Scholarship Opportunities
Our LDEISA scholarships are designed to help women further their educations in the areas of food, beverage, nutrition and hospitality. Since our chapter was founded in 1995, we have awarded more than 94 scholarships totaling some $329,000.
Among schools our recipients attended on LDEISA scholarships are the Culinary Institute of America, Johnson & Wales University, Texas A&M University, Boston University, Lamar University, University of Houston, St. Philip’s College, the Art Institute of San Antonio and the University of the Incarnate Word, to name a few.
Since receiving scholarships from our organization, two recipients have advanced so quickly in their career fields that they have now joined LDEISA and are active members of our chapter.
Dedicated To Our Dames
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Lenny Angel
Lenny Angel, a founding member of the San Antonio chapter of Les Dames d’ Escoffier and co-chair of the 2002 Les Dames International conference, was a cooking teacher, food stylist and author of 10 cookbooks. Lenny traveled throughout the state with her Heart of Texas culinary show for 22 years.
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Saundra Winokur
Saundra Winokur, a descendent of six generations of Texas ranchers, founded the successful Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard, defying naysayers who told her that it was impossible to commercially cultivate olives in Texas. Cathy Tarasovic, former chef at Polo’s at the Fairmount and Cappy’s, and co-founder of Shrub Drinks, attended culinary school in Europe and was executive chef at Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard.
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Mary Lanzi-Martini
Mary Lanzi-Martini was an Italian cooking expert who led the Central Market Cooking School for 22 years. She appeared biweekly on the "San Antonio Living Show" where she demonstrated cooking to viewers in an approachable way.
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Viola Barrios
Viola Barrios immigrated from Bustamante, Mexico, and was a beloved San Antonio restaurateur known for her community spirit and huge heart. From humble beginnings — the original Los Barrios restaurant she opened in 1979 — she built a successful Tex-Mex restaurant empire.
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Rosemary Kowalski
Rosemary Kowalski was a founding member of the San Antonio chapter of Les Dames d’ Escoffier. Founder of Rosemary’s Catering, now The RK Group, she was an internationally recognized leader in catering, events and hospitality services for more than 75 years.
Eligibility, Purpose & Deadline
Our scholarships are designed to empower women to strive for further education in the fields of food, beverage, nutrition and hospitality.
Note: A current minimum GPA of 3.0 is required to qualify for a scholarship.
The deadline for scholarship submissions is May 31st.
The application must be sent to the LDEI-SA official post office box and postmarked by May 31st of each calendar year; completed and sent to scholarships@ldeisa.org; or, filled out via our contact form before the May 31st deadline.
A candidate must reside in the San Antonio, Texas Hill Country or South Texas area at the time of her application.
Applicants must be accepted for, or enrolled in, an accredited program associated with the fields of food, nutrition, wine, beverages, hospitality, arts of the table, agriculture, and other fields as they relate to these disciplines. Such programs need not be in the chapter region.
Accredited programs can include, but are not limited to, degree or non-degree programs such as those offered on-line, at universities, culinary schools, cooking schools or wine education programs. Eligible institutions may be either profit or not-for-profit. Eligible students may be in programs that are degree-granting, non-degree, technical, vocational, or para-professional.
Applicants may already be enrolled at an advanced level or may be a graduating high school student intent on studies for a professional career relating to the same categories of chapter membership who have been accepted into an accredited program.
Mailing address: Scholarships, Les Dames d’Escoffier, P.O. BOX 15302, San Antonio, Texas 78212
Email address: scholarships@ldeisa.org — use Scholarship in the subject line, and enclose a scanned application and other materials as an attachment.
For Questions about the applications, please contact Elise Russ at scholarships@ldeisa.org, elise@clementine-sa.com, or 828-458-1498.
NOTE: Please double-check that you have included all requested information. We do not consider incomplete applications. You may either download and submit the application manually to our P.O. Box, submit it to scholarships@ldeisa.org, or utilize the below form for submission.
