Diana “Dede” Lahman

With 25 years as a leader in the restaurant industry, Dede Lahman is the founder/owner of the world famous Clinton St. Baking Co. & Restaurant on the Lower East Side. Entrepreneur, author, and industry mentor, Dede enjoyed a decade long career as an editor and writer for national magazines before pivoting to the restaurant life. She has singlehandedly shaped Clinton St. Baking Co. into an internationally recognized brand, and personally operates the restaurant’s instagram account (488k followers), engaging daily with a global audience. She has represented her businesses, with multiple locations in Asia and the MiddleEast, across network, cable and streaming platforms. The Clinton St. Baking Co. Cookbook she wrote with her chef/partner’s recipes was named a best of NY Times’ 2010. She is a 2023 alumna of the James Beard Foundation’s Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, in partnership with Cornell University, and served in 2026 as an advisor for the James Beard Foundation Legacy Network to train emerging leaders across the culinary industry and connect them with future generations of excellence. From 2012 to 2016, Dede proudly served on the Board of Directors of New York Sun Works, a non-profit organization that builds 21st century hydroponic greenhouse science labs in urban schools. Dede is a proud graduate of Simmons University, a college for women, where she earned distinguished honors and continues to serve as an active alumna and student mentor. She is a parent and step-parent to three adult children, spanning the ages of 20 to 40 years old. Dede is certified to teach hatha yoga from the Integral Yoga Institute of New York and has been practicing yoga and meditation for 34 years. She credits successfully navigating business and leadership during the pandemic to 21-day meditation series/sessions with Oprah Winfrey & Deepak Chopra, which she continues to this day.