Coronavirus confusion and cancellations, Bottoms Up is back, lots to read (but less to do), please support your sisters who own restaurants (if you can), or stay calm and order in!

Newsletter – March 2020

A Note from Alliance President Rhadia Hursey

As I’m sure you are aware, Covid-19 has forced many organizations to cancel upcoming events. I have decided to cancel the remaining March programs and reassess in the next few weeks about April and May programs. Members will receive a full refund for the cancelled March programs. With that said, I want to remind you that many of our members have restaurants that still need any support we can offer. This is a trying time for everyone, especially for those in the hospitality industry. Please, if you can, continue to order delivery from your favorite restaurants to show your support. They need you more than ever.

Rhadia Hursey, NYWCA President

Member News

Member Amy Stern of 3E Public Relations (left) will host a webinar about culinary start-ups on April 7. She’ll talk with AeroFarms and discuss how start-ups disrupt and innovate the food industry.

Hannah Howard (below, left) wrote an article for “Grub Street" about how restaurants are preparing for COVID-19. In it she featured two of our restaurant-owning members: Barbara Sibley (below, center) who runs La Palapa and Holiday Cocktail Lounge in Manhattan and Garima Kothari (below, right), chef and owner of Nukkad in Jersey City. 

This month, Board member Joyce Appelman (left) interviewed Stephen Yen, the new executive chef for the Tao Group, in the March issue of “Total Food Service.”

Miriam Rubin was profiled in a local Hudson Valley publication, "Rural Intelligence." 

Bottoms Up

Female Beverage Director Shows How the Industry is Evolving

By Francine Cohen

Amy, Pete, and Elizabeth are out of the race.

Why mention politics in a profile of Andrea Cornwell, the 30-year-old beverage director of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants and Ocean Prime, a restaurant group headquartered hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C., where these politicians made their name? Why not simply focus on this up-and-coming liquid powerhouse who touches 2.8 million guests through her work at one of the largest independent restaurant groups, while overseeing the beverage programs for 36 restaurants under 17 different concepts in 13 states, including the group’s national Ocean Prime brand?

Because it’s a big moment in this country; a time for change and evolution. And while the political landscape may not be ready for the kind of leaders we didn’t quite have a chance to see in action, what we do see is that the hospitality industry is one ready to embrace change. And Cornwell is the face of it.

Enthralled more by buzzing bees than the inane buzz of social media, she takes a thoughtful approach to her drink menu creation and team building. On the front end of trends, Cornwell is dedicated to low- and no-proof options, as well as more commonly found items. Working closely with the culinary team to develop complimentary beverage programs, every drink is created as a story, and each component is chose with the intention to resonate with staff and guests alike.

That intention is a holdover from her past as a yoga instructor. Her drink creation takes a fresh humanistic and holistic approach to creating a successful and profitable program. Cornwell shares: “It’s about being self-aware. I am always looking inward, looking at what we need to adjust. I want to make sure all parties are taken care of. What I’m proud of is that we’re recognizing our people and acknowledging the stressors from typical restaurant life. Finally, now we can have those conversations.” She concludes, “What the body does effects the mind.” 

Cornwell makes mindfulness the best recipe to fill every glass.

Things to Read, See or Do

Must See!

• The Female Farmer Project.
• Artist makes vessels, jewelry and serveware out of fruit and vegetables.
• Incredible fruit carving. 
• Beautiful focaccia.
• Illustrations of the dishes chefs create to reduce their carbon footprint.

