The 2023 Les Dames d’Escoffier Colorado Leadership Award Winners

AGRICULTURE LEADER

Beverly Grant, Founder – Mo’ Betta Green MarketPlace

Beverly Grant is a life-long Denverite and serial entrepreneur. Beverly’s entrepreneurship includes founding the Mo’ Betta Green MarketPlace in 2010, Seeds of Power Unity Farm in 2015, and co-founding Satya Yoga Cooperative in 2018. She is a mother, urban farmer, advocate, influencer, educator, public-radio show host, and member of the Public Health for Public Safety Leadership Team, the Board of Directors for All In Denver, and the Denver Urban Gardens Advisory Council.

ALCOHOL BEVERAGE LEADER

Betsy Lay, Co-Founder – Lady Justice Brewing

Betsy Lay is the co-founder and owner of social enterprise Lady Justice Brewing in Aurora, CO. She began her career working in education-based non-profits, including serving two terms as an AmeriCorps VISTA, where she met Kate Power and Jen Cuesta. Together in 2014, the three friends founded the philanthropic Lady Justice Brewing Company. Betsy holds a certificate from the Siebel Institute of Technology’s Concise Course in Brewing Technology and earned a master’s in theological studies from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. In her time off from the brewery, Betsy can be found with a good whiskey, a good book, and a good dog.

BAKERY LEADER

Kristy Greenwood Bortz, Chef/Owner – Victory Love + Cookies

Kristy Greenwood Bortz discovered her love of food at a very young age, first in her grandmother’s kitchen and later, exploring bakeries during her teenage years as the daughter of parents working for the US Embassy in West Germany. When it was time to return to the States for college, Kristy chose CU Boulder, and although she studied psychology, she dreamed of food, doodling food ideas in the margins of her notebooks. When her college degree failed to lead her in the direction of her dreams, she began working in kitchens in the Denver area, eventually landing at The Denver Bread Co. After ten hard, satisfying years of working the 3AM shift as a bread baker, Kristy was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her diagnosis required more than a year of down time for treatment and recovery; During the year Kristy went through treatment and recovery, she began to envision Victory Love + Cookies, the cookie bakery that she would open in 2008. It is a beloved Denver spot, serving up community and delicious cookies.

BAR LEADER- Presented by Pernod Ricard USA

Kristy Wygmans, Co-Owner – Pour Brothers Community Tavern

A proud graduate of Michigan State University, Kristy Wygmans has owned a handmade greeting-card company, a marketing agency, a musical-instrument shop, and now a tavern! Kristy also plans, consults, and helps develop creative community experiences for The Place Setting Company. She is a graduate of Leadership Fort Collins, Leadership Northern Colorado, and was a 2022 BizWest Notable Woman in Hospitality. Storytelling and community are her passions, and both come together through Pour Brothers Community Tavern, a James Beard Foundation grant recipient. Pour Brothers has raised over $140,000 for area nonprofits and prides itself on being a bar with a heart. Kristy is at her best when helping others, loves supporting her daughter playing volleyball, and snuggling with her crazy dog, Grace.

CHEF LEADER

Penelope Wong, Executive Chef/Owner – Yuan Wonton

Penelope grew up amongst restaurateurs, with her family owning and operating restaurants across Denver for over 25 years; Penelope grew up in their kitchens. She learned Chinese and Thai cuisines from her mother, father, grandfather, and aunts, in addition to home-kitchen learning from her grandmother. By the age of 16, Penelope was skilled enough to run the family’s restaurant kitchen on her own, and after pursuing a degree in psychology, Penelope spent the first half of her career as executive chef of a private golf and country club in Cherry Hills Village, where she fused contemporary American cuisine with influences from her Chinese/Thai heritage. As the youngest and first female executive chef in the club’s 30-year history, Penelope played an influential role in the club’s multi-million dollar renovation and orchestrated a 100% growth in food and beverage sales. In summer 2019, husband Rob Jenks and Penelope launched their now-award-winning Yuan Wonton food truck into the Denver market. Penelope uses her business an outlet to share dishes resonating from childhood memories, and Yuan Wonton has become a well-known entity for sharing food from the heart, and bridging communities and generations through food.

