Under the patronage of Secretary General Bernard-Louis Jaunet, on Thursday, September 20, the Disciple Escoffier Lebanon celebrated their official launching in Lebanon with the enrollment of 12 new members and honored the “godfather” of Middle Eastern hospitality: Nouhad Dammous for his lifetime contribution to the industry. The celebration, which took place at the Nazira Catering gardens, was followed by a dinner highlighting the local savoir-faire and produce.

Three Lebanese culinary stars – Chefs Cynthia Bitar, Youssef Akiki and Pierre Abi Hayla – were selected to be included in the first delegation of the Disciple Escoffier Lebanon in March of this year. The new members of the Lebanese chapter include: Amine Bou Ghosn, Fadi Kalaani, Sarkis Dertorossian, Jean Barcha, Mohamad Abbas, Dany Khairallah, Pierre Azar, Jihane Feghali, Samir Abdel Malak, Bachir Reaidy and president of the Lebanese chapter, Ralph Bitar. The International Disciples Escoffier are more than 30,000 members in the world, including 2,000 in France.