LOUISVILLE, KY (February 24, 2015) – Imagine working side-by-side with a top organic restaurateur in Washington, D.C., helping with the grape harvest for the oldest continuously operating, family-owned winery in California, learning food photography and recipe development at a New York magazine, or experiencing the tropical harvest on a Hawaii farm. These opportunities and others are available to women working in the food, beverage and hospitality industries through the 2015 Les Dames d’Escoffier International Legacy Awards.
Established in 2009, each LDEI Legacy Award offers a one-week workplace experience to non-Dame women in the US, UK and Canada. Award recipients will work alongside some of the culinary and hospitality industry’s top women professionals, all members of Les Dames d’Escoffier (LDEI), an international organization of women leaders in food, beverage and hospitality whose mission is education and philanthropy.
Applications are available online at ldei.org. Deadline to apply is April 27, 2015.
Six awards will be offered in four categories: culinary; food/wine journalism; wine; and farm-to-table. The professional experience programs include:
• Restaurant/Organic- Restaurant Nora, Washington D.C., owner, Dame Nora Pouillon
• Food/Wine Journalism – “Good Housekeeping” magazine, New York City, Dames Susan Westmoreland and Sharon Franke
• Wine – Wente Family Estates in Livermore, CA., Dames Carolyn Wente and Amy Hoopes
• Wine – Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in Woodinville, WA., Dame Kari Leitch
• Farm-to-Table – Melissa’s World Variety Produce Inc., Los Angeles, CA, Dame Nancy Eisman
• Farm-to-Table – Wailea Agricultural Group, Big Island of Hawaii, Dame Lesley Hill
Award winners will be reimbursed for airfare and hotel accommodations for six nights for up to US $2,000. Winners will be announced in early June and experiences must be completed by October 20, 2015. In addition to the week-long experience, each winner is invited to attend the Oct. 29 – Nov. 1, 2015 LDEI Annual Conference, in Charleston, SC, where a luncheon in the winners’ honor will be held. Travel, hotel, and conference attendance will be reimbursed.
Click here for an application.
The Legacy Award program doubled in size in 2012, thanks to a generous grant from The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, juliachildfoundation.org, created by Child in 1995.
LDEI President Lori Willis (St. Louis) said, “We are grateful to our Dames, their businesses and to the Julia Child Foundation for a partnership that makes these once-in- a-lifetime opportunities possible. Their support has doubled our reach and enabled us to turn our comprehensive programs into true learning adventures across our key industries.”
Todd Schulkin, The Julia Child Foundation’s Executive Director says, “The Foundation is very pleased to continue our support of Les Dames d’Escoffier International’s Legacy Awards. Being a mentor and offering professional opportunities for others was something that came naturally to Julia. It is gratifying to see this tradition, which The Foundation very much values, upheld by LDEI members.”
Further information is available from the Legacy Awards Co-Chairs, Alison
Awerbuch, 914-631-0864, LDEILegacy@abigailkirsch.com or Sue Huffman
Robison, 916-514-8048, suehrobison@icloud.com