If you’re a chef, and happen to be a woman, chances are you’ve cooked with a huge spare tyre of fabric rolled up around your waist. This is because in a country where a surprisingly few number of high-end restaurants have female head chefs, even chef whites are designed exclusively to fit the needs (and body shapes) of men.
It may seem trivial. But these tiny, everyday roadblocks reflect much bigger problems in a deeply male-centric industry. And it begs the question: how do women rise through the ranks in a work culture that has long excluded them?
Lately, a new wave of all-female kitchens has been making headlines around the world. In the US, Sara Kramer’s LA restaurant Kismet has been breaking new grounds by actively promoting an abuse-free culture; in Belgium, critics are embracing Karin Keyngaert’s A’Qi (which famously turned away a Michelin star) and London’s Darjeeling Express recently went viral after a Michelin restaurant critic expressed their shock at the fact that “a female kitchen team” managed to stay “utterly calm” during a busy service in a casually sexist tweet.
Closer to home, Melbourne’s Anchovy is one of few high-profile restaurants run by an all-female kitchen team. Headed by chef Thi Le, who cut her teeth working with heavyweights like Christine Manfield (Universal) and Andrew McConnell (Cumulus Inc.), she revealed in a 2016 interview that “[b]oys don’t last in [her] kitchen, [because] they’re surrounded by chicks telling them what to do”.
At a time when female enrolment at hospitality schools are outnumbering men’s, and the era of systemic sexism in the industry could be coming to an end, it’s encouraging to see more female-led kitchens rise to the fore.
Danielle Alvarez, head chef at Merivale’s Fred’s in Sydney, runs a team that comprises mostly of female staff in senior positions: head sommelier Caitlyn Rees on wine duties, Jane Strode and Elodie Marion on pastries and Carissa Teeling as the restaurant manager.
Danielle Alvarez runs the kitchen at Fred's in Sydney. Source: Fred's
Having spent her formative years at Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse, Alvarez draws heavily on Waters’ philosophy of respect and constant learning, which trickles down from a love of the produce. “I’ve worked with so many incredible women side by side: seeing how they treat people, how they cook, the way they move. All of those things really influenced me.”
Right now, Fred’s has a 50:50 gender split in the kitchen – a balance that Alvarez is happy with. To retain more senior female staff in the industry, however, Alverez believes more needs to be done to lift workplace flexibility.
I’ve worked with so many incredible women side by side: seeing how they treat people, how they cook, the way they move. All of those things really influenced me.
“Ultimately, for a lot of the women, the choice to leave the kitchen comes down to family and having children. [The restaurant industry needs to] allow enough opportunities for a woman to come back to work after having a child. There are a lot of nights, a lot of time on your feet. It’s a hard job,” she tells SBS.
At Sydney’s Good Food Guide hatted restaurant Nomad, co-owner Rebecca Yazbek and head chef Jacqui Challinor feel the so-called default macho culture is slowly shifting.
“I am leading a kitchen that resembles a traditional ‘boys club’,” Challinor tells SBS. But rather than a testosterone-fuelled culture, the atmosphere she cultivates actively is one of collaboration, dedication, hard work and learning. “I believe kitchens in general are becoming places that require respect and nurturing of talent.”
But being a woman rising star in a male-dominated industry can have its drawbacks. For one thing, there is a tendency for your name to be mentioned with your gender in the same breath. “To be honest, the biggest challenge for me at the moment is being identified as a ‘female chef’. I am a chef who has worked hard to get where I am today … Given half the population is female, I find it difficult to understand why this is a novelty.”
Nomad's Rebecca Yazbek is part of a new wave of female-run restaurants. Source: Nomad
One of the reasons, at least from a numbers perspective, could be that so few women are being promoted to top roles in the industry – even in 2018. According to not-for-profit Parabere Forum, only 18 per cent of head chef jobs worldwide are currently held by women. And only three female chefs in 2017’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list are female.
This means the tension between recognising individual achievement and progress can often be frustrating. “It is great to see really talented women doing amazing things," says Challinor. "Women like Kylie Kwong, Christine Mansfield, Danielle Alvarez, Lauren Murdoch, Sarah Knights, the list could go on – [but they are also] all in their roles based on talent, not gender.”
According to not-for-profit Parabere Forum, only 18 per cent of head chef jobs worldwide are currently held by women. And only one chef in 2017’s World’s 50 Best Restaurant – Elena Arzak of Spain’s Arzak – is female.
And while the food industry in general is still playing catch up, and signs are positive that restaurant leaders – both male and female – are doing their part in leading cultural change, Danielle Alvarez thinks one of the most powerful moves might just be having more role models for the next generation out there.
“What I have found, which has been really cool for me, is that being a woman head chef has attracted more women to our kitchen. I get a lot of people coming up to me and saying I really want to work for a female head chef,” says Alvarez.
“I can’t think of a better time to be a woman in food – we’re finally getting to a point where we’re not going to let anything hold us back anymore. At least I feel that.”
