Meet the New Nashville Dames 2016

MEET OUR NEW MEMBERS!

At the Annual Meeting August 3, we will officially introduce our newest members to the Les Dames Nashville chapter. We are so fortunate to have these eight amazing women join our chapter and can't wait for you to get to know them.

Amy Corley

Restaurant and Lifestyle Publicist, ACPR Events and Marketing

Amy has been a publicist for more than 15 years, having publicized best-selling books, restaurants, and some of the country's top chefs and celebrated cookbook authors including Thomas Keller, Eric Riper, and Frank Stitt. She established her own public relations agency, ACPR Events and Marketing, in 2011, specializing in all things culinary. In 2014, she moved to Tennessee and embraced Nashville's thriving food scene. Hattie B's Hot Chicken, Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint, and The Farm House are among her current clients. She also works with Highlands Bar & Grill, Chez Fonfon and Bottega Restaurant and Cafe in Birmingham, Alabama. Previously, Amy was the executive director of publicity for Artisan Books, where she conceptualized and directed media campaigns for author tours for award-winning titles such as Frank Stitt's Southern Table, Bouchon, Ad Hoc At Home, and Bouchon Bakery. Amy lives in Franklin with her husband and business partner, Joseph Woodley. They enjoy cooking, entertaining, and traveling, especially throughout the South.

Kathleen Cotter

Owner, The Bloomy Rind

Kathleen Cotter started Nashville’s only cut-to-order cheese counter, The Bloomy Rind, in 2010, with only a love of cheese and a mostly unrelated work history (in human resources!). What began as a booth at the Nashville Farmers’ Market evolved into a full service cheese counter inside Porter Road Butcher, in late 2011. The Bloomy Rind features a rotating selection of 40-50 American artisan cheeses, with a focus on the growing array of southern cheeses. In addition to retail, The Bloomy Rind has a growing wholesale business, currently supplying curated selections to some of Nashville’s best restaurants for their cheese boards. Kathleen also founded the Southern Artisan Cheese Festival in 2011 to build awareness and excitement around the ever expanding cheesemaking scene in our region.

Susan Gillituk

Product Development Manager, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

Susan has worked for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. for the past 27 years. As Product Development Manager, she is involved with menu research and development supporting all new menu development, including research, recipe creation, costing, writing specifications, and support for operations, training, photo shoot and TV commercial shoots. Most recently she was involved in a multi-year project that centered on a new back of the house kitchen equipment layout and design. She lives in Murfreesboro and enjoys golfing and rooting for the Tennessee Titans, the Nashville Predators, and the Nashville Sounds.

Tallahassee May

Owner, Turnbull Creek Farm

Known by friends and family as Tally, Tallahassee May is a certified organic farmer in Bon Aqua. Through her farm, Turnbull Creek, which she broke ground on in 2004, she sells vegetables to City House, Prima, Rolf and Daughters, and Dozen Bakery, as well as through Nashville Grown. She also runs Fresh Harvest Cooperative. Aside from farming, Tally mentors refugee aspiring farmers through the non-profit Center for Refugees in conjunction with The Nashville Food Project. She lives in Bon Aqua with her husband Kipp and son, Sawyer.

Mara Papatheodorou

Tastings & Traditions Expert, Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Mara Papatheodorou is a nationally established entertaining specialist. For Regent Seven Seas Cruises, she lectures regularly, presents videos and writes their Sail, Sip & Savor Series, which highlights the history of cuisine and culture in different ports of call. As an 11-year Contributing Editor at Bon Appetit magazine, Mara scouted and produced the Entertaining with Style section. Today, she works as a consultant with food companies developing recipes, menus and promotional campaigns. She is a blogger and also does work with chefs highlighting home entertaining. Mara previously lived in London and has attended UCLA, University of Paris La Sorbonne and La Varenne Cooking School. Mara lives in Los Angeles and Nashville with her husband and son.

Tallu Schuyler Quinn

Executive Director, The Nashville Food Project

A native of Nashville, Tallu earned a B.F.A in Papermaking and Bookbinding from the Appalachian Center for Craft. She received a M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University in New York, where she focused her studies on art, ritual and liberation theology. After seminary, Tallu moved to Nicaragua, where she lived and worked with poor farmers on food security projects using methods of agriculture that build communities and protect the land. In addition to her work as Executive Director of The Nashville Food Project, Tallu serves as a minister of Woodmont Christian Church. She and her husband Robbie have a daughter and a son and live on a small farm in Ashland City.

Diane Skrabec

Assistant Director of Catering and Catering Operations, Gaylord Opryland

Diane oversees a 19-person catering sales team, which is responsible for over $88 million dollars annually in Food and Beverage Sales. She has been at Gaylord Opryland for 11 years; prior to that, she spent 4 years at the Marriott Vanderbilt in Nashville. Diane has lived in Nashville for 16 years; she received her BBA in Hospitality Management from Belmont University and got her Masters in Strategic Leadership at MTSU. In 2011, she started teaching, as an adjunct, at Nashville State Community College and now teaches Food and Beverage Management (part of the Culinary Arts Program) both online and in classroom.

Sarah Worley

Owner, Biscuit Love Brunch

Sarah and her husband, Karl Worley, founded Biscuit Love in 2012 as a food truck that offered an assortment of Southern menu options sourced from local purveyors and farms. In 2015, Karl and Sarah re-envisioned their food truck concept and opened a brick and mortar Biscuit Love restaurant in the heart of The Gulch. She and Karl work side by side not only in their restaurant, but also in being the proud parents of their 6-year-old daughter Gertie. Sarah holds a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales and an Accounting degree and MBA from Belmont University.