Is the world of hospitality finally ready for its #MeToo moment? In the UK, a recent letter from 70 women chefs called upon the restaurant industry to recognize both the...
Is the world of hospitality finally ready for its #MeToo moment? In the UK, a recent letter from 70 women chefs called upon the restaurant industry to recognize both the blatant and more insidious forms of sexism within its midst, leading to widespread media coverage. Sally Abé of The Pem, Tiella’s Dara Klein, and Poppy O’Toole were among the list of women “exhausted by an industry so systematically flawed that we struggle to see ourselves within it.”
Professional kitchens have long been marred by inflated egos and aggression, an environment that makes it all the more difficult for women to break through and thrive. Yet there are plenty of communities and figures across the world making their pan-cultural kitchens more diverse, inclusive, and joyful spaces. For the seven chefs we spoke to this International Women’s Day, it felt like a moment to celebrate—whether a mom’s late night acts of love with a warm and comforting home-cooked meal, lessons passed from one female chef to another in the kitchen, or authentic recipes shared between generations of women.
Here, we have Paris Rosina: a London-based chef, creative, former dinner lady, and former Dusty Knuckle head chef; Paris’ travelling Afro-vegan chef Glory Kabe; Tokyo-based cook Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares, whose forthcoming debut cookbook Umai is a resplendent, nourishing journey through Japanese cuisine; beloved London restaurant Cafe Deco’s head chef Anna Tobias who steers its fresh, innovative, seasonal approach; Rahel Stephanie, the chef behind Indonesian supper club Spoons; New York-based chef, stylist and culinary artist Thu Buser who celebrates and reimagines Viet cuisine; and Savannah Hagendijk, head chef at Amsterdam’s Michelin-starred Restaurant de Kas, currently cooking up a storm over the grills at Soho’s Firebird.
Paris Rosina
“I come from a working class family, where we didn’t eat anything extravagant growing up. I grew up watching Nigella, Fanny, and Delia, and I was obsessed with the Two Fat Ladies from a young age. I am so lucky to have such strong women around me. Rebecca Oliver of Dusty Knuckle really gave me some much needed nurturing during my career there. I am not sure where I would be without her. Melek Erdel is my dear friend, and the first person outside of my kitchen team I connected with in food. Holly Chaves, Marie Mitchell, Rosie French, Panayiota Soutis, Caitlin Isola, Holly Cochrane.
In my teens and early 20s, I worked in many all-male kitchens. I’ve been both bullied and sexually assaulted by chefs and front of house managers. In the last few years, a fridge repair man rubbed my shoulder and said ‘make us a cup of tea love'. With that said, I have chosen to remove myself from environments like this—I think that says it all. I do know lots of people now thriving in their workplaces, however, would I also say that a lot of these places—not all—are queer and female led spaces? Probably yes.”
Glory Kabe
“My mother was a huge influence in my career as a chef. She wasn’t a professional cook, but the way she approached food with love, care, and deep cultural roots shaped how I see cooking today. She taught me that food is more than just nourishment—it’s a story, a connection to identity and history. Her presence in the kitchen was powerful and inspiring, and I carry that essence in my work today.
I deeply admire chefs like chef Fatmata Binta and chef Adefila Adenike Abisola for their dedication to breaking barriers and creating spaces where culinary traditions from diverse backgrounds are celebrated. I believe the industry is evolving, but there is still work to be done in making kitchens more inclusive and equitable. The key is fostering environments where women, especially women of color, feel empowered to lead, innovate, and be recognized for their contributions.
A career highlight for me was working with Alessandra Montagne for Cannes Film Festival and highlighting our cultures during one of the biggest events in the world. I had the chance to push the boundaries of food and storytelling—moments like these remind me why I do what I do.”
Millie Lagares
“Food was always something I felt strongly about as I grew up with a Japanese mum—this meant food and cooking was always at the forefront of our daily lives. The care, culture, and passion that my mum had towards food was incredibly inspiring, as well as her having a creative job where she got to travel the world.
I’m a big fan of authors and chefs like Ixta Belfrage who make use of fusion, doing things that are fun and exciting, drawing inspiration from all over the world—it’s definitely something I strive towards in the way that I cook. Kelly Pochyba, for home cooking that is simple, beautiful, and homey. The way she writes is so cozy, and feels like I’m reading a letter from a penpal. I have a good friend, Alexa Fahlman, who moved to Tokyo recently from a Chinese-Canadian background and we both have so much fun looking toward Japanese ingredients, traveling, eating out, and discussing dishes. All the women in the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen have always created a safe space in food. Where they draw influence from is always so fascinating: Milli Taylor, Katja Tausig, Noor Murad, Chaya Maya.”
Anna Tobias
“I found women’s voices in cookery literature have often guided my way—starting with some of the classic writers like Julia Child, Elizabeth David, and Jane Grigson and then Gabrielle Hamilton and Judy Rogers. Elizabeth David had such a strong voice that I connected to. Grigson and Child gave excellent instruction and were formative. With Rogers and Hamilton, I really value their attention to precision, which feels essential to me as a chef who focuses on simple food.
There are countless women running incredible kitchens. Laura Jackson of Towpath, Dara Klein of Tiella, Simona di Dio of Bottega Caruso, and Sophia Massarella of Polentina are just a few from my own generation. Each of these chefs is creating beautiful, thoughtful, and spirited food that has a strong sense of self and character.
