The Greater Des Moines Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI) was founded in 2016. We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit philanthropic organization and the only Iowa-based chapter of LDEI, which has been celebrating women in the culinary, beverage, and hospitality industries and making change happen in communities around the world for 35+ years. So who are the Dames? We’re restaurateurs, chefs, bakers, caterers, dietitians, food and beverage retailers, magazine editors, marketers, educators, communications specialists, food writers, and more.

Our mission is to provide opportunities to network, celebrate, and support women in our fields locally and globally, and to offer community-based education and philanthropy in the areas of food, beverage, and hospitality. We gather regularly to share food and sisterhood, brainstorm ideas—and have lots of good Dame fun.

LDEI is a global philanthropic society of women leaders and trailblazers in the culinary, beverage, and hospitality professions. This nonprofit organization coordinates educational programs, community service, and charitable events to foster excellence and promote the achievements of women in the culinary arts.

The Les Dames d’Escoffier name is a spin-off of an all-male culinary organization, Les Amis d’Escoffier Society of New York, Inc., that started in 1936. It was named after Auguste Escoffier, a legendary French chef, cookbook author, and culinary innovator. In the early 1970s, Carol Brock, then the Sunday food editor at The New York Daily News set about creating the first organization for professional culinary women. She wanted to raise the image and presence of women in the food, wine and hospitality industries—which were still largely dominated by men—and eventually received a charter from the New York Les Amis d’Escoffier Society to form a “ladies’ chapter.”