Female chefs were shunned in restaurant kitchens

The presence of female chefs in restaurant kitchens is still underrepresented, although the situation is improving.

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However, North American culinary programs typically have 50% or more female students. Yet less than 30% of chefs in the US are women. North of the border the situation is no better.

“In Canada, 24 or 25 Michelin-starred restaurants have a female chef,” notes ITHQ Professor Julie Wawrzyniak.

The latter also hopes to reverse this trend by imposing quotas on restaurants.

The word “allocation” raises eyebrows, but it should be seen as a tool. Let's talk about “goals”. Today, studies show that it will take another 140 to 150 years for women to hold positions of responsibility similar to those of men, if quotas are not put in place in organizations, especially those that are heavily represented by men. ,” Mrs. Wawrzyniak maintains.

At ITHQ Restaurant, Executive Chef Karine Beauchamp boasts of having a 100% female team at lunchtime.

“If a place wants to grow, it needs to be talked about. “I've never experienced coming to a typically feminine kitchen,” she notes.

Ms. Beauchamp recognizes that the dynamic is different when a kitchen is occupied entirely by women.

“Women are going to multitask a little more and men a little less. And then, if we put it together, I think we'll achieve something really beautiful,” maintains Karine Beauchamp.

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