Photos: Le Dames d’Escoffier at the Restaurant School – Nathalie Dupree & Chef Jason Roberts

  Marcie Pelchat of Monell Chemical Senses Center, guided participants through an interactive discussion on taste and how our perceptions change as we age; Chef Tia McDonald (The Vetri Foundation), panelist for “Breaking the Color Barrier in the Kitchen”; there was a symposium on Women and Their Role in the French Kitchen which was gingerly explained by Chef Jason Roberts, The Chew, who stepped in for a missing Chef Georges Perrier; and Chef Marta Quintana who will teach a hands-on Cuban cooking class.  Oh, and our latest addition is tasting program on unusual fruits and veggies by Melissa’s Produce. And since all great culinary events need something delicious to wash them down with, we’re thrilled that Wente Vineyards will treat our guests to a Chardonnay tasting AND graciously sponsoring our ending reception. We’ll drink to that!  Ah, and before we forget, Event Chair Aliza Green, one of Philly’s foremost female culinarians, will be signing her latest tome, Making Artisan Pasta, recently named Cooking Light‘s Top 100 Cookbooks of the Last 25 Years, and demonstrating how to prepare hand-stretched pasta. Jumping in with an agricultural-organic twist, Farmer (and Dame) Linda Geren will be presenting a how-to on raising chickens, working with bees and more; 

Chapter President and Program Chair Dame Kathy
Gold, Chapter Vice President and
Sponsor Chair Dame Adrienne Abramson (l) and Event Chair Dame Aliza Green (r)

The day started out with breakfast, and the guests then gathered in the courtyard to meet Chef Tom Delcamp, of the Restaurant School. 

Grande Dame, Nathalie Dupree, the event’s Keynote Speaker (Nathalie Dupree is an author, chef and cooking show host whose work has
focused on American Southern cuisine. She was the first woman since
Julia Child to host more than one hundred cooking episodes on public
television.)

Dame Amy Riolo

The participants that create their own dish

bakalava

The gathered dames

Judy Wicks with her new memoir Good Morning, Beautiful Business.

Farm-to-table mixologist Katie Loeb will teach symposium guests the art of making herbal simple syrup—and tasty libations, of course.

The Brown Betty Cookbook by Linda Hinton Brown

Gluten free/vegan baking was also on the menu, served up with a special appearance by Jason Roberts from The Chew.