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By Dame Melanie Young, LDNY President
In 1974, the culinary landscape in the U.S.A. was still a man’s world, at least in the minds of the men who worked in the business and who were members of the food and wine societies at that time. But to the small but growing number of women working in kitchens, classrooms, editorial departments, publishing houses a number of authors, food and wine consultants, restaurant owners and other areas of the profession, it was time to stir up the pot.
It was food journalist Carol Brock who in 1971 took the first step and in 1973 aided by Eda Saccone (founder of an Escoffier dining society) secured a charter from Les Amis d’Escoffier, an all-male culinary society, to establish Les Dames d’Escoffier New York. Brock recruited five colleagues to create a task force. They included: Beverly Barbour, a marketing and communications professional whose husband was President of the Culinary Institute of America; Mary Lyons, Marketing and Communications Director of Foods and Wines from France; Elayne Kleeman, wine publicist who introduced the first wine auction; Helene Bennett, Executive Director of the Wine and Food Society and Ella Elvin, Food Editor of the New York Daily News.
The task force drafted bylaws and a mission statement. It read: “To increase the presence and prestige of women in the industry through education, networking and, above all, scholarship, and to support the professional aspirations of future generations of talented women.”
They started culling their lists of professionals who were the highest women achievers in the food, wine and hospitality industry to select and invite charter members. (When asked, men could not identify even one.) At the time, identifying that many women in different areas of the profession was not easy. Three years later in 1976 the investiture of the first fifty founding (charter) members of LDNY took place at the French Consulate.
In December 2011, LDNY Vice President Margaret Happel Perry and I sat down with our founder Dame Carol Brock and one of our five task force founding members Beverly Barbour-Soules, at Barbetta, a beautiful and historic Italian restaurant located in the Times Square neighborhood owned by Dame Laura Maioglio, a charter member of LDNY. The occasion was LDNY’s annual holiday party. Beverly had flown in from San Francisco, where she is now a member of that LDEI chapter. We discussed the launch of LDNY and what some of the challenges and highlights were in the early days.
MY: What were your goals when you started LDNY?
CB: The first was education, networking and scholarship to help women obtain training to enter the hospitality industry and thereby increase the presence of women in the industry. We awarded our first three scholarships in 1977. One of the recipients was Sara Moulton (who later assisted Julia Child, ran the test kitchens at Gourmet magazine, has authored numerous cookbooks and currently has a PBS TV show called “Sara’s Weeknight Meals.”) The girls apprenticed in the kitchen of a cruise ship. The same year we held our first fundraiser for scholarships at New York’s Saks Fifth Avenue, a wine and food reception where eleven Dames demonstrated how to make hors d’oeuvres.
BBS: The second goal was to raise the image of women in food, wine and hospitality by identifying women professionals and gaining publicity for women who could be role models for other women entering the fields as well as the other food and wine industries and society in general. More women were starting to enroll in the schools offering training for careers in gastronomy. There were very few working women chefs, like Leslie Revsin, Anne Rosenzweig and Rachel Hirschfeld.
MY: What were some of the challenges you faced when starting LDNY?
CB: Identifying the charter members was certainly a challenge. This was the first professional organization of its kind for women working in our industry. There was only a small group of women working in the profession at that time and an even smaller group of women of achievement.
BBS: We started contacting candidates by phone, and held an organizational meeting at Alexis Lichine’s apartment where we made our sales pitch. It was a challenge. Some women were married to men in the industry and known for being “the wife of” or “a noted hostess,” but this was the first time we were reaching out to women based on their own working credentials in the industry.
MY: What do you feel are some of the first important milestones for LDNY over the years?
CB: Getting the support of Michel Escoffier, grandson of Auguste Escoffier, was important. Les Dames is the only women’s culinary organization associated with a food museum. The Escoffier museum is located in the original home of Auguste Escoffier near Nice, France. This tie to Escoffier is very important as he was the first chef to place women in his kitchens, modernize the menu, organize the professional kitchen and simplify culinary techniques. I don’t think we have played up the legacy of the Escoffier museum and Escoffier’s relationship to LDEI sufficiently.
CB: We held our first annual dinner in 1977 at the Hotel Carlyle where we presented guest of honor, Julia Child, with the first Grande Dame Award. At a Later date, MFK Fisher was made a Grand Dame at the New York Library and Celeste Holm read from Fisher’s philosophical culinary writings. Another year our ground-breaking Annual Dinner was given for 135 at the Waldorf=Astoria prepared by 15 women chefs. Yet another of many memorable events was organized by Rozanne Gold. We reached out to incarcerated women returning to society with a holiday dinner at Gracie Mansion, made and served by Dames.
CB: Ten years on, Les Dames became Les Dames d’Escoffier International with a 42nd Street stroll including: a viewing of table settings in the cookbook section of the New York Public Library, the Mission Brother’s collection at the Whitney Museum Annex, a reception in the Patterson Room of the Daily News Building, and a grand finale dinner around the largest indoor globe in the world. Attending were members from the five chapters, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, and Dallas.
