legacy awards
Each year since its founding, Les Dames NOLA has supported The Legacy Awards. Supported by The Julia Child Foundation, the Legacy Awards were established by Les Dames d'Escoffier International in 2009 with one goal in mind: to provide targeted mentorship opportunities for professional women in the food, fine beverage and hospitality industries. The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts generously supports the Legacy Awards program.
A Week with a Dame Each Legacy Award winner earns a week-long experience to work alongside one or more accomplished members of LDEI at her business. The competition is open to professional women from the US, Mexico, UK, Canada, and France, who are not Dames but have a minimum of four years’ experience working in the culinary industry.
In 2023, distinguished members of LDEI are offering six experiences in six distinct categories: Catering & Event Planning; Culinary Entrepreneurship; Food Journalism; Hotels & Hospitality; Supply Chain; and Wine & Hospitality. Click here to apply.
Each Legacy Award Winner Receives…
Her Legacy Experience with Dames
Reimbursable Expenses for airfare, hotel if needed, plus other expenses for the week, up to US $2,000
A trip to the LDEI Annual Conference
All experiences must take place between May 15 – Sept. 30, 2023, with most awards occurring by August 31, 2023. You may only apply for one experience.
The Catering and Event Planning Legacy Award (New York City)
Hosted by the Pier Sixty Collection and the New York Chapter
The Pier Sixty Collection (PS Co) is the premier catering and events venue in the New York Tri-State region. Dame Alison Awerbuch, partner at PS Co, will host this five-day experience.
Pier Sixty’s philosophy and success is based on creating outstanding experiences for clients and guests. A professional and team-oriented company, Pier Sixty produces and executes more than 500 events annually that incorporate creative and delicious F&B and outstanding planning details. A caring and highly skilled sales, service, culinary and operations team provides seamless execution of events, which range in size from 75 to 2,000 guests. The client base is comprised of gala, fundraising and social markets.
The awardee will spend the majority of her time working with the management team and associates at PS Co. There are two past Legacy Award winners on the management team who will be actively involved in the itinerary. The awardee will be exposed to all departments including sales, sales administration, event management, event operations, culinary, pastry, beverage, back of the house operations and purchasing.
The final itinerary will be based on input from the recipient. There will be a detailed outline of daily areas of focus with both theoretical and hands-on exposure to the inner workings of one of the region’s most prominent and well-run catering businesses. In addition to her time at PS Co, the awardee will have the opportunity to spend time with at least one NYC off premises catering company, meeting with the team and visiting an event. She will also join Dame Awerbuch on a food and beverage outing in NYC and attend a dinner with NYC Dames.
This award is suited for a woman whose profession is in the realm of catering, banquet venues and/or event planning
This experience must be completed by September 30, 2023 and will require an immediate turnaround of followup materials required of the awardee, including essay and photographs.
The Culinary Entrepreneurship Legacy Award (Philadelphia, PA)
How to Grow a Food/Restaurant Business
Hosted by the Dames of the Philadelphia Chapter
During the awardee’s Legacy week, she’ll spend time with several entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia chapter where she’ll learn how to take her skills from the line into ownership.
The experience begins at the home of Dame Susanna Foo, a two-time James Beard award winner, where the awardee will meet the women of the nearly 40-year-old Philadelphia chapter at the chapter’s legendary Summer Pot Luck.
The awardee will be in the thick of it with Dame Jennifer Carroll, Top Chef All-Stars, Top Chef Last Chance Kitchen, Top Chef Amateurs as a mentor and judge, founder of Carroll Couture Cuisine and Chef Jennifer’s production studio. She’ll be hands-on as she spends the day with Dame Carroll, creating content for cooking classes, team-building events and social media.
Dame Jill Weber, the Chapter’s Immediate Past President, crafts the next experience. Dame Weber is a world-renowned archeologist, and owner of Sojourn Restaurant Group, which includes Rex 1516, Sor Ynez, Cafe Ynez and Jet Wine Bar. She is a member of the Sisterly Love Collective, an alliance of women restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs across the city. The award recipient will spend time at her restaurants, observe event planning, and learn first-hand how Dame Weber turned her two passions, archaeology and restaurants, into a thriving business.
Community activist Dame Ellen Yin provides insight into owning multiple restaurants. A pioneer in Philadelphia’s food scene, Dame Yin is the owner of High Street Hospitality Group which includes the James Beard Award nominated Fork Restaurant, High Street Philly, A. Kitchen + Bar, and The Wonton Project, a mission-driven ghost kitchen dedicated to fighting hate against AAPI. Want to be a restaurateur? The awardee will spend the day with Dame Yin seeing the ins and outs of restaurant operations and have lunch with Dame Yin and her management team.
Chef Jacquie Kelly turns tour guide and taste guru as she leads the awardee and other chapter members on a food tour and tasting through the Italian Market, America’s oldest continuously operating outdoor market. Founder of StrEATS tour company, Dame Kelly will share the evolving history of the market and the foodways brought to this country by the immigrants who now call Philadelphia home.
