Welcome to Les Dames d’Escoffier CHARLESTON
Providing Opportunities for Women
in Culinary and Hospitality Industries
Welcome to Les Dames d’Escoffier CHARLESTON
Providing Opportunities for Women
in Culinary and Hospitality Industries
Our Story
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
Pay Your Dues!
Upcoming Events
Become a Member!
Become a Member!
Our Charity Partner
Become a Member!
Our Charity Partner
Our Charity Partner
Our Charity Partner
Scholarships
Our Charity Partner
Our Charity Partner
Dames in the News
Fundraising Podcast
Dames in the News
Members Only
Fundraising Podcast
Dames in the News
Fundraising Podcast
Fundraising Podcast
Nathalie Dupree's Goodbye!
Nathalie Dupree's Goodbye!
Nathalie Dupree's Goodbye!
Nathalie Dupree's Goodbye!
donate to the scholarship fund
Your contributions will enable us to support women in the food, beverage and hospitality industry.
Our Board of Directors
Helen Mitternight, President
Amanee Neirouz, Vice President
Amanee Neirouz, Vice President
Helen Mitternight is a former AP reporter and current freelancer living in downtown Charleston. She grew up eating food prepared by a country Southern grandma on her dad's side and a Sicilian grandmother on her mother's, and her best memories involve food. Helen's byline has been in Charleston's Post and Courier, Local Palate, Edible Charleston, and Health Links Magazine, among others. She has two monthly columns for Skirt Charleston -- one on food and one on nonprofits. She's a blogger: her lifestyle blog is, "Stilettos Not Required," and she's the relationship/sex blogger for Charleston Magazine's Grit, "What's Love Got to Do With It?" And she's a podcaster. Her 30-minute weekly interview podcast for over-50s is called "Keep it Juicy!" and her love of food has led her to start a column and a podcast called, "Hidden F&B," celebrating the hidden heroes in the food and bev scene.
Amanee Neirouz, Vice President
Amanee Neirouz, Vice President
Amanee Neirouz, Vice President
Operations Manager, Ms. Rose’s Fine Food + Cocktails. It takes humble persistence and an inspired stomach to go from a rural town outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, to an executive chef in culinary hotspot Charleston, S.C. But that’s the story of Amanee Neirouz. She came to Charleston in 2005 and was a butcher at the Sanctuary on Kiawah Island before starting at Relish Restaurant group as a part-time pastry chef in 2008. In the near decade that she has been with the group, she has worked her way up the ranks to serve as both an Executive Chef and Executive Pastry Chef for the restaurant group. In her current role for Ms. Rose’s Fine Food and Cocktails, Amanee serves as Operations Manager and oversees catering functions, manages teams, streamlines operations and handles administrative duties. Some of Amanee’s most prized professional moments include traveling to Cortimellia, Italy, to represent America in the 2014 International Hazelnut Festival and having her smoked chocolate parfait named “Best Frozen Dessert” by Food Network Magazine in 2013. She also participates in many charity events, including Chef's Feast, Feed the Need, Chocolate Affair, etc.
Jamie Ann French, Secretary
Amanee Neirouz, Vice President
Katherine Frankstone, Treasurer
Jamie Ann French was a corporate trainer and banquet chef, traveling the country with Maggiano's Little Italy prior to becoming an executive chef and regional chef for Romano's Macaroni Grill. In her nearly two decades with Romano's, she sat on the company Culinary Counsel, assisted in menu development, chef training and led over 70 restaurants in inventory development and improvement. Since settling in Charleston, Jamie has been the Culinary Lead and Assistant Manager of Williams-Sonoma. She teaches Williams-Sonoma culinary classes and cooking skill seminars. The highlight of her year being her self-curated classes offered during Charleston's Wine & Food Festival. Jamie also participated in four Seasons of Delicious Miss Brown on The Food Network as a food stylist and even appearing in one episode with her family!
Katherine Frankstone, Treasurer
Angie Colyer DuPree, Past President
Katherine Frankstone, Treasurer
When Katherine Frankstone was the tender age of five, all she longed for was her very own Easy Bake oven. Her parents had other plans, though- and chose to steer her from the toy shop, back home to the warmth of their own kitchen. It was there she climbed up on a stool alongside her father and learned to bake in the real thing. For decades, she has been satisfying the sweet teeth of her husband, sons, and flocks of friends with her perfectly balanced, crisp- yet chewy cookies.
Coming from a family of driven entrepreneurs – her grandparents founded an insurance company in the middle of the Great Depression – Katherine was inspired to transform her hobby into her own specialty food company. With Grey Ghost Bakery, Katherine is serving up a taste of her childhood with a good old fashioned dose of Lowcountry ghost lore.
Angie Colyer DuPree, Past President
Angie Colyer DuPree, Past President
Angie Colyer DuPree, Past President
Angie is the Director of Training at One80 Place and has been with the organization since 2012. One80 is the largest provider of homeless services in the state of South Carolina. Angie and her team run the Zucker Community Kitchen, the robust food rescue program, and the successful culinary job training program. The Zucker Community kitchen serves over 500 meals a day from the food they rescue each week that would otherwise go to waste. The One80 Place 5-week culinary job training programs primary goal is to teach and educate the guests at One80 Place in culinary basics for them to get jobs in the food industry. Angie’s mission is to take food that is wasted by society and people that are undervalued and turn them into success stories every day