DAMES WHO LEAD CULINARY TOURS ABROAD SPRING 2016 DAMES WHO LEAD CULINARY TOURS ABROAD ALSO INSIDE LEGACY AWARD REPORTS LDEI MEETING IN SEATTLE MEET THE LDEI BOARD ON THE COVER: Pumpkins in the formal gardens of Villandry Château de Villandry, a castle-palace built in 1536 during the Renaissance. It is located in Villandry, in the département of Indre-et-Loire, France, on the banks of the Loire River. Photo by Janet Chrzan (Philadelphia). Inset: London Dames Gina Mac- Adam, Chrissie Walker, and tour leader Isabel Aspillera in front of the Parador de Hondarribía El Emperador, Hondarribia, Spain, in the 10th-century Castillo de Carlos V (Castle of Charles V). Photo by Jose Macicior. The "luggage tag" is for Air France fl ight 055 nonstop from Washington Dulles Airport to Charles de Gaulle in Paris. FROM THE EDITOR Talking about Travel SPRING 2 O16 My husband is defi nitely the strong, silent type. He says I talk too much. Well, it’s a good thing I do—especially to other Dames, or I wouldn’t have discussed IN THIS ISSUE Sue Carter’s idea with Valentina Harris (both London) at the Charleston conference. Sue suggested we write FEATURES about Dames who lead culinary tours abroad. Valentina proposed to write a story about her chapter Dame, Isabel Aspillera (pictured on the cover—the one wearing sunglasses), who takes gourmets to the 4 Tasty Travels Basque region. Furthermore, I found out—yes, more talking, John—that not only 17 Board Meeting in Seattle does Valentina have a huge part in planning the “edible London” tours, she herself leads tours to Italy and France. Co-editor Susan 18 Meet the 2016 Slack (Charleston), LDEI Second Vice President Ann Stratte (Wash- Board of Directors ington, D.C.), and I discussed it and agreed this would make an interesting feature about this profession of many Dames. Th e two-dozen Dames whose stories appear on pages 4-16 were 20 LDEI Legacy Award Reports those who responded to my eBlast sent out to our more-than 2100 Dames by Executive Director Greg Jewell, proving that the early 30 Global Culinary Postcard birds get the ink. Many more Dames also lead culinary tours, and I regret not having enough pages to write about all. But we editors try 31 Making That Connection to spotlight as many diff erent Dames as possible; every Dame is a star! Even though I wanted to include Teri Sandison (San Francisco) and DEPARTMENTS Joan Nathan (Washington, D.C.), who also lead tours, we wrote a page about Teri in the summer 2014 food stylists-and-photographers Chapter News feature, and our newest Grande Dame Joan was our cover girl for the 24 fall 2015 issue. Th ey’ll be in your directory, though. While yours truly doesn’t lead professional travel tours, I certainly 27 Member Milestones have eaten my way around the world—to every continent, U.S. state, Canadian province (except Nunavut), and more than 100 countries. 31 Submission Guidelines So I very much appreciate the work these Dames do when plan- ning culinary group tours. You won’t see my byline on each of these articles, but I wrote all of them with the Dames’ approvals. I hope you will fi nd these Dames and their stories as interesting as I did. For example, who knew you could go with Guida Ponte (Boston) on a culinary tour of the Azores, Haley Nguyen (Los Angeles/Orange County to Cambodia, or Carrie McDougall (Boston) to Antarctica! Been there, but all I know about cooking a penguin is “roast it to 165 °F.” and how did I learn that? By talking to people—in this case, to the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline. —CiCi Williamson, Editor, Spring Quarterly 2 Les Dames d’Escoffier International PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE 2016 LDEI BOARD OF DIRECTORS The mission of the LDEI Board is to “Cheers to another 30 years!” foster the growth and success of the organization by supporting the Spring is nature’s way of saying, “let’s Cel- development of new and existing chapters ebrate!” Th is feels like a good way to begin my and by implementing program initiatives. message. First I’d like to celebrate our organi- It provides leadership, guidance, zation’s history. On October 27, 1986, (close education, connectivity, and effective to the New York Chapter’s 10th anniversary on communication among LDEI members. November 8), our international organization President was offi cially launched at a gala dinner in the MARIA GOMEZ-LAURENS Manager, Hospitality, HelmsBriscoe lobby of the New York Daily News Building. 