Les Dames D'Escoffier Austin Chapter

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Les Dames D'Escoffier Austin Chapter

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The Austin Chapter was Founded in 2003. We're women of achievement and great taste in the Culinary, Fine Beverage and Hospitality professions.

We fundraise for scholarships and grants for women in food and beverage.

10/05/2026

October’s Second Tuesday is taking us to Siti! ✨

Join your fellow Austin Dames for a casual Happy Hour & Member Meetup at Siti, from Dame Chef Laila Bazahm. Come catch up, connect, and spend an evening with our Les Dames community while experiencing Laila’s modern Southeast Asian restaurant. 💛

📅 Tuesday, October 13
⏰ 5:00–7:30 PM
📍 Siti | 1123 E 11th St, Austin

This is a FREE event for Les Dames Austin members. We can’t wait to see you there! 🥂

09/18/2026

THANK YOU to all of our sponsors, participants, chefs, venue hosts, volunteers, and guests for making Soil to Soul a magical night for us to remember✨️

We can't wait for next year!💙

📸 Deb Lindsey

09/16/2026

🌟Dame Spotlight: Melanie Mcafee🌟

Founder and CEO of Barr Mansion (1981-2026). Barr Mansion is an organic wedding and event venue that has hosted more than 100 weddings each year while pioneering sustainable event practices. In 2024 my daughter, Abby Daigle, purchased the wedding business. Today, I remain the founder and landowner, using Barr to host up to 10 mission-driven events each year focused on food sustainability, and climate solutions.

My goal is to build relationships with organizations and individuals who believe food can be one of the greatest tools for improving the health of our planet. I hope to inspire change by bringing together chefs, farmers, scientists, educators, and community leaders.

I have been a Dame for many years, but this is the first season of my life where I truly have the time to be an active member. It has been a joy getting to know so many talented women in our food community.

Barr Mansion became the first event venue to achieve organic certification in 2007, followed by certification of our grounds in 2009. These accomplishments sparked an even deeper interest in how food systems can improve our communities and our planet.

We are you are a part of the Les Dames d'Escoffier Austin Melanie! Thank you so much for hosting Soil to Soul for our community 💙

09/14/2026

MEET THE SOIL TO SOUL CHEFS: JAM SANITCHAT 👩‍🍳

If you’ve spent any time eating in Austin, chances are you know Chef Jam Sanitchat.

Jam opened Thai Fresh in 2008 and Gati in 2020, building both around the flavors and traditions of Thailand while putting her own Austin spin on them. She’s also the author of a cookbook published by University of Texas Press and a familiar face at the Austin Food & W**e Festival.

Jam is providing the finale dish for Soil to Soul with Sweets from the Orchard, keeping things seasonal with a Texas peach ice cream sundae 🍑🍦

Come say hi to Jam this Wednesday, September 16th at Barr Mansion alongside all of the other incredible Soil to Soul chefs.

09/11/2026

MEET THE SOIL TO SOUL CHEFS: JENNY GOODWYN 👩‍🍳

Jenny founded it’s all good goods in 2015, building her small batch bakery around gluten free sourdough, organic and local ingredients, natural fermentation, and thoughtfully sourced grains 🌾

Her approach is simple: start with good ingredients, give them time, and let the grains do the talking

For Soil to Soul, Jenny will be filling the Grains Basket with with regeneratively sourced gluten-free sourdough and artisan loaves made for sharing — a reminder that good bread starts long before it reaches the oven 🥖

🌱 Come taste what happens when craft, fermentation, and a little patience come together.

Soil to Soul | September 16 | Barr Mansion

Tickets are $175 and support scholarships for women in food, beverage & hospitality.

09/08/2026

MEET THE SOIL TO SOUL CHEFS: SONYA COTE 👩‍🍳

For Chef Sonya Côté, the farm has always been at the heart of the table.

As the chef and owner of Store House Market + Eatery, a market and eatery, Sonya builds her menus around the seasonal harvest from Eden East, letting what’s growing, what’s abundant, and what’s grown close to home guide the food 🥕

A James Beard Foundation Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership alum, Chef Bootcamp for Policy & Change alum, and JBF mentor, Sonya has built her career around local sourcing, sustainable agriculture, and creating food that celebrates the abundance of Central Texas.

For Soil to Soul, Sonya will bring that same farm driven philosophy to the table with the Visionary Veggies Course.

Come try Sonya’s dish & meet all of the incredible chefs on September 16th! 🎟️ Get your ticket today! Link in bio.

