The 2012 LDEI Legacy Awards, supported by the Julia Child Foundation, will be given in three categories, each offered by a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier: Culinary, one hosted by Margaret Chisholm, Executive Chef, Culinary Capers Catering in Vancouver BC; and another by Executive Pastry Chef/Partner of Tru Restaurant, Chef Gale Gand, on Elawa Farm near Chicago IL; two Wine awards with Carolyn Wente, CEO of Wente Family Estates in Livermore, CA; and one Entrepreneurship – Specialty Foods with Paula Lambert, Founder/President of The Mozzarella Cheese Company in Dallas TX and one Entrepreneurship – Farm-to-Table with Ursula Massoud, owner of Paumanok Vineyards and Paulette Satur, owner of Satur Farms on Long Island, NY’s North Fork.
Established in 2009, each Legacy Award offers a one week workplace experience to non-Dame women in the USA and Canada. Under the direction of highly successful, award-winning Dames, each Legacy experience is a high energy, labor intensive, career expanding opportunity.
Whether just starting out or changing focus at mid-career, all applicants must currently be working in the food or fine beverage industries with at least four years’ experience.
Travel and hotel accommodations up to US $2000 will be reimbursed for each winner. Applications must be submitted by April 25, 2012. The winners will be announced on May 25, 2012 and the experiences must be fulfilled by October 7, 2012.
For full details and further information, please contact the Legacy Awards Co- Chairs, Marsha Palanci [email protected], (212) 605-0370 or Toria Emas [email protected] (312) 554-2141.
Entry Requirements
- Four years culinary or fine beverage work experience
- US or Canadian woman who is not a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier International Application Checklist
- Completed and signed application form located at the end of this document
- Resume
- 250 word essay about what the applicant hopes to experience
- Two letters of recommendation
Guidelines & Deadlines
SUBMIT APPLICATION BY April 25, 2012
Send the completed application to Dame Marsha Palanci, Legacy Awards Committee Co-Chair, at [email protected].
All applications must be submitted electronically. If you don’t have a scanner for your signature page, fax that ONE page to (212) 605-0371. No cover page is necessary.
Winners will be announced on May 25, 2012. The award must be completed by October 7, 2012.
Award Summaries
Culinary Host: Culinary Capers Catering, Vancouver BC
Work side-by-side with experienced catering chefs in our busy production kitchens at Vancouver’s market leader in off-premise catering ( www .culinarycapers.com).
Executive Chef Margaret Chisholm leads a group of top culinary professionals dedicated to producing cutting-edge West Coast cuisine. Our creative team has been honoured with many national and international awards by the special events and catering industry. Recent awards include the prestigious International Achievement in Catering Excellence (ACE) Award, the Special Events Magazine Gala Award for Best Off-Premise Catered Event, and Chef Margaret’s nomination for Chef of the Year at the 2011 International Caterers Association’s CATIE Awards You will work with our Pastry Chef, Chef de Cuisine and other team members and attend off-premise corporate and social events where the final magic happens. A fun field-trip to close-by Granville Island Market with one of our chefs will also be a highlight.
In addition, you will meet other members of the Les Dames d’Escoffier British Columbia Chapter. Join Nancy Wong on a culinary and restaurant tour of Vancouver’s amazing food shops, apothecaries, thriving restaurants scene, and such 'traditional' gems as the New Town Bakery - a Hong Kong-style café. Tour Terra Breads, Vancouver’s foremost maker of artisan breads using traditional methods, with Head Baker Mary MacKay. Spend time with Allison Spurrell at Les Amis du Fromage (the friends of cheese) tasting our best local and regional cheeses.
This award is designed for both the novice looking to gain experience in the catering world and for someone who already has some experience and wants to expand their knowledge. Basic knife skills and sturdy non-slip shoes are required. Be prepared to stand on your feet and work in a fast paced kitchen environment.
Host: Chef Gale Gand and Elawa Farm, Lake Forest, IL
Spend five days working, baking, and cooking with nationally acclaimed pastry chef and TV personality, Chef Gale Gand (www.galegand.com) at historic Elawa Farm 30 miles north of Chicago ( www .elawafarm.org). This 100 year old restored farm is home to Open Lands' 700 acres of wet lands and trails, The Wild Life Discovery Center, an animal rescue facility and the Garden at Elawa Farm.
Join Chef-In-Residence, Chef Gale Gand, Executive Pastry Chef and Partner of the one Michelin star restaurant Tru, in the kitchen at Elawa Farm to bake scones with local fruit, artisan breads, muffins using honey from one of their five bee hives, pies, tea cakes, and cookies. Make soups, pesto and pasta from scratch with herbs from their garden for the onsite farmers market and work in the garden where produce is grown for Chef Gand’s use.
Wine
Host: Wente Family Estates, Livermore CA
Experience winegrowing in two distinct CA appellations – Livermore Valley and Arroyo Seco, where you will spend a week during Harvest 2012 with Dame Carolyn Wente, CEO of Wente Family Estates; Dame Amy Hoopes, EVP Sales and CMO; and Fifth Generation Winemaker Karl Wente. The Wente Family estate (www.wentevineyards.com) spans nearly 3,000 acres of vineyards in two appellations, Livermore Valley and Arroyo Seco. With over 30 cultivars and multiple meso-climates, the award winner will learn the importance of viticultural practices in crafting superior wines. The experience will also include time in the organic gardens and in the kitchen with Eric Berg, Executive Chef at The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards.
The week will begin in the vineyards and then move into the winery, with hands-on work in both. Harvest occurs day and night, depending on the vineyard block and harvesting practice. The award winner will ride the mechanical harvester at night and pick grapes during the day. Follow the grapes’ winemaking path from the vineyard to the winery, working on the sorting table, to pressing and fermentation. You will learn the decision- making process from the vineyard to the cellar and the different techniques used crafting for the highest quality red and white.
