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INTERVIEW: Les Dames d'Escoffier International president Suzanne Brown
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
INTERVIEW: Les Dames d'Escoffier International president Suzanne Brown
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As we speak, the dames of Les Dames d'Escoffier International � the "organization of women leaders in food" � are packing in to the Sofitel for four days of eating and networking at their annual conference. The org features more than 1,400 members from 26 international chapters �� culinary luminaries, food writers, educators, chefs, PR specialists, historians, scientists, authors, retail specialists, caterers, tour planners, nutritionists, manufacturers, stylists and more. But for all their renown, I felt like there was something missing from their legend � a face, a voice. That was remedied quickly upon speaking with Suzanne J. Brown, a coffee and tea marketing specialist and president of LDEI.
Meal Ticket: When did you take the reins of the organization?
Suzanne J. Brown: A year ago. The term for the president is one year, so my term ends at the end of this conference.
MT: So then, you�re gonna be throwing things around, getting drunk, and the whole event will turn into a bacchanal, right?
SB: Yeah, that�s the way we�ll celebrate when I pass the gavel. But seriously, it�s the president�s responsibility to develop the conference and preside over it. She is the one responsible for it. And then the host, which is Philadelphia this year, has a local committee that will, along with our board of directors, actually execute and to find community speakers.
MT: Why was the organization formed in the first place?
SB: At the time we started in the '70s, there weren't very many women chefs. And it was really not a profession for women. So there were several women in New York � including Karen Brock, our founder, who is still living and will be in Philadelphia � who gathered women together because of her standing in restaurant critic circles. There was a small group of women that got together and thought, "You know what? We need to create a community for women that want to be chefs that want to go to culinary school. We need to raise the awareness that there are a lot of capable women who are already cheffing or that want to chef." So they did � they formed this organization, and the purpose is to raise funds within our chapters for scholarships given to women who want to pursue careers in the culinary field.
MT: Do you feel as if your mission has been met? Are people catching the drift?
SB: I think it�s equal opportunity now, and it�s just continuing to grow and more professionals [are coming] into the field. We discover more culinary opportunities. � One of the differences between Les Dames and other culinary organizations, other than being by invitation only ... [is] that [these] are women of accomplishment. They�re not at the beginning of their careers. They have already sort of made their mark or are making their mark. We have a diverse membership in terms of profession that is different than other, similar kinds of organizations.
We are [also] international and trying to grow that facet of our organization. For instance, one of our goals this year was a new initiative called the Global Culinary Initiative, where we become more active in their communities to engage with the population. Philadelphia is an ideal example. Your international flavors tend to fit within Philadelphia and the surrounding communities. It�s an opportunity for the Dames to embrace that and bring the ethnic culinarians into the fold and share tradition, ways to cook, culture, into our food first, and then to share ours with them. In other words, bring them, let�s embrace them, let�s work with them, let�s learn from them, make them members. We�re about women helping women.
MT: Why did you choose Philadelphia for this year�s event?
SB: Every year, we try to balance the location of our conference. For instance, one year, we�ll have it on the East Coast, which is this year, and Philadelphia stepped up to the plate and offered to be the host city. Last year, we had it in Honolulu. So next year, we�ll go back to the west, and Palm Springs, California has offered to be the host city. We have chapters all over North America, [so] we try to offer a city where at least some part of the population will be able to get there if they hadn�t made the previous one.
This is the 21st conference, and we�re glad to be there. I love Philadelphia � I used to live in Bucks County. We try to develop a theme for the conference that is sort of indigenous with the host city, and this year, because of the wealth of history and the wealth of significant architecture and art and food, we felt that it was the year to really focus on education. I�m an Easterner, so I love the historical, the educational, and enrichment activities that take in those fine points of the Philadelphia area.
Featured speakers include Marion Nestle, Ph.D., Mr. Michael Whiteman, and Marcia Levin Pelchat, Ph.D.� Nestle, the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at New York University, will present the keynote address on Fri., Oct. 2 at 8:15 a.m. on "Today's Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Cook and Eat from Farm to Table." Afterwards, Whiteman, president of Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Company, will address "After the Downturn Turns Around: Preparing for Change." On Sat., Oct. 3, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Dr. Pelchat will discuss "Our Aging Senses and Cuisine." These presentations are open to food professionals for a fee. To purchase tickets visit ldei.org.
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