FSR March 2023

S P O N S O R E D B Y S M I T H F I E L D C U L I N A R Y

coveted positions. In 2022, The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that just 22.8 percent of head chefs in the U.S. were female. The inequity is even more stark at the country’s top restau rants: research by Chef’s Pen cil showed that just 6 percent of restaurants that received Michelin stars in 2022 were led by women. It’s an imbalance that is likely rooted in prejudice. Don’t “If youread historiesof chefs of thepast, they all learnedfrom theirmother, or grandmother.”

believe it? Ask a woman who is a chef, and they’ll likely tell you a story about the obstacles they faced due to their gender. “I was told early in my career: ‘You can be an amazing wife, an amazing parent, or an amaz ing chef,’” says Melissa Chicker neo, corporate executive chef at Behind the Scenes Catering. “‘You can do two of these things, but never three.’ And every day, I try to prove that person wrong.” Kristine Subido, director of culinary at LinkedIn, Bon Appe tit Management Company, con curs with Chickerneo’s senti ment, saying that being told what she couldn’t do has only motivated her to work harder. “If you’re also younger, you’re walking in the kitchen, you get a lot of looks,” she says. “They think you’re the salad, or pas try (chef)... but you want to win

W

hen James Beard Award Winning Chef Debbie Gold started working in

the industry, there was a dearth of women holding positions in the kitchen. She identified this as a paradox of sorts. “I always thought it was funny,” Gold says, “because if you read histories of chefs of the past, they all learned from their mother, or grandmother. But for some reason, when it came to restaurants, (people thought) we couldn’t do it.” The lack of women in restau rant kitchens persists, espe cially when it comes to the most

GROUND PORK EMPANADAS, BY CHEF LYNN HAY.

SMITHFIELD CULINARY

FSR x QSR Smithfield 8pg Insert March 2023.indd 2

2/8/23 1:48 PM