Raise a glass and send wishes of tasty sugarplums, flaky biscuits, fresh shrimp, and dessert delights to Charleston’s doyenne of Southern cooking, Nathalie Dupree, who turned 80 on Monday.
Her birthday milestone has been marked in recent weeks at home and afar — from a big October celebrity bash in New York at the James Beard House to appearances for signings of her newest cookbook, Nathalie Dupree’s Favorite Stories and Recipes.
But on Monday came a new honor — “Nathalie Dupree Day” — following a proclamation by Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg, who recognized her as “a North Star for the culinary revival and recognition of Southern cooking canons, a mentor, activist, icon, and influencer.”
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The proclamation recognizes how Dupree, who has won several James Beard Foundation Awards and international honors, helped put Charleston on the food map when she moved here about 20 years ago with husband and historian Jack Bass.
“Her influence and connections in the international and regional food world brought about the spotlight on Charleston, where its food, chefs, farmers, shrimpers and fishermen basked in the light of her generous and heartfelt pride,” the proclamation says.
Dupree is the author of 15 cookbooks and host of more than 300 television shows. She’s the founding chair of the Charleston Wine + Food Festival, a founder of the Southern Foodways Alliance and founder of two chapters of Les Dames d’Escoffier, an international philanthropic organization that selected her as a “Grande Dame” in 2011.
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