Girls Night Out

[rhodegirl]

In a feature that ran on the front page of the Metro section of Sunday's Washington Post, Chef Ris Lacoste of 1789 and other women chefs head out for the evening and talk shop.

<In the past decade, women have increasingly landed starring roles in the kitchens of some of the nation's best-known restaurants...But government statistics are unequivocal. While women make up more than half of the food-preparation workforce, fewer than one in five is a chef or head cook. The industry's most prestigious awards go mostly to men. Most of the recognized top chefs in the country are men. Most of the students at the L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg are men.

No wonder the women vent.>

To see what they vent about, check out the full story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Mar26.html

[iamthestretch]

Good to see a woman like Ris Lacoste -- who has done well for herself in a tough, often macho business -- making a concerted effort to mentor (womentor?) other women and help them to succeed. Not qualified to comment myself, but my wife tells me that that is, sadly, more rare than you might think.

Edited March 28, 2005 by iamthestretch (log)

[DonRocks]

making a concerted effort to mentor (womentor?) other women and help them to succeed.

←

A touch off-topic and perhaps even controversial, but being a big fan of gender-neutrality, I've always objected to the term "woman," because it's derivative from the term "man."

I believe it's more appropriate to employ the more neutral term "woperson," because ...

... oops.

Thinking about it some more, I don't like woperson either, because of the implications of the term "son." This brings us to the logical conclusion: "woperchild."

That's it. Woperchild.

[JPW]

Great Don - give the kid a gender identity crisis while he's still in diapers.

I always did find it of great interest that usually the only female chefs you see in kitchens are the pastry chefs.

[HOOLIGAN]

making a concerted effort to mentor (womentor?) other women and help them to succeed.

←

A touch off-topic and perhaps even controversial, but being a big fan of gender-neutrality, I've always objected to the term "woman," because it's derivative from the term "man."

I believe it's more appropriate to employ the more neutral term "woperson," because ...

... oops.

Thinking about it some more, I don't like woperson either, because of the implications of the term "son." This brings us to the logical conclusion: "woperchild."

That's it. Woperchild.

←

It doesn't make me a pedophile to enjoy a whopper junior every once in a while, does it?

[morela]

making a concerted effort to mentor (womentor?) other women and help them to succeed.

←

A touch off-topic and perhaps even controversial, but being a big fan of gender-neutrality, I've always objected to the term "woman," because it's derivative from the term "man."

I believe it's more appropriate to employ the more neutral term "woperson," because ...

... oops.

Thinking about it some more, I don't like woperson either, because of the implications of the term "son." This brings us to the logical conclusion: "woperchild."

That's it. Woperchild.

←

Isn't a woman a man/being with womb? Wombeing.

[iamthestretch]

Isn't a woman a man/being with womb? Wombeing.

←

Is that anything like a Womble?

[simdelish]

-- making a concerted effort to mentor (womentor?) other women and help them to succeed. Not qualified to comment myself, but my wife tells me that that is, sadly, more rare than you might think.

←

Yes, very sad, but very true.

I am reminded of a few years back when I was already working sucessfully in the business, but really wanted a mentor, someone to explain things to me, to help me, to send me in the right directions. I had done everything by myself up to that point (was self-taught). I applied for a Les Dames d'Escoffier scholarship which provided two things (it was so stated): funds to further education -- in my case, to go the the CIA, and a mentor for a one year period. My reason for applying was first and foremost to get the mentor, meet other women, make connections, and the funds were, in truth, not really needed. I merely wanted the mentor -- I was making good money. I also had the dream that once I got established/known, I could hopefully join Les Dames and one day be able to give back, by mentoring someone else, just as I would be mentored.

When the Dames member called me on the phone to congratulate me on winning, the first thing I asked was 'who is my mentor, and how soon do we get to meet/talk?' Her reply was hesitant, and finally she said, "Well, we are having a problem getting someone to step up for this. Everyone is so busy...blah blah blah." I told her my real reason and desire for the scholarship, and her reply was something like, oh dear, well, we will see if we can work on that. A month later when I received the check, I called her back to inquire of the mentor situation, and got no further. "Everyone already has too much on their plate," I was told.

Needless to say, I never heard another word from them, to this day. I wonder if the scholarship is still worded with the mentor phrase included.

[Sthitch]

making a concerted effort to mentor (womentor?) other women and help them to succeed.

←

A touch off-topic and perhaps even controversial, but being a big fan of gender-neutrality, I've always objected to the term "woman," because it's derivative from the term "man."...

←

The men- in mentor comes from the Greek and means "to think". I guess by automatically assuming that the word has anything to do with sex defies this meaning.

[jm chen]

Some more discussion of the dearth of female chefs in big-name restaurants -- wish I'd seen the Post article before I wrote it, so I could have thrown in a few stats to underline my point!

Name-checks eGullet, Tom Sietsema, Ray's the Steaks, Corduroy, and the only three female chefs I could name in DC without prompting my memory with web-surfing. Of course now I feel bad for having left out Jamie Leeds and Gillian Clark.

Anyway, take a gander:

Over a Hot Stove

[Malawry]

How about Nora Pouillon (Nora, Asia Nora)? Or on a more casual level, Janis McLean (Red Dog Cafe)? Alison Swope of Andale? There was Tracy O'Grady at Kinkead's for a long time--she can run circles around plenty of male chefs. Women are running kitchens in this town, even if there aren't nearly as many as there are men.