Thirty Years and Still Counting…

Gaining Recognition and Respect On Our Own Merits

The culinary mainstream looked very much like a man’s world back in the early seventies. The epicurean societies were all male. Ditto most of the influential wine journalists and the elite group of acknowledged wine “aficionados” who set the standards for how, when and which wines Americans would prefer. Women cooked. Men “chef-ed.”

Indeed, when preeminent food journalist Carol Brock—with charter in hand from Les Amis d´Escoffier, the all-male society of gastronomes—set about starting the first professional organization for women in wine, food and hospitality, none of the male epicureans or journalists she surveyed could come up with the name of even one leading New York woman in any of those fields who they believed would qualify for membership. That was 1973.

Three years later, on November 8, 1976, the landmark investiture and reception dinner for Les Dames d’Escoffier welcoming fifty pioneering women as its first members was held at the French Consulate. In the intervening years lies a tale of dedication to the daunting task of overcoming the enormous gender barriers that existed, as well as to discovering the many qualified professional women who were in fact there but largely invisible.

Particularly fitting, therefore, was the namesake of the organization Brock was about to form, for Auguste Escoffier is considered by legions to be the most innovative chef in history and one whose philosophy and accomplishments serve as both model and inspiration to today’s culinary professionals. Escoffier set new standards in food preparation and organization while always emphasizing philanthropy among his peers and employees. More to the point, he was an early advocate for women’s visibility in culinary circles.

 A Brave New World

Step one for Brock was to pull together a task force of accomplished women already near the top of their professions: Beverly Barbour, internationally known educator and marketing and public relations professional; Mary Lyons, marketing and communications director for Foods and Wines from France; Elayne Kleeman, who, at Heublein, had only recently innovated the first wine auction in this country; Helene Bennett, executive director of the Wine and Food Society; and Ella Elvin, food editor of the New York Daily News.

This task force developed a constitution and bylaws for the fledgling Les Dames d´Escoffier New York (LDNY) and optimistically established its long-term vision: to change the world of food, wine and hospitality. Its primary mission:

To increase the presence and prestige of women in that world through education, networking and, above all, scholarship and to support the professional aspirations of future generations of talented women.

Culling lists of high achievers in wine, food and hospitality, they identified those first fifty New York women from a wide spectrum of these professions. “This was the first time in history that women in our industry were organizing on their own credentials and being judged solely on performance, not family ties,” commented founding member Beverly Barbour. Married at the time to the president of the renowned Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Barbour was particularly gratified with this new “on our own” mantra.

Membership was by invitation only, with an ultimate goal of 100 leading women who would serve as highly visible role models for those coming up after them, as well as living proof that women were as qualified as men to carry the banner of excellence. The bylaws stated that when five chapters had been formed, Les Dames d´Escoffier International would automatically be established, thus enabling the organization to fulfill its promise as a broad-based grass-roots professional coalition, a goal that would be realized ten years later.

LDNY´s first annual dinner, planned and orchestrated in the style of Auguste Escoffier—the undisputed authority of fine cuisine in a culture then influenced by the dominance of French food and wine traditions—was held in 1977 at New York’s prestigious Hotel Carlyle. This would be the first of thirty such dinners to publically acknowledge the notable talents of women in the culinary and hospitality fields. Guest of honor, Julia Child—the unparalleled icon for outstanding women in the industry as she breezily de-mystified French cuisine on American TV—became the organization’s first “Grande Dame,” an award recognizing her extraordinary contributions to culinary excellence. “I am proud to be a member,” she said of Les Dames d´Escoffier.

In 1978, another groundbreaking dinner was held at the Waldorf Astoria, where Dame Leslie Revsin had just been appointed its chef de cuisine—the first woman to wear a toque in a major New York hotel kitchen. Chef Leslie led a team of fifteen other women, including many who were members of the New York chapter, who created a complex and elegantly flavored, multicourse banquet worthy of Escoffier by any measure.

Raising the Bar

That same year, a special supper honoring Mary Frances Katherine (MFK) Fisher— christened the “Poet of Appetites” by John Updike—was held at the New York Public Library. Actress Celeste Holm read from Fisher’s works, bringing to life her gift not only for facilitating an understanding of the art of culinary perfection but also for perfecting the art of living itself.

Following in the footsteps of Julia Child—and other women standard bearers who have made a difference in wine, food or hospitality—MFK Fisher was later designated a Grande Dame. It was an honor she would forever savor, she declared in her acceptance speech. Ultimately, LDEI created the MFK Fisher Award, singling out outstanding women who “have excelled in an area related to food, wine and other fine beverage, nutrition, the arts of the table, and other fields that relate to these disciplines.”

Continuing the practice of those early years in which each dinner showcased a segment of Les Dames d’Escoffier membership, the 1979 gala, which was held at the Harkness House Pavilion, was a salute to women restaurateurs. Dame Laura Maioglio, chef/owner of the well-known and highly regarded restaurant Barbetta (celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2006), and Marina de Brantes, chef/owner of the then highly esteemed French restaurant Le Coup de Fusil, orchestrated a stellar dinner that, by all accounts, was a tribute to the distinctive skills of the growing legions of women leading the charge as chefs, managers and proprietors of first-class restaurants.

The 1980 dinner, held at the New York Technical College in Brooklyn, tipped its toque to women student chefs and to those who were training them to become food professionals. That same year the college hosted a luncheon for Dames and their daughters, at which Paul Bocuse, the then culinary “eminence gris,” profusely apologized for his earlier remarks denigrating women chefs.

