The B.C. chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier just announced that they would be significantly ramping up their scholarship initiatives in 2018 to further support Canadian women in the culinary industry after several years of extremely successful fundraising and generous contributions from active culinary professionals like restaurateur Bruno Marti and veteran caterer, Nicky Major.
For any female industry professionals who are interested, the annual Les Dames scholarship applications are being accepted until January 31, 2018, and will be awarded at a celebratory reception in the spring. Applicants are evaluated by a selected panel of Les Dames members, all of whom are professional women in the culinary field (i.e. chefs, sommeliers, restaurant owners, etc.).
Past scholarships have been awarded to women beginning a career, advancing or upgrading their skills in a culinary-related area and have included Cacao-Barry's Chocolate Academy, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, Service Excellence with Two Rivers Specialty Meats, Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver and—new for 2018—All Canadian Wine Championships.
The Two Rivers Specialty Meats Scholarship (which was initiated earlier this year) is a notably special scholarship and near and dear to many Vancouverites hearts, as it is in memory of highly regarded chef Tina Fineza, who past away at the beginning of 2017 following a year and a half battle with breast cancer. Last October, Jason Pleym of Two Rivers Specialty Meats escorted the two lucky scholarship recipients to three unique B.C. ranches and a processing plant, where they learned about animal husbandry and sustainable farming practices. They completed their educational excursion with a tour and butchery session at Two Rivers Specialty Meats in North Vancouver.
"I believe it was a great experience and well worth the time taken to see it all happen," says Two Rivers Specialty Meats' co-founder Jason Pleym. "This is something that would have been so special for Tina. The humane treatment of animals was something she absolutely thrived on and the reason we worked so well together for so long."
