Grande Dame Award

Les Dames d’Escoffier International bestows the Grande Dame Award to an exceptional woman. This honorary title is given in recognition of extraordinary contributions within the field of food, wine and other fine beverages, hospitality, nutrition, and the arts of the table or other fields that relate to these disciplines. The title of Grande Dame may be awarded to members and non-members of Les Dames d’Escoffier.

  • 2020 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Carolyn Wente
  • 2019 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Nora Pouillon
  • 2018 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Marion Nestle, PhD
  • 2017 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Lidia Bastianich
  • 2015 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Joan Nathan
  • 2013 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Dolores Cakebread
  • 2011 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Nathalie Dupree
  • 2009 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Shirley Corriher
  • 2007 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Alice Waters (click here for video)
  • 2005 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Marcella Hazan
  • 2003 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Abigail Kirsch and Rosemary Kowalski
  • 2001 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Jerry Anne DiVecchio
  • 1999 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Edna Lewis
  • 1997 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Madeleine Kamman
  • 1995 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Anne Willan
  • 1993 Grande Dame Award Recipient: Marion Cunningham

Grande Dames Honored by Chapters before the formation of LDEI

  • Carol Brock
  • M.F.K. Fisher
  • Julia Child
  • Grace Chu
  • Nika Hazelton
  • Helen McCully
  • Caroline Rose Hunt
  • Helen Bullock
  • Julie Dannenbaum