NASHVILLE MAYOR MEGAN BARRY SPEAKS AT LES DAMES NASHVILLE ANNUAL MEETING

mayor barry with ldnash membersmegan barryNashville, TN (August 5, 2016) — The Nashville Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier held its annual meeting on Wednesday, August 3 at the Omni Nashville Hotel, where the honorable Mayor Megan Barry addressed the group as its keynote speaker.During her remarks, Mayor Barry spoke about the rapid growth of Nashville, specifically within the hospitality industry. She cited a report from the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. stating that there are more than 6,000 jobs open in the city’s hospitality industry right now. She pointed out her goal to create 10,000 new jobs for eligible youth (ages 19 to 23) by 2017, which will address the city’s staggering poverty rate, which at 19% is one of the highest in the nation. She spoke about the need for the creation of more communal, commercial kitchen space, which would support culinary entrepreneurs and women in the field. Mostly, she inspired the group with her discussion of women in the professional sphere and how it is the responsibility of women like the members of Les Dames Nashville to pull other women up alongside them.After the Mayor’s remarks, Les Dames Nashville held its annual meeting, welcoming eight new members. Our distinguished new member class of 2016 include the following inspiring women:Amy Corley (Restaurant and Lifestyle Publicist, ACPR Events and Marketing)Kathleen Cotter (Owner, The Bloomy Rind)Susan Gillituk (Product Development Manager, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store)Tallahassee May (Owner, Turnbull Creek Farm)Mara Papatheodorou (Tastings & Traditions Expert, Regent Seven Seas Cruises)Tallu Schuyler Quinn (Executive Director, The Nashville Food Project)Diane Skrabec (Assistant Director of Catering and Catering Operations, Gaylord Opryland)Sarah Worley (Owner, Biscuit Love)Once again, we thank Dame Dawn Southworth of the Omni Hotel Nashville for hosting the event.  We enjoyed an incredible artisanal cheese display curated by Stacey Ray, Maitre D'Fromage of the Omni.  After a champagne toast to the new members, we headed down to Kitchen Notes where we were greeted with specialty cocktails and creative bites including fresh peach ice cream whipped in a mixer with liquid nitrogen served on a crisp pork rind.IMG_3942Mayor Barry doesn't go anyway without her friendly security team!