LDEI-SF Annual Awards Celebration 

Monday, April 28, 2025

5:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Tickets: $50

The Civic Kitchen Cooking School
2961 Mission St, San Francisco

Join us in celebrating the winners of our 2024 philanthropic awards! 

The core mission of Les Dames d'Escoffier International is to inspire, advance, and support women in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries to achieve leadership and excellence. Our San Francisco Chapter does this through three programs: L’Etoile d’Escoffier Culinary Scholarship, the Karola Saekel Excellence in Food Journalism Fellowship, and the Female Entrepreneur Grant & Mentorship. 

Please join us for a festive reception to celebrate the five 2024 winners of these philanthropic awards. Meet and mingle with these remarkable women and learn more about their careers, accomplishments, and businesses while you sip sparkling wine and graze on a market-fresh menu generously donated by Dame Sara Wilson, managing partner of Market Hall Caterers.

Tickets & Raffle: Tickets are $50. This event is open to the public and will feature a raffle benefiting our Chapter; prizes include SFMOMA tickets, a specialty spice gift set, Fairytale Brownies, and cookbooks from Dame Andrea Nguyen and Dame Tanya Holland.

Location & Parking: The Civic Kitchen Cooking School, owned by Dame Jen Nurse, is at 2961 Mission St., San Francisco, less than two blocks from the 24th Street BART station. There is street parking with meters operating until 6:00 pm or the Mission/Bartlett Garage at 21st St. & Bartlett. Click here for more information and a map.

Donations Welcome! Please consider donating to any of these three worthwhile programs for our 2025 awards. Visit our Donate page and indicate the amount and fund you wish to support. Our General Fund supports our Chapter operations. Thank you! 

More about our winners: 

• Culinary Scholarship recipient Natasha House studies at City College of San Francisco while running her own personal-chef business. Ruby Pokras is a student at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena and an active culinary volunteer around Napa Valley.

• Food Journalism Fellow Briana James is a writer and illustrator who also serves as Assistant Editor at Clarkson Potter. Her work often appears in Edible East Bay and Eater and can be found on her website, brijames.com.

• Entrepreneur Grant winner Eleana Hsu is founder of Shared Cultures, a San Francisco company specializing in modern fermented food products using koji. Wafa Bahloul is the chef-owner of Kayma Algerian Eatery and is renowned for her Algerian sweets. 

Thank you to our generous sponsors!