registration open for THE Women CHEFS & Restaurateurs
22nd ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK CITY
The world’s top hospitality professionals will gather in the Big Apple on April 18-20, 2015 to explore this year’s theme: “Taking a Bigger Bite”
Mark your calendars; registration is now open for the Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR) 22nd Annual National Conference! From April 18-20, 2015, the world’s leading women in food, beverage, and hospitality businesses will gather at the Millennium Broadway Hotel (145 West 44th Street) in Manhattan for three days of seminars, demos, parties, and competitions. Returning to NYC for the first time in over 20 years, the 2015 event will focus on “Taking a Bigger Bite”-offering strategies to maximize career opportunities. The conference will also celebrate its current host city with tastings, classes, and tours that pay tribute to the Big Apple. Full conference registration, and tickets to individual events, are open to professionals and culinary enthusiasts alike. The Earlybird ticket pricing deadline is March 1, 2015.
Featured participants include luminaries such as WCR founding member Lidia Bastianich, Nancy Silverton, Gabrielle Hamilton, Missy Robbins, Alex Guarnaschelli, Gina Gallo, Elise Kornack, Julie Reiner, Anita Lo, Amanda Cohen, Jessie Cool, Nell Newman, Christina Tosi, Hillary Sterling, and many more.
Founded in 1993, WCR is a nonprofit organization that works to promote and enhance the education, advancement, and connection of women in food, beverage, and hospitality businesses across the world. The 2015 conference will feature:
- Core Talent Talks: Ted Talks meet poetry-slam sessions in these main stage lectures, where successful women in the business will tell their stories, their way. Speakers include Susan Ungaro, President of the James Beard Foundation; Melissa Clark, Cooking Columnist for the New York Times; Melanie Dunea, Photographer and Author of “My Last Supper” and “My Last Supper, The Next Course;” and more
- Breakout Sessions: Intimate educational seminars and demos covering everything from utilizing modern ingredients and techniques, to butchery, women behind bars, honing business and career strategies, and much more
- Third Annual WCR Food Games: Three teams, three celebrity chef coaches, three judges, and a bevy of incredible prizes. Emceed by Culinary Instigator and WCR President Elizabeth Falkner, the head-to-head battle will take place live at the Hudson Theater
- Offsite Tours at New York City hot spots including Eataly and Dominique Ansel; a “Spirited Journey on the L Train” with stops at Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn Winery, and The Noble Experiment; as well as a historical food tour of Harlem featuring Red Rooster and Sylvia’s
- Parties Galore: To kick off and wind-down the conference, celebrate and acknowledge amazing talents, and just cut loose, WCR is hosting myriad events each night including:
- Saturday Night “Secret Garden Party”
- Opening Night “Studio 54” Party: This glitzy event will showcase cocktails and bites from female powerhouses across the country
- “Women Who Inspire” Awards Gala: Emceed by Gail Simmons of Bravo’s “Top Chef” fame and Carla Hall of ABC’s “The Chew” on the original stage of The Tonight Show, at The Hudson Theater
- After-Parties: Studio 54 and the Awards Gala will be followed by after- parties at Charlie Palmer’s Crimson & Rye, and Chef’s Club presented by Food & Wine
*Additional programming details will be announced in the coming weeks. Registration is open to the public.
For more information, pricing, and to purchase tickets to attend the WCR 22nd Annual National Conference, visit www.womenchefs.org. For specialty rates at the Millennium Broadway Hotel during the conference, visit thislink. Guests may also call (866) 858-9973 and identify themselves as an attendee of theWCR 2015 AnnualConvention, or mention group code1509WCRNYC. The specialty room-rate deadline is April 3, 2015.
ABOUT WOMEN CHEFS & RESTAURATEURS
Since its founding in 1993, Women Chefs & Restaurateurs has worked to promote and enhance the education, advancement, and connection of women in the culinary industry. Originally founded by eight of the nation’s top female chefs and restaurateurs including Lidia Bastianich and Barbara Tropp, WCR has grown to over 2,000 members, with Elizabeth Falkner serving as the current president. The organization offers a variety of networking, professional, and support services including scholarship opportunities. For more information visit www.womenchefs.org.
