Anthony Bourdain once described the professional kitchen as a place infested with a “towel-snapping, locker-room attitude,” although he thinks that’s changed in recent years.
Perhaps it has, but if the situation is improving, it’s largely down to female chefs making their voices heard.
Among their ranks is April Bloomfield, famously dubbed “Burger Queen” in a 2010 New Yorker profile that mapped the British chef’s influence on New York’s dining culture. Bloomfield, who won plaudits at gastropub the Spotted Pig and meat-lover haven the Breslin (both received Michelin stars) is now giving veg lovers something to celebrate with Hearth & Hound, her first LA venture.
One of the many chefs inspired by Bloomfield is Elise Kornack, who made waves with her own tiny Michelin-starred eatery, Take Root, in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens. Earlier this year, Kornack closed shop and relocated to the Hudson Valley, where expectations are running high that she will make the region the home of her second act.
Kornack and Bloomfield sat down with Kerry Diamond, co-founder and editorial director of Cherry Bombe, a biannual magazine that focuses on women and food.
EK: As someone younger in the industry, I want to give respect to people who came before me. I want advice. But I don’t want to make it seem like I’m saying, “Make this easier on me.”
AB: It’s OK to say that you’re having a hard time or that you don’t know how to deal with something. I don’t know that it necessarily comes with age. I’ve always been quite open and willing to act, especially if it’s a problem that you need to address. But I don’t think women are any lesser at doing that than men. Maybe women feel that they don’t get supported. Maybe we should be talking more, as women.
KD: I think the bigger issue is institutional sexism. The guys just have better infrastructure when it comes to asking for help. They’re part of a network. I went to an event two years ago, a type of lunch-and-learn, and it was all the heads of the big restaurant groups in the city. There were four women out of 75 people in the room. It was shocking, but it opened my eyes. We have to start penetrating that infrastructure if we want to have equal opportunity. It’s the lawyers, the accountants, access to the people with money. It’s starting to change, but it’s still a little slow going.
EK: I’ve moved out of the city and into a smaller community [in Woodstock, NY]. And it’s amazing how many women up there and in general are so eager to help each other get things off the ground.
KD: Do you feel like New York City wasn’t as supportive as upstate?
EK: People are a bit more organized in the country. There’s a lot going on in the city. When there’s not a lot going on, you can grab onto something faster and make a bigger impact. It’s like being a bigger fish in a small pond, and it takes a lot more to do it in a larger place. But you can start in a small community and grow from there.
AB: New York is a pretty busy place. I think it’s really important to gather and talk, that we have some agenda that is meaningful for everybody. I’m quite shy. I like to go to talks and I like to listen, but sometimes it takes me a while to process. It’s one thing to talk, but there’s the pressure of, “Well, I’m thinking …”
KD: That’s what I like about social media, that even if you’re shy, you can promote yourself. The self-promotion aspect of this industry is really hard for a lot of people. One of the things we need to be careful about is not just promoting people who can afford a publicist and people who’ve got a big machine. I think that I’ve come to a better understanding of what mentor means — someone who would reach out a hand and show you the way like Yoda. They were like the personal-goals mentor that would know how to get to the next level.
AB: Or you can have young people that teach you. I think there was once an idea that a chef was always in charge and that all ideas had to come from a chef, and I think in this day and age, it’s more open.
EK: I’ve always wanted to just lead by example, and then maybe I can inspire people through that.
KD: The [James Beard Award-winning] chef Jody Adams was on the radio saying something to the effect of, “If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.” And I feel that it’s such a great moment for women in the industry because you have so many dynamic female chefs today, and for so long you didn’t see any women. That’s finally starting to change, and, April, I think you get some credit for that because so many women learned under you and now they’re opening their places and cooking elsewhere.