09/04/2026

MEET THE SOIL TO SOUL CHEFS: BECCA SEILER 👩‍🍳

For Becca Seiler, food starts in the soil 🌿

A farmer, pop up producer, and owner/operator of Foodie + Tina, Becca and her husband run an urban farm and sushi concept rooted in connecting people to the local foodshed through thoughtful pairings, Japanese techniques, and environmental stewardship.

For our sustainable starts at the Garden Cocktail Hour, Becca brings that philosophy to the plate with a Wild Hog BLT Bite. Cured Texas wild hog, peak season tomato, tomato leaf aioli, garden greens, and sourdough 🍅

The dish celebrates the whole ingredient: using invasive Texas wild hog and incorporating tomato leaves and stems into the aioli to reduce waste and honor what the land provides.

Join us September 16 at Barr Mansion to taste Becca’s dish and celebrate the women farmers, chefs, and food producers shaping Austin’s food system.

09/02/2026

SO, WHAT DOES YOUR SOIL TO SOUL TICKET GET YOU?

How about a one night only dinner featuring 8 of Austin’s most compelling women in food?? From Michelin Guide recognized talent and James Beard Foundation leaders to Austin culinary legends, a buzzy new omakase chef, a legendary seafood institution, and culinary artisans deeply rooted in local agriculture.

And that’s just who’s cooking👩‍🍳

Your $175 ticket gets you:

🌿 A Garden Cocktail Hour
Seasonal bites, chef tasting stations, freshly shucked Gulf oysters, craft cocktails, b**r & w**e.

🔥 A One Night Only Multi Course Dinner
Eight women chefs coming together to create a meal you simply can’t order off a menu anywhere else. Think live fire cooking, Gulf seafood, seasonal produce, grains, and innovative proteins, all rooted in the connection between soil, food and community.

🥂 Drinks All Night
Craft cocktails from Deep Eddy Vodka and Tequila Ocho, b**r & w**e are included with your ticket.

🏛️ One Beautiful Night at Barr Mansion
An unforgettable setting, an extraordinary meal and the chance to experience what happens when some of Austin’s best culinary minds share one kitchen.

💚 And Your Ticket Gives Back
Soil to Soul supports scholarships and opportunities for women pursuing careers in food, beverage and hospitality.

📅 Wednesday, September 16

📍 Barr Mansion

🎟️ Tickets are on sale now.

08/31/2026

MEET THE SOIL TO SOUL CHEFS: ALMA ALCOCER-THOMAS 👩‍🍳

Chef Alma Alcocer-Thomas of iconic Austin staple El Alma brings her vibrant, deeply rooted Mexican cuisine to Soil to Soul on September 16.

For the Garden Cocktail Hour, Chef Alma will serve a sustainable start featuring mushrooms as the star of the dish, a delicious, lower impact protein that puts plants front and center 🍄‍🟫

We’re thrilled to have Chef Alma join an incredible lineup of women chefs coming together to create an evening that celebrates food, community, and a more sustainable future for our industry.

Meet Alma and the rest of our incredible chefs at Soil to Soul, September 16 at Barr Mansion 🌿

08/30/2026

MEET THE SOIL TO SOUL CHEFS: CAROL HUNTSBERGER 👩‍🍳

Meet Carol Huntsberger, proprietor of Quality Seafood Market

Carol is bringing one of the Gulf’s most iconic ingredients to our garden cocktail hour: freshly shucked oysters, served on the half shell 🦪🍋

Oysters are more than a delicacy, they play an important role in healthy coastal ecosystems. This dish celebrates responsible coastal sourcing, the Gulf waters that sustain us, and the people working to connect Austin to quality, responsibly sourced seafood.

But this collaboration goes beyond cocktail hour. Quality Seafood Market is also supplying the sustainable seafood for Chef Laila Bazahm’s live-fire paella entrée, making this a true collaboration from the first bite to the main course 🥘

Since 1938, Quality Seafood has been an Austin institution, supplying fresh seafood to restaurants, retailers, caterers, and generations of Austinites.

Join Carol and our incredible chefs and makers at Soil to Soul, September 16 at Barr Mansion, for an evening celebrating sustainable food, the people behind it, and the future of our food system.

🎟️ Get your ticket today! Link in bio.

Address

Austin, TX

Website

http://www.ldeiaustin.org/, https://www.ldeiaustin.org/yougrillgirl

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