Good Reads

• How food businesses are handling coronavirus.
• Chinatown needs your love – get out and support your neighbors! Here's a podcast about the situation from WNYC.
• Conferences and large gatherings may be postponed, but it's still award season. Here are the IACP finalists and the James Beard Foundation semi-finalists. 
• Restaurant customers should wash their hands too.
• No, vodka’s not a hand sanitizer! 
• Dining during an earlier epidemic: The Spanish Flu.
• Female restaurant critics see things differently.
• Rage against the (rage baking) machine: Tangerine Jones explains her point of view, "Eater" summarizes the situation, and here's a response from the authors of the new "Rage Baking" cookbook. 
• Learn how a food historian at the Smithsonian and Nancy Silverton's righthand woman landed their dream jobs. 
• Lifestyle Guru B. Smith loses her battle with Alzheimer's.
• Lynn Cohen. We’ll miss her.
• Frogs legs were once king in Detroit restaurants. 
• More weird Michigan Lenten food. 
• Jean-Georges now says he’s sorry for assaulting the dishwasher. 
• A better way to treat a dishwasher. 
• Food heroines try to save the planet. 
• Fifty things a chef can do for self care.
• What they ate on the campaign trail.
• Breaking bread with your community.
• Women making (food) history. 
• The American restaurant is on life support. 
• Apps and restaurant gig work. 
• Need some good news? This NJ business turns food scraps into compost.  

Things to Do 

• Upcoming author events from Kitchen Arts & Letters at the 92^nd Street Y. (Some of these will be cancelled, obviously, but check ahead for those planned for April and May.)

Gatherings

Lunch at Ben's Deli 

By Sharon Franke

On February 18, the Alliance expanded its boundaries beyond the five boroughs. Members voyaged out for lunch on “the island” at Ben’s Kosher Deli Restaurant, in Carle Place, Nassau County. On the menu were latkes, latkes and more latkes followed by multiple matzoh balls, including “Reubens” that were mixed with corned beef, deep fried and served with Russian dressing. No kidding! And that was just the appetizers. For our main course, we had overstuffed pastrami sandwiches. And, of course, plenty of sour pickles, sauerkraut, and cole slaw on the table. To wash it all down: not cream soda but kosher wines from Herzog Wine Cellars. Needless to say, no one went home hungry. And in fact, everyone carried home enough food for dinner.

Photos by Amy Lee

Let's Connect

Here's the best way to reach out to committee leaders:

President: nywcapresident@gmail.com

Newsletter: nywcanewsletter@gmail.com

Programs: nywcaprograms@gmail.com

Social Media: nywcasocialmedia@gmail.com

Website: nywcawebsite@gmail.com

Member Benefits: nywcamemberbenefits@gmail.com

About Us

NYWCA is an organization of professional women in the food and wine industry, dedicated to encouraging cooperation, networking and education among its members.  Learn more.

Newsletter Team

Editors

Joyce Appelman
Stacy Basko

Hannah Howard
Miriam Rubin

Contributors 

Francine Cohen

Sharon Franke

Amy Lee

Submissions

Have an idea? We're always looking for insider tips on trends, happenings and things to see and do. Drop us a line at nywcanewsletter@gmail.com.

Guidelines: All submissions must be ready to publish. Articles should be edited and copy edited to a maximum of 300 words. Recipes should include headnotes that provide context and do not exceed 200 words. Photos, illustrations or artwork must be cropped, sized and ready to go. Editors reserve the right to edit for space and style when necessary.

Deadline: All files must be received by the 5th of the month to publish on the 15th.

Specs: Please send articles in Word or Google Docs and JPEGs of artwork. If using a cellphone, large size photos preferred (please turn off location on phone before taking pictures).

Policy: The newsletter is published by and for members of the Alliance, with a focus on events that take place in and around New York City. If an event is local, but run by a nonmember, the committee will consider publishing it in the newsletter. Events run by non-members that are located outside the area will not be included. 

Program Cancellation Policy: 

NYWCA policy is that cancellations made seven days or less before an event are not refundable, unless the member who is canceling can fill her space with someone on the wait list or another replacement. Up to seven days, members can cancel through their profile page, or by contacting the  organizer. The Treasurer will issue the refund via original form of payment, less the $5 cancellation fee to cover processing cost. 

Copyright © 2019 New York Women's Culinary Alliance, all rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you currently have, or have previously had, a New York Women's Culinary Alliance membership.

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1221 Sixth Avenue 

New York, NY 10020