From market to farm, the awardee will spend a morning with Dame Christa Barfield, who owns FarmerJawn Agriculture, an urban organic farm and foundation that recently received a $50,000 grant from the PA Dept. of Agriculture. The winner will go behind the scenes at this urban organic start-up farm, whose mission addresses food access, food justice, and food waste.
Part of the food business is getting the word out about your business, and the awardee will spend an afternoon or morning with Dame Jen Honovic Herczeg. Dame Herczeg is a former Legacy Award recipient who has worked with Whole Foods Market, Starbucks, Chipotle, New York City Ballet, Di Bruno Bros, and Edible Philly magazine, among others. She will bring her expertise into a consulting Q-and-A session.
The winner will enjoy dinners with the Dames in Dame-owned restaurants. Specific details of the experience are subject to change, based on timing.
This award is well-suited for someone interested in the business side of food and restaurants and for someone interested in how to grow a business.
This experience must be completed by August 31, 2023
The Food Journalism Legacy Award (St. Louis, MO)
Hosted by the Dames of the St. Louis Chapter
This week-long Journalism Legacy Award is hosted by the St. Louis Chapter, with Dames Nina Furstenau and Catherine Neville, both M.F.K Fisher Prize winners, as well as Dames Suzanne Corbett and Roberta Duyff, multiple award-winning authors, taking part. The winner will study the many styles of food writing, including blogging, literary food writing, scientific study, and cultural commentary. This is an opportunity to sharpen writing skills with the guidance of award-winning professional food writers. If selected, the experience will be tailored to the recipient’s goals.
Dame Furstenau will be the primary host of this Legacy experience, which begins in Columbia, Missouri. A Fulbright Scholar, she is the retired program director for food systems communication at the University of Missouri Science and Agriculture Journalism program as well as the MU School of Journalism. She is the author of four books on food and culture, focusing her research primarily on food and identity and food history. Early in her career, she created, launched, and published five industry magazines and is the current book series editor of Foodstory at the University of Iowa Press. She is the director of food projects at Media for Change, a nonprofit organization building a global community of storytellers to ignite discussion on the critical work of the world’s food heritage and its future. Her blog, “A Likely Story” (https://www.ninafurstenau.com/a-likely-story-blog), delves into foodways, history, and what drives flavor today.
Next, the winner will travel to St. Louis to meet Dame Catherine Neville, vice president of Communications with Explore St. Louis. Dame Neville was the chief curator for Hermann Farm, a location that engages and educates the public on the significance of Missouri’s cultural, agricultural, and winemaking heritage. She was co-founder and editor of Sauce Magazine for more than 11 years and went on to launch and work as publisher of Feast Magazine, which received two James Beard nominations and an EPPY award. She was producer and host of Feast TV, which won eight regional Emmy Awards. Dame Neville is also the producer and host of Emmy-nominated tasteMAKERS, a program distributed to public television stations nationwide that explores the connections in our food system, from farmer to maker to chef.
The next stop in St. Louis will be the Historic Campbell House where she will meet Dame Suzanne Corbett. Dame Corbett is an award-winning writer, culinary teacher and food historian whose work has appeared in local and national publications. She is the author The Gilded Table – Recipes and Table Traditions from the Campbell House and Pushcarts & Stalls: The Soulard Market History Cookbook, and is a Telly award winner producer/writer of the documentary short Vintage Missouri: 200 Years of Missouri Wine.
On the final day, Dame Roberta Duyff will bring science into food writing. Dame Duyff is a nationally recognized award-winning author, national speaker, media writer, and food industry/government consultant. Her work has focused on practical, science-based food and nutrition guidance, promoting “the power of positive nutrition”. Dame Duyff took first place for “Nutrition Communicators Write Books to Make a Difference”, a chapter in the nationally recognized book, Communicating Nutrition: The Authoritative Guide. Dame Duyff has served on the James Beard Journalism Awards Committee honoring excellence in food journalism.
This award is well-suited for someone interested in food writing as a profession.
This experience must be completed by August 31, 2023
The Hotels and Hospitality Legacy Award (Nashville, TN)
Hosted by The Hermitage Hotel and the Dames of the Nashville Chapter
Learn from the best in the business in Music City, where Nashville’s interwoven hospitality and entertainment industry offers a dynamic and growing creative landscape. The awardee will spend a week at the iconic five-star Hermitage Hotel with managing director Dame Dee Patel, who will prepare the winner for a leadership role in hotel management. Dame Patel will cover guest relations, finance, events, marketing and sales. This experience will highlight what it takes to operate a luxury property with skill and panache.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at Drusie & Darr, the hotel’s signature restaurant from the internationally celebrated and Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
To complete this experience, spend time with other local Dames, learning about their businesses and dining at some of the best restaurants in Nashville. This includes Green Door Gourmet, Dame Sylvia Ganier’s 350-acre working farm and market, a popular agritourism destination in Nashville.
