Unique Program Offers Hands-On Workplace Experiences with Women Culinary Professionals
Imagine working side-by-side with a top caterer in Seattle, helping with the grape harvest for the oldest continuously operating, family-owned winery in California, or experiencing farm-to-table initiatives on a farm in Hawaii. These opportunities and others are available to women working in the food, beverage and hospitality industries through the 2014 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 21, 2014.
Six awards will be offered in five categories: one each in Culinary, Pastry, Wine, Food/Wine Journalism and two experiences in Farm-to-Table. The professional experience programs include:
- Culinary-Catering with Lisa Dupar, Lisa Dupar Catering in Seattle.
- Entrepreneurship-Pastry for Production with Shari Carlson of Dessert Dreams, Dallas.
- Wine with Carolyn Wente, Wente Family Estates in Livermore, CA.
- Food/Wine Journalism at Good Housekeeping Magazine with Susan Westmoreland and Sharon Franke, New York City.
- Two Farm-to-Table with Judith Winfrey, Love is Love Farm, and Charlotte Swancy, Riverview Farms, in Atlanta. And one on the Big Island of Hawaii with Lesley Hill and Wailea Agricultural Group.
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, 2014.
“This is a unique opportunity for Legacy Award winners to work side-by-side with outstanding culinary professionals,” said LDEI president Beth Allen. “During the week, they may help with the harvest at one of California’s oldest family wineries, experience in-depth learning of tropical fruit on the Big Island of Hawaii or assist in a food photo shoot for Good Housekeeping magazine. Or they could brush up their cake-decorating techniques in Dallas, further their catering expertise in Seattle or get their hands dirty on two farms in the Atlanta area.”
For an application, log onto ldei.org and click on 2014 Legacy Awards.
The Legacy Award program doubled in size in 2012, thanks to a generous donation from the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, juliachildfoundation.org, created by Child in 1995.
“Our Foundation is very pleased to support Les Dames d’Escoffier International’s Legacy Awards,” said Todd Schulkin, executive director of the foundation. “Teaching and sharing knowledge was of paramount importance to Julia, and it is immensely satisfying that the Foundation is able to continue to further Julia’s legacy and relationship with LDEI in this way.”
About LDEI
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. To do this, over 1,800 members in 29 chapters worldwide provide leadership, educational opportunities and host philanthropic events within their communities. For more information, visit LDEI.org or on Facebook.
