More women breaking into restaurant industry
With less than 25% of chefs in the U.S. being female, it's still a male-dominated industry.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – In celebration of International Women’s Day, a meal featuring food from 17 female-owned restaurants will be served at Honeywood in the Summit in Lexington. These women are from all over the state with all types of food.
Honeywood is expecting a full house all night for Women’s Day 2022. The featured women in the event have cut their teeth in a predominantly male industry and are celebrating together with good food and community.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as recently as last year, only 22% of the chefs and head cooks in this country were women. While this is still less than a quarter of the chefs in the United States, chef and restaurant owner Ouita Michel says more women are chefs now than when she started out in the 80’s.
“I think it’s really exciting to see so many young women going in to be in the culinary arts and become chefs and be very successful food entrepreneurs,” says Michel.
Some of the participating women say Lexington’s food community is a welcoming and encouraging space. They say they haven’t felt the need to “prove themselves”.
“I think actually I just have to prove everything to myself, you know, it’s just constantly striving to be a better business-owner, better boss, better at my specialty,” says Renee Brewer, owner of Wine + Market.
“Just really leaning on the village and knowing I’m not alone really kind of helps me not pay attention to the distractions that I’m a minority amongst minorities,” says Tiffany Bellfield El-Amin, co-owner of Alfalfas.
Some of the chefs say the industry environment changes by the day and attitudes towards women in the kitchen have shifted even in the last few years.
“Events like this has kind of made me feel like I’m not in a man’s kitchen anymore,” says Tonya Mays-Cronin, chef at Kismet. “I feel like this is a woman’s industry and we’re leading it.”
The women chefs and restaurant owners have a lot of advice for younger women looking to break-in to the industry.
“A lot of business is about networking, it’s about who you know, who you can call,” says Michel.
“Work as hard as you can and treat people with as much respect as you possibly can,” says Brewer.
“Be true to yourself and just stand up for what you believe in,” says Mays-Cronin.
“Keep your goals and your dreams,” says El-Amin.
Michel says COVID forced the restaurant industry to take a look in the mirror and be more inclusive and she’s thrilled to be able to mentor young women with events like this dinner.