Working for Margot Henderson at Rochelle Canteen was a major highlight for me. It was during my time there that I felt like I truly found my culinary voice. Margot was incredibly generous in allowing me to explore and develop that by giving me the opportunity to write restaurant menus. She has such a distinct aesthetic, not just in her food, but also in how she hosts and creates an atmosphere. There’s a unique mix of style, ease, generosity, and an effortless sense of cool.
My trajectory has been very chosen in the sense that I have mostly worked for women and so my environment has usually felt very gender balanced. I do think that hospitality is moving in the right direction, but I believe there is still a lot of room for improvement in terms of making the culture more positive—from having better conversations around mental health to just ensuring that every member of every team feels like they're in a safe and happy environment. These should be the basic standards, but I think there’s still a little way to go to make them the norm.”
Rahel Stephanie
“I didn’t grow up in a household where cooking was a big part of our daily life, and I wasn’t particularly close to the matriarchs in my family. After my grandmother passed away two years ago, I felt this pull to connect with my great-aunt, Oma Chris. She’s always been one of the most talented cooks I know, effortlessly making dishes that hold deep meaning for our family. Learning from her has been more than just about the recipes—it’s about understanding how food carries memory, how it becomes a thread that ties people together. That’s something I carry into my own practice: Using food as a way to gather, to create moments that feel intimate and grounding, even for those who might not have grown up with that kind of connection.
I didn’t take the traditional route into food—I never went to culinary school, and I kind of stumbled into it organically. But I wouldn’t be where I am today without the women in this industry who have been so generous in sharing knowledge, opportunities, and support. There’s this real sense of community among women in hospitality, and that’s been invaluable. It’s not just about mentorship in the traditional sense—it’s about exchanging ideas, lifting each other up, and making space where space wasn’t always given to us.
Being a self-taught woman of color in a male-dominated industry comes with its challenges. I’ve been underestimated plenty of times, but I’ve learned to use those moments to shift perceptions. There’s always this element of surprise when people realize what I bring to the table—like they didn’t expect it. But I love that. It’s a reminder that skill, creativity, and passion don’t fit into a single mold, and that the industry is evolving beyond outdated ideas of who gets to take up space in kitchens. That’s something I try to pass forward, too—making sure other women, especially those who don’t fit the usual industry narrative, feel seen and valued.
There’s been progress, but there’s still a long way to go, especially when it comes to intersectionality. The conversation around inclusivity often centers on gender, but there’s still so much work to be done for trans women, non-binary folks, and people of color in these spaces. It’s not just about opening doors—it’s about actively dismantling the structures that have kept certain people out in the first place. That means rethinking hiring practices, leadership dynamics, and even the way kitchens function on a day-to-day level. True inclusivity isn’t just about who’s in the room, but whether they feel safe, supported, and empowered to thrive.”
Thu Buser
“As a little girl, I used to run around and cause chaos at my mom’s restaurant, built into the side of our house. There was just something so enticing about the activity and energy of the restaurant, and somehow my mom always found the time to put little artistic touches on each dish. Sometimes it was carrots carved into little roses, other times it was watermelons cut into fractal patterns; but there was always an element of beauty. She did her best to dissuade me from becoming a chef, but it was too late! Being a woman in Vietnam in my mother’s era meant you never had the luxury of pursuing your passion.
Growing up in Vietnam, there was not a culture of learning and recognizing chefs, so it was a big surprise when I found that it was possible to be a household name by making food in the US. The first person I learned about was Julia Childs, and I became obsessed with the idea that a woman could approach cooking with this kind of ferocity. Back home, there was more of a local cult following around neighborhood cooks who had mastered a particular dish, and I remember, outside the alley of my house, there was this incredible wonton soup woman named An who was already up and preparing when I was just coming home from partying all night! If I have learned anything from these women, it is that there is no such thing as working too hard or diving too deep into making amazing food for other people.
I host my own pop up series and hire a team of chefs to work with me—I know I need to live the principles I’d like to see in the industry. As a Vietnamese chef, I love gathering people who are less familiar with my cuisine, no matter what background they come from, who are really inspired to learn. I am aware this is not always the case and people are brought in to fit a pre-determined role rather than giving them room to express their own style and capabilities. I think that pop-ups can lead the wave of change in this area since we have less demand to meet day to day challenges and can take a more flexible approach to building a kitchen culture. I had seen a huge surge in the importance of ethnic people making and styling our own food for the camera, which is a welcome change.”
Savannah Hagendijk
“I have sadly never worked for a female head chef. I have worked with good male chefs, but unfortunately there were few female chefs in the places where I worked at the start of my career. My sister has been a great example to me when it comes to perseverance and willpower—she opened her own business when she was quite young, and while it was not always easy, she persevered and did it anyway. I find Margot Jansens’s cooking style and vision very inspiring, and what Mari Maris does with vegetables is incredibly cool.
I have been given many opportunities to develop myself into who I am today through Jos Timmer and Wim de Beer. It is inspiring to see that they want to put young women and men forward at De Kas, and put them in the picture, but it is also really nice that, despite the fact that there are far too few women working in the kitchen, I have never encountered problems with it at De Kas. I have certainly seen kitchens become more diverse in recent years—there were even days when we had more women than men in the kitchen at De Kas. It does not matter to me what the exact distribution is, as long as women can do what they want and that everyone can feel at home in the kitchen, regardless of gender or background.”