaper food
stories) and Internet-based food articles or blogs.
3. Legacy (annual) offers a one-week workplace experience with an
accomplished Dame to a non-Dame in the USA, Mexico, the UK, and
Canada.
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36. Chapter Grande Dames (pre 1993)
 Ella Brennan
 Carol Brock
 Helen Duprey Bullock
 Julia Child
 Grace Chu
 Julie Dannenbaum
 Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher
 Nika Hazelton
 Caroline Rose Hunt
 Helen McCully
 Eva Saccone
M.F.K Fisher,
Julia Child and
Jacques Pepin
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Brennan
Brock
Hunt

37. International Grande Dame Award
 1993 Marion Cunningham
 1995 Anne Willan
 1997 Madeleine Kamman
 1999 Edna Lewis
 2001 Jerry Anne DiVecchio
 2003 (tie) Abigail Kirsch
 2003 (tie) Rosemary Kowalski
Counter-clockwise: Anne Willan, Edna
Lewis receiving award from LDEI
President Pam Williams and Rosemary
Kowalski with Abigail Kirsch
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38.  2005 Marcella Hazan
 2007 Alice Waters
 2009 Shirley Corriher
International Grande Dame Award
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39.  2011 Nathalie
Dupree
International Grande Dame Award
 2013 Dolores
Cakebread  2015 Joan
Nathan
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40. M.F.K. Fisher Award
Presented yearly, this award honors
Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, a
widely read and lauded culinary
writer who died in 1992.
Women writers are eligible to win
the award.
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41. M.F.K. Fisher Award Winners
 1992 Linda Bisson, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Viticulture and
Enology, University of California, Davis
 1994 Deborah Madison, chef and cookbook author
 1996 Cathrine Sneed, Director of the San Francisco Garden Project
 1998 Barbara Haber, Curator of Printed Books, Schlesinger Library
on The History of Women in America, Radcliffe College,
Cambridge, MA.
 2000 Katherine Mary Alex, American chef and founder of
"Cooking with Friends in France" at La Pitchoune, Provence, France
 2002 Mary Risley, founder of Food Runners in the San Francisco
Bay area
 2004 Andrea Immer, wine educator, sommelier and author
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42. M.F.K. Fisher Award Winners
 2015 Erin Byers Murray, Nashville
 2014 Nina Mukerjee Furstenau,
Missouri
 2012 Jess Thomson, Seattle
 2010 Natalie MacLean, Canada
 2008 Louisa Kasdon, Boston
 2006 Kitty Crider, Austin
LDEI’s M.F.K. 2014 Fisher Award winner
Nina Mukerjee Furstenau (center) with
LDEI President Beth Allen (left) and
chair CiCi Williamson
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43. How to Start a New Chapter
Culinary women who wish to start a new chapter should
contact the LDEI Past President
Requirements include:
 a minimum of 15 charter members
 a one-page individual curriculum vitae for each charter member
 chapter officers
 a proposed budget for the new chapter
 LDEI Dues of $85.00 US per member
 a schedule of planned meetings and activities
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44. Criteria for Individual Membership
 Professional women in leadership positions in food, wine, other
fine beverage, hospitality, nutrition or other fields that relate to
these disciplines; and with a minimum of five (5) years full-time,
leadership experience in these fields.
 Women who support the purposes of LDEI and abide by its bylaws.
 Women dedicated to furthering the role of women in the
professions of food, wine and hospitality.
 Women who exhibit integrity and the highest ethical standards in
their work.
 Women who will make an active contribution to LDEI, work
harmoniously with others to achieve the Society’s goals and abide
by their chapter’s requirements.
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45. Thank you !
 LDEI thanks you for your dedicated
support of our professional culinary
association for women.
 We hope you will join us at the next
LDEI Annual Conference!
 See you there!
 PowerPoint adapted by
Hayley Matson-Mathes
LDEI Third Vice-President – 03/2016
LDEI
Leading the Way to
Excellence in the
Food, Beverage and
Hospitality Industries
Dames wish you Bon Appetit!”
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46. Contact information
LDEI Business Office and Executive
Director:
Greg Jewell
AEC Management Resources, Inc.
P.O. Box 4961
Louisville, KY 40204
or...
2132 Maryland Avenue
Louisville, KY 40205
502/456-1851
Fax: 502/456-1821
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