Celebrating 30 Years!
Les Dames d’Escoffier, San Antonio Chapter
By Nichole Bendele
Photos courtesy of Les Dames d’Escoffier San Antonio
“We started our chapter with 10 members,” recalls Karen Haram, a founding member of Les Dames d’Escoffier San Antonio (LDEISA), of the initial meeting of the group in 1995. “We were all busy with our careers and thought starting with the minimum number needed for a chapter was the best way to begin. We all remembered the old saying, ‘Too many cooks…'”
Haram and three other women — Pat Mozersky, Nancy Lazara, and Lenny Angel – had gathered around a table for brunch at La Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe on Broadway. Their intent was to form a local chapter of the international organization by inviting six more women leaders in the fields of food, beverage, hospitality, and related areas.
Haram was the award-winning Food and Taste Editor at the San Antonio Express-News. Mozersky was a cooking instructor and food columnist for the Express-News. Angel was a cookbook author and cooking teacher. Lazara was vice president of food service and product development at H-E-B.
The group considered other members who were leaders in the culinary community and invited Rosemary Kowalski, a nationally known caterer who founded The RK Group. Patsy Swendson was a cookbook author with a cooking show on KENS-TV. Barbara Bechtold was a wine expert. Cynthia Guido started Ciao, the first local gourmet take-out. Prissy Kent was a hotel catering director. Cynthia Pedregon owned The Peach Tree, a popular tearoom in Fredericksburg.
“What a prestigious group we turned out to be!” says Guido. Kowalski went on to be selected as a Grand Dame, the international organization’s highest honor. Mozersky served as president on the international board and edited the group’s “Cooking with Les Dames d’Escoffier: At Home with the Women Who Shape the Way We Eat and Drink” cookbook.
Established in 1995, these 10 women were the founding members of the San Antonio chapter. Haram is the only founding member who remains an active member today, serving as a committee chair. The group is part of Les Dames d’Escoffier, an international organization of women leaders who create a supportive culture in their communities to achieve excellence in their professions. Members share knowledge, support members, and provide leadership, educational opportunities, and philanthropic events for the larger community.
Named in honor of Auguste Escoffier, the international organization was founded in 1976 by the late Carol Brock, a New York City food writer, when Les Amis d’Escoffier — an all-male organization — did not allow women members. Escoffier was a French chef, restaurateur, and culinary writer who updated and popularized traditional French cooking methods in the 20th century. The French press called him the “king of chefs and chef of kings”. He was also deeply involved in charitable work.
LDEISA — a 501(c)(3) non-profit — continues the legacy of Escoffier’s charitable work and community outreach. Some of the initiatives LDEISA is involved with include Roy Maas Youth Alternatives (RMYA), Green Tables, scholarships, and Aspiration Grants.
Annually, the group provides a holiday steak dinner and gifts from Santa for the children of RMYA, which provides a healing shelter for children who have suffered abuse and violence. Young adults from RMYA Turning Point Transitional Living Program are also included.
With the Green Tables initiative, LDEISA sponsors the San Antonio Time Dollar Community as well as community gardens through food and monetary donations. Members also conduct cooking demonstrations and food and nutrition classes. Annually, the group provides 80 low-income families with Thanksgiving turkey and Christmas ham dinners with all the trimmings.
LDEISA has also worked with C.I.E.L.O. (Community, Interfaith, Education, Literacy, and Opportunities) Gardens, giving San Antonio’s refugee population a chance to grow their own food, make friends, and gain confidence in their new community. Casa Mia Gardens, a refuge for mothers with opioid use disorders and their infants, is another community garden LDEISA has assisted. Linda Triesch, Kim Mauldin, and Debby Stein are Green Tables co-chairs.
The LDEISA Scholarships are designed to help women further their educations in food, beverage, agriculture, nutrition, and hospitality. The chapter has awarded nearly 100 scholarships totaling some $329,000. Co-chairs are Elise Russ and Diana Barrios Trevino.
Aspiration Grants — begun by Kathy Shearer, the current chair is Abby Kurth — help women business owners take their operations to the next level, providing everything from cooking kettles for producing broths to walk-in coolers to increase cold storage. After Hurricane Harvey, the grants helped women in the Port Aransas–Rockport area purchase equipment needed to reopen their restaurants.
LDEISA holds a major fundraiser each year, including Meals on Reels, A Evening Inspired by Julia Child (a Dame herself!), Lone Star Afternoon, and Fried Chicken & Bubbles. Most recently, the 30th Birthday Fundraiser at The Red Berry Estate, chaired by Elise Russ, cleared $118,000.
Celebrating its 30th birthday this year, LDEISA counts as members women leaders in food, nutrition, wine, beverages, hospitality, arts of the table, agriculture, and related fields. Eight new members were inducted into the chapter in September: Angela Burns, Sarah Felix, Alejandra A. Lopez, Lizzeth D. Martinez, Michelle Metzger, Grecia Ramos, Zoe Stanley, and Elisa Trevino, bringing membership to 100. From farmers and dietitians, chefs to sommeliers, wholesale food purveyors to restaurateurs, Dames have varied backgrounds and play a big role in our community.
Several Dames will have food and beverage concessions at the San Antonio Airport: Allison Balfour of Southerleigh, Crystal Dady of Tre Trattoria, Nicola Blaque of Freight Chicken, Elizabeth Johnson of Pharm Table, and Nichole Bendele of Becker Vineyards.
The current Board Members of Les Dames d’Escoffier San Antonio include: Susan Johnson and Nichole Bendele, Co-Presidents; Diana Adkison, First Vice-President of Membership; Emily Simpson, Second Vice President of Programs; Jennifer Michaelis, Recording Secretary; Cathy Siegel, Corresponding Secretary; Darcie Schipull, Archivist; Di-anna Arias, Treasurer; and Nancy Fitch and Naylene Dillingham, Immediate Past Presidents. For more information regarding LDEISA and or to make donations, visit ldeisanantonio.org or info@ldei.org.
Photo taken at the 2002 Les Dames d’Escoffier International Conference in San Antonio.
Front row seated in circle left to right: Diana Barrios Trevino,
Ana Martinez Egan, Pat Mozersky, Rosemary Kowalski (deceased), Tracey Maurer.
Back row left to right: Lyn Christal, Blanca Aldaco, Bettie Lee Wilson, Bunny Becker (deceased),
Cynthia Guido, June Hayes, Susan Johnson, Jenny Mattingsley, Lyn Selig, Karen Haram,
Anne Reece, Donna Vaughan, Johanna Brown, Kathy Gottsacker.
