Actually, A Woman’s Place IS In The Kitchen

Amy Brandwein is a six-time James Beard Award-nominated chef and restaurateur, and an advocate for women in the culinary industry.

Amy Brandwein is a six-time James Beard Award-nominated chef and restaurateur of award-winning restaurants Centrolina and Piccolina in Washington, D.C. An advocate for women in the culinary industry, Centrolina has a 100% female leadership team, and Brandwein is a longtime member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and Women Chefs and Restaurateurs. In this edition of Voices in Food, Brandwein talks about the myriad reasons why there are so few female chefs in leadership positions and why representation at the highest culinary levels matters.

There’s not just one reason why there’s such low representation of women in the industry; it’s a very, very complex issue, and there are many, many intertwined factors.

The first thing is there’s often a struggle for women to choose hospitality, or especially culinary, as their chosen profession because, at some point, a lot of women want to have kids. I see a lot of drop-offs when women in culinary approach their childbearing years. There’s really no support network for any family in hospitality. We don’t have childcare geared toward the hospitality industry, where there are flex hours; it’s not just nine to five, so childcare is a huge thing. When you know that kitchens are mostly men and your chance of childcare and work-life balance is low, it’s discouraging.

We want to encourage women to keep entering the industry. I had a woman who said, “Chef, I’m struggling because I want to have a family, and I’m not sure how I can do this.” As an owner and a chef, I am responsible for being part of the solution, meaning telling them practically how they can do it. Becoming an owner might be the best chance to achieve that work-life balance you need. That’s why I did this because: I wanted to create my own family life and my own way to success. The only way I could see staying in this industry was to do it myself.

So, for more women to enter the industry, we need to be practical about how to guide them through that by speaking about it out loud so that when more women enter the industry, we can create a sustainable environment. We cannot create a sustainable environment if women are not in it.