11241 Avenida del Gato Attending were the presidents of our fi rst fi ve San Diego, CA 92126 chapters: New York; Washington, D.C.; Chi- (858) 633-7515 | [email protected] cago; Dallas; and Philadelphia. Th e world’s First Vice President largest globe was an appropriate backdrop to STACY ZEIGLER Director of Sales, Bold American Events commemorate the 2929 Surrey Lane growing 225-mem- Atlanta, GA 30341 bers of Les Dames (678) 302-3232 | [email protected] d’escoffi er Interna- Second Vice President tional (LDEI). ANN STRATTE Today, 30 years Owner, My Personal Chef Claire Boasi (Philadel- 100 Severn Avenue, #506 later, with 36 Annapolis, MD 21403-2622 phia), Jeanne Voltz (410) 903-2682 | [email protected] chapters, 2,100 (New York), Elayne members, and very Kleeman*, Carol Third Vice President deep roots, we Brock*, Carol Haddix HAYLEY JO MATSON-MATHES Owner/Culinary Consultant not only come to- (Chicago), Carol Mason (Washington D.C.), 2333 Kapiolani Blvd #3516 gether to celebrate Saralie Slonsky*, Laura Honolulu, HI 96826 (808) 941-9088 | [email protected] our anniversary Maioglio*, and Dolores but also—most Snyder (Dallas). Secretary importantly—to BEV SHAFFER Vitamix World Headquarters celebrate the fulfi llment of the legacy that our Stacy Zeigler (Atlanta) is developing a plan that 3433 Blake Road founding members envisioned. We all need will also bring additional fi nancial support to Seville, OH 44273 to make 2016 “A Year to Remember,” and I (440) 781-7202 | bev.foodwithattitude@gmail. our annual conference. com encourage all chapters to celebrate this very • We salute Hayley Matson-Mathes important milestone. Treasurer (Hawaii), who is serving her second year as DEBORAH ORRILL Th e best way to celebrate is to attend the out Th ird Vice President and once again has Culinary Consultant “Global Appetite, 64 Vanguard Way 2016 Annual Conference, created a solid public relations plan that will Local Impact,” in Washington, D.C. During Dallas, TX 75243 include our 30th year anniversary and specifi cs (214) 343-0124 | [email protected] our board meeting in Seattle (see page 17), on how we can celebrate it. the Washington, D.C., committee gave us Chapter Board Liaisons • Each of our six new chapters has unique JUDITH BELLOS conference details, and I can promise you this leadership strengths and challenges. A board CES & Judy's Catering/Benito's Gelato/ year’s conference will be amazing. So please task force is bringing extra support to new Arctic Dairy October 27-30, 2016 10405 Clayton Road mark your calendar for , chapters in their early stages of development. and plan ahead. Washington is a very desirable St. Louis, MO 63131 As we raise our glasses to celebrate our past (314) 524-0869 | [email protected] destination, and the city always runs a very 30 years, let’s not forget the reasons why we KATHY GOLD high hotel-occupancy! I am also pleased to as an organization have come this far! It is The Cooking Company/ announce that for the next three years, none of through our passion, love, vision, mutual In The Kitchen Cooking School our conference dates will fall on the actual day 10 Mechanic Street respect and support of one another, and our Haddonfi eld, NJ 08033 of Halloween. commitment to excellence that we will con- (609) 206-4511 | [email protected] So, yes, “let’s celebrate,” and as we raise our tinue to grow—together and individually—as DEBORAH MINTCHEFF glasses to toast and applaud our success, his- the incredible organization that we are today! Cookbook Editor & Certifi ed Life Coach tory, accomplishments, and each other, let’s 129 East 69th Street remember to use our hashtag #LDEI30 to post It is a great privilege to be a Dame, so let’s New York, NY 10021-5000 your celebrations on social media! keep true to our roots and celebrate each and (212) 879 0383 | [email protected] every bloom, “Cheers to another 30 years!” Immediate Past President ONGOING STRATEGIC PLAN LORI WILLIS 2016 started with precise goals. Your board Willco Communications & Strategic PR 1159 Charter Oak Pkwy met face to face in Seattle this past January, Creve Coeur, MO 63146 and our meeting was very productive. We (314) 994-4602 / (314) 456-5457 focused on setting up action steps for our [email protected] ongoing strategic plan. Executive Director • Our goal is to continue strengthening our GREG JEWELL President, AEC Management Resources fi nancial growth through Partnerships and along Maria Gomez-Laurens P.O. Box 4961 with AEC Management, First Vice President President, Les Dames d’escoffi er International Louisville, KY 40204 (502) 456-1851 x1 | [email protected] SPRING QUARTERLY 2016 3 DAMES WHO LEAD CULINARY TOURS ABROAD If the myth that “the earth is fl at and you can sail off the edge of it” were true, Dames leading culinary tours literally go to “the ends of the earth” to show their travelers cuisines of the world. From the DAMES WHO LEAD CULINARY TOURS ABROAD Azores to Vietnam, Dames featured here conscientiously plan, orchestrate, ➤ Isabel Aspillera (London) and guide small Northern Spain and Southwest France groups of two to 25 www.travelsandtapas.com inquisitive gourmets If you want to bask in the Basque region, choose to more than 30 Isabel Aspillera as your tour guide.