When taking a break from winegrowing, the award winner will have the opportunity to spend some time exploring the organic garden at Wente Vineyards and working with Chef Berg and the culinary team in preparing the daily menu at The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards. Join Dames Carolyn Wente and Amy Hoopes for various meals on property to discuss the winery’s (and family’s) philosophy on wine and food.
The award winner must be physically fit and flexible – each day may bring a challenge from Mother Nature and your ability to adapt makes you a better vineyard worker /cellar worker from your host’s perspective. Clothing should be your best ‘grubbies’ – we’ll provide rubber boots, picking shears, etc. It can be warm during the day and then cool during the night, so layers are important. Casual clothes for restaurant and grill dining are recommended.
Accommodations are in the winery guest cottage adjacent to the restaurant and vineyards. Meals are included for the week. We look forward to hosting two winners!
Entrepreneurship -- Specialty Foods
Host: The Mozzarella Company, Dallas TX
Now in its 30th year, The Mozzarella Company in Dallas TX is one of America’s leading producers of artisanal cheese ( www .mozzco.com). Founder/CEO Paula Lambert and her staff of 18 make 28 different cheeses, which they sell online, as well as to grocery and specialty stores, as well as to top chefs across the country. The Mozzarella Company fresh and aged cheeses are consistently recognized for their excellence, most recently with three First Places in the 2010 American Cheese Society competition.
The Legacy Award winner will experience first-hand how farm-fresh cow’s milk and goat’s milk are made into a variety of different artisanal fresh and aged cheeses. The work will involve receiving milk, pasteurization, making cheese, working in the cheese factory with experienced cheese makers, packaging cheese, shipping cheese, as well as inventorying cheese.
Additional experiences might include working in the office, delivering cheese, and/or helping at a cheese and wine or beer pairing class, depending on the Mozzarella Company’s schedule the internship.
The award is open to anyone professionally interested in specialty food production and especially artisanal cheese. She will stay in Paula Lambert’s guesthouse, located three miles from Mozzarella Company, in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas. Legacy Award Entrepreneurship -- Farm-to-Table
Hosts: Dame Paulette Satur, owner of Satur Farms and Paumanok Vineyards owner Dame Ursula Massoud on Long Island, NY’s North Fork
This Legacy Award offers an outstanding opportunity to see two highly successful family- owned and operated farms in action and learn how they grow, harvest, package and market specialty produce and premium wines.
Chef Eberhard Mueller and Dame Paulette Satur, who purchased their North Fork farm in 1997, originally planned to grow some vegetables and herbs for Chef Müller's famed Lutèce restaurant in Manhattan. Once colleagues in New York City asked if they might be able to buy their produce, the farm as a business became a reality.
Satur Farms (www.saturfarms.com) is now the leading supplier of salad greens, culinary herbs and specialty vegetables in and around New York City, selling to consumers at retail as well as to top chefs. Satur Farms is also an agricultural and economic powerhouse on Long Island, earning Paulette a seat on the governor’s New York Economic Development Council.
The Legacy winner will spend two days at Satur Farms, learning from Eberhard how his extreme perfectionism propelled his quest for perfect produce. After touring the growing fields, packing facility and sales office, Paulette will describe their business model and methods and will offer an in-depth look behind the scenes of local food production.
Then, welcome to Long Island Wine Country!! Just down the road from Satur Farms, Ursula Massoud will host three days at Paumanok Vineyards (www.paumanok.com), where the Legacy winner will work in both field and processing environments (sturdy non-slip shoes are required).
Long Island’s North Fork is a premier vinifera grape-growing region with a cool maritime climate, ideally suited to high quality wine production. The Massoud family – Charles, Ursula and their three sons – work together as a team to grow grapes, then produce, present and sell some of the North Fork’s top wines. Only estate grown grapes are used to produce some 9000 cases each year.
The Legacy experience will take place during harvest after September 10. Hand harvesting of high acidity grapes may be underway for sparkling wines, as well as for early ripening Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc. The cellar will be prepared for grape crushing and winemaking. Tanks and barrels will be readied to hold newly fermenting juice. Grapes will be tasted and measured in the lab for sugar, acid and pH to determine optimum harvest dates.
The complete portfolio of Paumanok wines will be tasted, as well as barrel samples still aging.
The tasting room will be busy welcoming visitors who want to taste and buy wine and will offer a great opportunity to see hospitality and education and sales in action. There might be visits from a restaurant sommelier or wine merchants. Wine orders will need to be processed and shipped to restaurant and store accounts. Wine journalists may call, wanting to write about the winery and the region.
The experience will be an intensive firsthand introduction to viticulture, enology, marketing, public relations and hospitality. Sturdy non-slip shoes are required. Be prepared to stand on your feet and work in both a field and processing environment.
Meals will be provided at the winery; accommodations will be at a nearby bed & breakfast or motel. The internship will take place between September 10 and October 7, 2012.
2012 Legacy Award Application
This application is for a Culinary, Entrepreneurship Farm-to-Table, Entrepreneurship Specialty Foods, or Wine Legacy Award (please circle one).
Name: ______
Profession/Title: ______
Home Address: ______
______
Work Address: ______
______
Home Phone: ______Work Phone: ______
Email: ______
If selected, I will:
- make my own travel arrangements with the award host and complete the award by October 7, 2012
- agree to LDEI’s right to publicize the award and will provide a digital photo headshot
- provide my Social Security number for tax purposes
- provide original documentation of travel expenses for reimbursement up to US $2000
- write a 500 word article for the LDEI Quarterly and possibly attend and present an experience summary at the LDEI conference in St. Louis on October 12-13, 2012.
AGREED TO: (please sign your name & date on the line below).