Our Story
Nashville is the 30th chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier International and was established in 2014. Our members include award-winning chefs, restaurateurs, hospitality leaders, caterers, food writers, authors, culinary publishing professionals, PR and marketing professionals, farmers, food retailers, event planners, small business owners, sommeliers, winemakers, culinary and wine educators, food historians, hoteliers, and dietitians. Our founding chapter president was Nancy Knoepfel. Past presidents include Lokelani Alabanza, Cara Graham, Claire Crowell, Andrea Lindsley, Dee Patel, Nancy Vienneau, Erin Byers, Sylvia Ganier, Anne Byrn, Merijoy Lantz Rucker. The chapter is currently lead by Amanda Virgillito.
History of Les Dames d’Escoffier International
Les Dames d'Escoffier International began in 1976, when Carol Brock, then food editor at the New York Daily News, secured a charter to form the first women's chapter of Les Amis d'Escoffier, the men-only gastronomic society founded in 1936 in honor of legendary chef Auguste Escoffier. Fifty accomplished women joined that inaugural New York chapter, aiming to raise the profile of women in food, wine, and hospitality careers long dominated by men.
As chapters formed in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Dallas, and Philadelphia through the early 1980s, their presidents came together in 1985 to establish Les Dames d'Escoffier International as the organization's governing body. Boston's own women's dining society joined as a chapter in 1991.
Today, LDEI has grown into an international network spanning the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., and Italy and continues to be rooted in Brock's founding commitment to advancing women leaders in food, beverage, and hospitality.
“Gender equity has remained central to LDEI’s mission since its founding, and today the organization has grown into a network of chapters across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., and Italy, expanding well beyond its original five-chapter foundation while still holding to Brock’s founding vision.”