COMMUNITY LEADER

The Women of Comal Heritage Food Incubator

Launched by Focus Points Family Resource Center in 2016, this purposeful restaurant was formed in direct response to the community-identified need for economic opportunity in the face of gentrification. Since Comal opened its doors, the training program has served 24 participants and helped launch four businesses. The multi-purpose kitchen incubator includes 18 to 24 months in a training program, during which cohorts of resourceful, talented women from the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood in Denver work in the Comal restaurant learning on-the-job skills, testing their heritage recipes, and growing a restaurant-owner mindset. Everything on the Comal menu is made from scratch, reflecting the culinary heritage of each female entrepreneur. Graduates go on to open their own businesses, from catering to popular food trucks.

FOOD MANUFACTURING LEADER

Mara Trager Tcheunou, Co-Founder – Bibamba Artisan Chocolate

Mara Trager Tcheunou, co-founder of Bibamba Artisan Chocolate, is a born entrepreneur who has always been taken with food creation. She worked in food co-operatives and bakeries throughout college and learned restaurant management right after earning a bachelor’s degree in Art History and a master’s in Counseling Psychology; both fields of study get integrated into the work she does building a sustainable premium chocolate brand, founded and run with husband Patrick Tcheunou, a Cameroon native. Renowned and beloved Bibama is sold at more than 50 Denver-area retail locations.

FOOD RETAIL LEADER

Michelle Lasnier, Founder – Ruby’s Market

After an education at Georgetown University and the University of Denver and twenty-plus years of experience in global event management, Michelle created R Bazaar in 2016. The multi-cultural artisan food and art incubator and market celebrates local and global artisans and chefs. Michelle is a passionate refugee advocate, event planner, and world traveler, and she leads the organization and its store operations, including outreach to new artisans, pop-up events, catering, and their refugee supply pantry. The name Ruby’s refers to the birthstone of Michelle’s grandmother – Ava, or VaVa in Portuguese — who was an immigrant, a go-getter, and the person Michelle went to first with all of her wild ideas. Ruby’s manages donations and support for more than 40 refugee families in the Denver area.

HOSPITALITY LEADER

Cindhura Reddy, Co-Owner – Spuntino

Chef Cindhura Reddy fell in love with food while cooking alongside her Indian-born parents. She attended culinary school and began her career in Philadelphia at Mike Solomonov’s renowed Zahav restaurant. Cindhura worked her way up through a diverse set of kitchens as both pastry and sous chef at Solomonov’s other concepts. In 2014 with husband and general manager Elliot Srathmann, she bought Spuntino restaurant in Denver’s Highland neighborhood, where she is recognized and acclaimed for Spuntino’s unique, personal, refined Italian and Indian cuisine, as well as for their commitment to their wonderful staff and community. Spuntino survived the COVID-19 crisis without a single layoff or closure and with an invigorated commitment to charitable giving in their own community and abroad. The restaurant has held spots on Westword’s “Best Of” lists, including “Best Italian,” “Best Restaurant on 32nd Ave,” and “Best Wine List,” and inclusion in 5280 magazine’s “25 Top Restaurants” list in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Cindhura has also been recognized by the James Beard Foundation with four semi-finalist nominations in 2020, 2022, and 2023 in “Best Chef, Mountain” and “Outstanding Hospitality” categories.

NON-ALCOHOL BEVERAGE LEADER

Sara Lemmon, Founder – 3rd Bird Kombucha

Sara Lemmon is a mother, teacher, and entrepreneur with a passion for making the world a better and tastier place. Sara’s inspiration for starting 3rd Bird is her incredible son, Silas, an autistic individual with gastrointestinal and sensory-processing issues. He inspired Sara to learn about the connection between the gut and brain, and, with her background in science, she began brewing kombucha to support Silas’ health. Now, through 3rd Bird, Sara continues to use her passion for wellness and community to make a difference. A portion of all of the business’ proceeds goes towards organizations working to enhance and promote inclusiveness, based on Sara’s belief in the importance of building strong and connected communities.

The Book Nook

by Tattered Cover

Seminars