Larry D. Moore CC BY-SA 3.0.

Paula Lambert, founder of the Mozzarella Company in Deep Ellum will be recognized with the Grande Dame Lifetime Achievement Award by Les Dames d’Escoffier International.

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That’s a mouthful. But it’s a big national honor shared this year by only one other person (the Cleveland-based chef and author Bev Shaffer).

The Grande Dame award recognizes extraordinary lifetime contributions within the food, beverage and hospitality industries. Every other year, recipients are determined by nominations and votes from LDEI’s 2,400 members in 43 chapters around the world.

“LDEI’s Grande Dame Award is one of the highest honors for a woman in food, beverage and hospitality,” says LDEI President Deborah Mintcheff. “We are extremely proud to celebrate these two successful, inspirational women with the 2022 Grande Dame Award. Their accomplishments are nothing short of phenomenal.”

The award committee describes Lambert as an internationally renowned, award-winning artisanal cheesemaker, teacher, philanthropist and cookbook author.

Lambert was named one of the Top 50 Cheesemakers in America in 2021 by Food & Wine magazine, and is included in the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America.” Lambert is a sought-after cheese expert and speaker, having been featured on Food Network and multiple other media outlets. She is the author of two books on cheese: “The Cheese Lover’s Cookbook and Guide” and “Cheese, Glorious Cheese.”

The Turtle Creek resident in 2021 announced during a home tour event that she would sell her company to its employees.

Paula has a team of 15 employees, mainly women, and two have been with the company 35 years, according to a recent article in Sante Magazine. “Women work well with their hands and have fine motor skills needed to make handmade cheeses which can take hours,” Lambert told writer Melanie Young. “I trained all the people myself.”

The company celebrates 40 years in business this month.