(May 21, 2026<\/em>)<\/span> The Nantucket Wine & Food Festival is back next week for its 28th year, bringing five days of celebrity chefs, superstar winemakers, dozens of tastings and waterfront dinners to the island.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But tucked among the marquee events is one luncheon years in the making, and one that festival executive director Nancy Bean said \u201cholds a special place\u201d in her heart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Dames D\u00e9jeuner Lobster Luncheon, Sunday, May 31 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Nantucket Hotel, is more than just a champagne-soaked afternoon of lobster and luxury.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It is, at its core, a celebration of women: women chefs, women winemakers, women educators and women leaders whose work continues to shape the food and wine industry \u2013 and Nantucket itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Last year, Bean spoke to The Inquirer and Mirror<\/em> about wanting to revive the event. Now, it returns as one of the festival\u2019s most layered and meaningful gatherings, drawing together acclaimed female chefs and wine professionals alongside island institutions like the Maria Mitchell Association for a conversation about mentorship, leadership and the evolving role of women in hospitality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The luncheon, presented by Veuve Clicquot, takes inspiration from both Madame Clicquot \u2013 the pioneering French businesswoman who transformed the champagne house after her husband\u2019s death \u2013 and Maria Mitchell, Nantucket\u2019s famed astronomer and one of the first prominent female scientists in America.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Like Mitchell, many of the women participating in the luncheon are continuing to carve out space in industries long dominated by men.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Moderated by wine writer and educator Wanda Mann, the event will pair a lobster luncheon with Veuve Clicquot champagnes and a panel discussion featuring chef Flavia Amad di Leo from Osad\u00eda de Crear Restaurant in Argentina, Maria Mitchell Association executive director Joanna Roche and chef Patricia Estorino of Gustazo Cuban Kitchen in Cambridge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For Mann, who has spent decades building a career in wine media, the luncheon represents something larger than a single event.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cTo me, the Dames D\u00e9jeuner is really putting a spotlight on what we all live every day,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re here together, we rise together, we open doors for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mann, who jokingly describes herself as a \u201cwine evangelist,\u201d began writing about wine nearly 20 years ago, back when blogging about wine was still relatively niche.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A native New Yorker raised on what she calls a \u201cfoie gras and grits childhood,\u201d she grew up with a love of food thanks to her chef father, but said her deeper interest in wine came later while working as an event planner organizing tastings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt was my first time sitting down with winemakers,\u201d she said. \u201cThat lit the spark.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Today, Mann serves as East Coast editor of SOMM Journal<\/em> and travels the country leading wine seminars and tastings, though she said one of her biggest goals remains making wine feel less intimidating.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been drinking wine for 8,000 years,\u201d she said. \u201cWe know how to eat and drink. We need to eliminate this fear factor and elitism.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But Mann also acknowledged the realities still facing women in the industry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIdeally, we would live in a world where you wouldn\u2019t have to say, \u2018She\u2019s a woman winemaker\u2019,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the reality is, it is an industry that has been dominated by men in so many areas.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That is part of why events like the Dames D\u00e9jeuner lunch matter, she said, not simply as celebrations, but as visible reminders that women are integral to every level of hospitality and wine culture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Chef Susan Regis, who will be cooking a course for the event, knows firsthand how transformative female mentorship can be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Long before she became a James Beard Award winner and one of Boston\u2019s most respected chefs, Regis described herself as a \u201cpostgraduate ski bum\u201d who accidentally stumbled into restaurant work after taking a kitchen job at Seasons, the now-legendary Boston restaurant credited with helping redefine New England cuisine in the 1980s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At Seasons, she found herself surrounded by culinary heavyweights like Lydia Shire, Jasper White and Jody Adams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt was kind of this magical time to be there,\u201d Regis said. \u201cWe would stay up until four in the morning arguing about peppercorns.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Regis spent nearly two decades working alongside Shire, whom she credits as both mentor and collaborator. Unlike the stereotypical screaming, male-dominated kitchens often associated with restaurant culture, Regis said many of the kitchens she worked in were deeply collaborative environments led by women.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI worked with Lydia for 19 years,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was always collaborative. It was always judicious but kind and gentle.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That spirit of collaboration is something Regis still sees among women in the industry today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe women have always been incredibly generous and collaborative and helpful,\u201d she said. \u201cThat has kind of helped bring women into a position of equality.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For Amad, executive chef of the Michelin-recognized restaurant Osad\u00eda de Crear in Mendoza, Argentina, the luncheon also feels deeply personal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Amad, who works under celebrated Argentine winemaker Susana Balbo, said she has experienced gender discrimination firsthand throughout her culinary career.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been treated differently because I\u2019m a woman,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve been paid differently. I\u2019ve been told I\u2019m not capable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now, she is working to change that culture for the next generation through her female empowerment initiative \u201cAl Mando,\u201d which highlights women across gastronomy and hospitality in Argentina.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot done already, and I\u2019m thankful for the chefs who came before me,\u201d she said. \u201cBut there\u2019s still a lot of work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Amad\u2019s cooking reflects both her Argentine roots and her broader culinary training, blending local Mendoza ingredients with techniques she learned while studying and working in the United States. At the festival, she plans to showcase ingredients like trout roe and corn as a way of introducing guests to the flavors and landscapes of her home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWhat matters most is learning from others,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That same spirit of exchange and community is what excites Nantucket pastry chef Cassie Malgieri about participating in the luncheon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Malgieri, who leads pastry at PPX Events, moved into baking after initially studying journalism in college. Since graduating from pastry school, most of her culinary career has unfolded on Nantucket.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cKitchens can be harsh,\u201d she said. \u201cSo females being in positions of power and leadership in the kitchen is really awesome because they weren\u2019t scared away, they didn\u2019t back down.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Roche, meanwhile, sees the event as an extension of Nantucket\u2019s long history of female leadership.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n During the whaling era, while men were at sea for years at a time, Nantucket women often ran households, businesses and financial affairs independently. Roche notes the island was one of the first places in the country where women could hold power of attorney for their husbands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cNantucket nurtured Maria Mitchell,\u201d she said. \u201cShe became America\u2019s first female astronomer, but before that, she was a woman whose father recognized her incredible abilities and encouraged her.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That legacy, Roche said, still matters today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t continue to champion women\u2019s leadership, we are failing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At a festival known for lavish pours and celebrity appearances, the Dames D\u00e9jeuner Lobster Luncheon offers something more lasting: a reminder that behind many of the food and wine world\u2019s most important innovations are women who pushed forward anyway \u2013 often together.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.ack.net \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (May 21, 2026) The Nantucket Wine & Food Festival is back next week for its 28th year, bringing five days of celebrity chefs, superstar winemakers, dozens of tastings and waterfront dinners to the island. But tucked among the marquee events is one luncheon years in the making, and one that festival executive director Nancy Bean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2426166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[349660,421924,421923],"class_list":["post-2426165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-nantucket","tag-nantucket-island","tag-nantucket-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dames-lunch-Arts-Entertainment.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2426165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2426167,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426165\/revisions\/2426167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2426166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2426165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2426165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2426165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}