“A Salute to Women in the Hotel Industry,” held in 1981 at the newly opened and very fashionable Helmsley Palace, honored nine highly respected women hoteliers from around the world, namely France, Italy, Germany, Austria, North and South America and the Philippines. Seven of the honorees—including Leona Helmsley—attended and spoke on behalf of all successful women in the hotel industry.

In 1982, Michel Escoffier, great grandson of Auguste, was fêted at a dinner held at famed Windows on the World, where he stated that the Les Dames d’Escoffier programs were equal to—and in some ways even surpassed—the excellence of those of the male-dominated Les Amis d’Escoffier.

Indeed, by then the world had begun to change for women, who were slowly emerging from under the radar as they began their gradual rise to the top of their chosen fields. The role of Les Dames d’Escoffier was to provide a wellspring of education, mentoring, networking, career trends information and scholarship support, all of which were destined not only to aid each individual member’s climb to success but also to showcase the talent and achievements of all women throughout the culinary/hospitality world.

In 1976, the year of LDNY’s founding, the legendary Windows on the World was already engaging women as captains, waiters and even sous chefs. “Windows opened the gates for women throughout the industry,” said Michael Whiteman, who, with his partner Joe Baum, founded the trendsetting establishment they referred to as the great ship in the sky. “A number of the major restaurants and hotel companies soon began to hire talented women once they saw the excitement they brought to Windows’ culinary experience.” As confirmation, less than two years later Dame Rachel Hirschfeld, a star graduate of Cordon Bleu, was appointed chef de cuisine at the trendy French bistro La Goulue—the first woman to hold that exalted position in any top New York restaurant.

Wine virtuoso Harriet Lembeck, who led the pioneering wine and beverage program at the Waldorf Astoria, which initially educated an all-male group of wine salesmen and wannabe wine experts, saw some of the changes coming in the late 1970s/early 1980s. “There was an increasing presence of women in our wine classes, leading to a change of attitude that acknowledged [that] the polish and refinement of their wine palates was absolutely on a par with those of men,” she points out.

“More significant, women in California—and Louisa Hargrave in New York—were changing the wine landscape as they began to take their place among America’s gold-medal vintners. At the same time, women were beginning to appear as sommeliers, bringing a new set of skills to the subtle and innovative pairing of wine and food,” adds Lembeck, herself a pioneer and role model as charter director of the Society of Wine Educators.

In 1986, on the tenth anniversary of LDNY, the international organization was officially launched at a gala dinner in the lobby of the Daily News Building, where the world’s largest globe served as backdrop to commemorate the growing 225-member-strong Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI), whose members were spread out among the requisite five chapters: New York (1976), Washington, DC (1981), Chicago (1982), Dallas (1984), and Philadelphia (1984).

Making a Difference

Because scholarship was always a defining purpose for LDNY, in 1977 the first fund-raiser took place at Saks Fifth Avenue, where eleven Dames—among them Anna Muffaletto, director of the Cordon Bleu Cooking School in New York—demonstrated their favorite holiday hors d’oeuvres in the fine china and silver department. The second, Women of Wine, followed in 1978 at Bloomingdale’s, where five Dames renowned in the field of wine poured their own premium vintages. In addition to earning considerable funds for scholarship, both events burnished reputations for women as chefs and winemakers.

The criteria for Dames scholarships were established to identify outstanding and deserving students in the New York area who were pursuing careers in wine, food and hospitality. The first was awarded to Sara Moulton in 1977, just one year after the organization was founded. Sara quickly became—and remains—a major culinary force as a chef and journalist. Since then many thousands of other winners awarded by LDEI chapters have cut across all segments of food, wine and hospitality, including hotel and restaurant management, catering, wine making, hotel food-service sales, food/wine education, journalism and publishing. The majority have stayed in touch with their benefactors as they gradually moved on to successful careers.

Fulfilling its goal as a philanthropic force that significantly impacts the quality of the profession, LDNY has continued to donate time and money to a variety of food, wine and hospitality–related organizations. Not forgotten were deserving, underserved, not-for-profit groups. A prime example was a dinner cooked by Dames at Gracie Mansion—at the personal invitation of Mayor David Dinkins—to support women in shelters preparing to reenter society. Another was a series of classes given for inmates nearing the end of their sentences at a Riker’s Island prison. Participants in both of those events later used their learned skills to find jobs in wine, food or hospitality.

Unarguably, one of the New York chapter’s most successful and ambitious projects was the weeklong Salute to Women in Gastronomy, January 16–23, 1994, which netted more than $100,000 for scholarship and philanthropic causes. Conceived and driven by then LDNY President Beverly Barbour, it also earned a citation from the City of New York, signed by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Every one of the chapter’s members was involved as they rolled out four events each day, including professional seminars, wine and food tastings, book signings, magazine features, and even a documentary food film forum. Both Pierre and Michel Escoffier, Auguste´s grandson and great grandson, attended most of the events.

Highlight of the week was a gala benefit at the Rainbow Room that featured an Escoffier-inspired dinner created by LDNY superstar chefs, including Anne Rosensweig (Arcadia), Debra Ponzek (Montrachet), Lidia Bastianich (Felidia) and Sarabeth Levine (Sarabeth's). Dame Mary Ewing Mulligan—first American woman Master of Wine—selected the wines for this celebratory dinner, which was the brainchild of Dame Rozanne Gold, first chef for New York Mayor Ed Koch and consulting chef (and a co-owner) at the Rainbow Room. The dinner, as she remembers it, “was superbly imaginative, cooked with eloquence by an impressive group of our members.”

Salute to Women in Gastronomy, mounted eighteen years after the founding of Les Dames d’Escoffier, not only authenticated the organization’s goals but also strengthened its image and reputation as a potent industry influence and laid a foundation of goodwill for business and industry that, to this day, encourages corporate partners to help further its mission.