Join Dame Claire Crowell at Hattie Jane’s Creamery, a small-batch creamery and scoop shop that features modern takes on Southern traditions with ice cream flavors like Nana Puddin’, Brown Butter Pecan, Goo Goo & Jack, and dairy-free Strawberry Jam.
The Nashville Food Project is a community food project that brings people together to grow, cook, and share nourishing food. Join Dame Bianca Morton to see the work that connects people to nutritious food and to each other through vibrant urban agriculture projects, made-from-scratch meals cooked in their kitchens, and food shared with local poverty-disrupting partners.
A visit to the Thompson in The Gulch neighborhood, is steps away from art and culture, including the Frist Art Museum, Music Row, Honky Tonk Highway, and endless boutiques. Join Food and Beverage Manager Dame Erin Kette and enjoy a meet and greet with the Nashville Dames!
This award is well-suited for someone interested in hotel management.
This experience must be completed by August 31, 2023
The Supply Chain Legacy Award (Austin, TX)
Hosted by Dame Carol Huntsberger and the Dames of the Austin Chapter
Visit the Austin area with Dame Carol Huntsberger (owner of the 86-year-old Austin institution Quality Seafood) and the Austin Dames to learn from four award-winning institutions, each with a unique and diversified business model.
Dame Huntsberger, the primary host of this expansive Legacy experience, gives an insider’s view of Quality Seafood’s operations. The iconic Austin restaurant also serves as one of the main wholesalers in the region while operating a retail counter and food trucks.
Then Dame Huntsberger leads the awardee to the Gulf Coast’s Fisherman’s Market outside of Corpus Christi, Texas to meet the Texas Black Drum Fisherman and see the catch as it comes in. The winner might even go out on one of the boats, weather permitting. The awardee will visit the very first Texas permitted oyster farm. The winner will dine at Water Street Grill and enjoy black drum and Texas farm-raised oysters, fresh out of the water.
The winner returns to Austin for a coveted BBQ lunch with Dame Stacy Franklin of Franklin Barbecue, named the top barbecue spot in the country by Bon Appetit magazine and “the best barbecue in the known universe” by Texas Monthly magazine. While there, she will learn about the Franklins’ journey from food truck to brick-and-mortar operation. Plus, she’ll learn about Franklin’s e-commerce sales, which include barbecue as well as their new custom pits. Franklin will chat about Hot Luck! and other Franklin events that regularly sell out within minutes of ticket sales opening.
The awardee should save room for cheese, because the next stop on this packed itinerary is a day with Dame Kendall Antonelli, owner of Antonelli’s Cheese Shop, exploring the retail, wholesale, e-commerce, and events sides of the business. Of course, it comes with a cheese-tasting class.
For the finale, she will spend an afternoon in Texas Hill Country tasting wine with Dame Susan Auler of award-winning Fall Creek Vineyards, one of Texas’ first vineyards.
This experience spans the industry, from planting vines, harvesting shrimp, and distributing wine, cheese, and seafood across the state, to operating brick-and-mortar establishments, exploring consumer packaging and e-commerce.
This award is particularly well-suited to someone interested in wholesale food operations or restaurants.
This experience must be completed by August 31, 2023.
The Wine & Hospitality Legacy Award (Livermore, CA)
Hosted by Grande Dame Carolyn Wente, Chairwoman of the Board and Owner,
Wente Family Estates.
Wente Family Estates in Livermore, CA, will host an exploration of winemaking and sustainable winegrowing. Founded in 1883, Wente Vineyards is the longest continuously family-owned and -operated winery in the United States.
The award winner will experience a three-day immersion learning about Wente Family Estate’s viticulture, winemaking, and hospitality philosophies. Different members of the Wente Family Estates team across viticulture, winemaking, quality, marketing, sustainable winegrowing and wine country hospitality, will give the award winner a front row seat to the operations of their business.
The Wente Family Estates team will provide an in-depth experience working in their certified-sustainable vineyards with Niki Wente, fifth-generation wine grower and director of vineyard operations. From the vineyard, the winner will shadow the winemaking team to understand the ins and outs of harvest decisions, how they make picking decisions, and how to craft final blends.
The awardee also will get a behind-the-scenes look at how the hospitality teams present wine-tasting experiences at the Wente Vineyards Tasting Lounge and Murrieta’s Well Tasting Room with Vice President of Marketing & Customer Experience Aly Wente, fifth generation winegrower, as well as with leaders of the hospitality teams. Dame Aly Wente’s marketing team leaders will educate the winner about their national brand strategies and marketing plans.
The awardee will leave with a wealth of knowledge, inspiration, and incomparable hands-on experience.
This award is particularly well suited for someone in fine beverage service or the wine industry.
This experience must occur during the 2023 harvest season (August – September).