BBS: And in 1994 our first and only “Women in Gastronomy Week” took place and accomplished all of the goals we had set for ourselves. We raised a great deal of money for Les Dames d’Escoffier New York scholarships and called attention to the accomplishments of women in every area of the hospitality industry. It was a spectacular week of activities showcasing women in food and wine. We had two consecutive half page ads in The New York Times announcing the events from cookbook signings, to cooking demonstrations to dinners at members’ restaurants. The finale was a gala dinner and auction at Rainbow Room. Mayor Giuliani commemorated the week with a Mayoral Proclamation. Both Auguste Escoffier’s grandson and great grandson flew in from France to very graciously lend their cache and speak at most of the events.
MY: I want to add two more recent milestones for our chapter: Our Abbondanza! Fundraiser in 2007 honoring Dame Lidia Bastianich with fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi as Master of Ceremonies. Held at the Rainbow Room in New York City, this gala dinner featured a host of Italian chefs and live and silent auctions that raised $120,000 for LDNY’s Make A Difference Scholarship Program. LDNY followed this fundraiser up with another gala dinner last October during the New York City Wine and Food Festival, honoring HRH Prince Robert of Luxembourg and Chef Jacques Pepin with Martha Stewart as Mistress of Ceremonies. Our silent auction raised $70,000 for our scholarship program. Our Dames never stop!
MY: How do you think LDNY’s mission today is similar or different to when the organization was founded?
BB: The chapters are all different and autonomous, so their individual missions may differ slightly. The San Francisco chapter focuses on sustainability issues and a green program, while the New York chapter’s mission is helping to empower women through higher education, with scholarship and mentoring being the core message of their annual program. I feel all the chapters need to be made aware of the beginning and still valid overall mission of the organization. “We’ve come a long way, Baby” but there will always be a long way to go.
MY: What do you think is the biggest challenge we face today?
BBS: I think it is perception. The perception of women working in the profession and in more disciplines is stronger today. But LDNY and LDEI both need better public relations to showcase our mission and its members and to raise awareness of its work.
CB: London became a chapter in 2010. I think we need more international chapters or affiliations with organizations such as I Donni del Vino. Also we should have a stronger connection with the Escoffier Museum in the South of France and more involvement with food museums elsewhere. I feel food museums are on the rise. What will be our role with them? BBS: We also need to better engage members. Everyone is very busy and overwhelmed with commitments. It is important for everyone to remember that membership in LDNY is an honor, by invitation. We need to think about what this means and how one can serve the organization
and help uphold its mission.
CB: I’d like to point out that of the five task force founders, Helene Bennett was instrumental in founding Les Dames’ second chapter in Washington D.C. Of the five founding members, three became New York chapter presidents: Barbour, Lyons, and Elvin. Kleeman was a first vice president of International and Barbour later also served as president of LDEI. They were totally involved. And, I, as founder and first New York president, have attended all but one of International’s twenty-five conferences.
CB: Priorities are changing. Today people do not even know what the name Escoffier represents. We now have famous chefs on TV, more women entrepreneurs and a growing green movement. World hunger and world nutrition are the bigger issues today.
BBS: Home economics went out of fashion just when we need it the most.
MY: If you started LDNY today, what would you do differently?
CB: I may have created a name that would be easier to pronounce!
In honor of the founder and five task force founding members of Les Dames d’Escoffier New York and to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the investiture of the first fifty founding (charter) members, the New York chapter has established a Founders Scholarship to be presented in July 2012 to a woman attending an accredited New York area culinary school. For more information, visit www.ldny.org. To make a donation, send a check to Les Dames d’Escoffier (reference Founders Scholarship) and mail to: Dame Margaret Happel Perry, 300 East 75th Street, New York NY 10021
In 1976 LDNY inducted its first fifty founding (charter) members at a ceremony at the French Consulate in New York City. Today membership is the New York chapter totals 141 and growing. Here are the first founding (charter) members: Jean Anderson*, Beverly Barbour**, Claire N. Bell*, Helene Bennett, Audrey Berman, Carol Brock*, Dorothy McClure Buckner, Irena Chalmers, Grace Zia Chu, Aileen Claire, Elizabeth Colchie, Cecile Lamalle, Julie Dannenbaum, Marina DeBrantes, Linda B. Downs, Mary M. Eckley, Ella Elvin*, Pearl Byrd Foster, Zack Hanle, Marcella Hazan, Nika Hazelton, Jean D. Hewitt, Libby Hillman. Mary Homi. Barbara Kafka, Barbara Ann Katz, Grace Teed Kent, Elayne J. Kleeman, Harriet Lembeck*, Florence Lin, Mary Lyons, Laura Maioglio*, Patricia Hewson Mason, Dorothy Ivens Massee, Ginny McCarthy. Janet Wolff Misch, Anna Muffoletto, Suzanne Warner Pierot, Leslie Revsin, Thalia Richman, Betti Salzman, Sylvia Schur, Saralie Slonsky*, Margaret Stern, Doris Tobias, Gerri Trotta, Linda Wolfe, Paula Wolfert, Karen Zehring.
*Asterisk indicates a current member of LDNY.
** Asterisks indicates current member LDSF
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