Jason Atherton has run his own restaurants for 15 years – he’s cooked in countless kitchens for multiple decades before that. He has then, I assume, encountered many women in the kitchen (although, still far fewer than he would have men given only 17% of chefs are female – and I’m sure the stats were worse back then). For him to claim he hasn’t seen any sexism in the kitchen in a recent interview in The Times, well, as the brand might say – he should’ve gone to Specsavers.
I have interviewed countless women over the years – both for this magazine’s Insatiable column, and elsewhere – on their experiences in kitchens. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Every single one of them has a story. Some are open about their experiences – ready and willing to talk about the chef who groped them, the boss who relentlessly objectified them or the journalist who made them feel uncomfortable. Others clam up when I ask – admitting they’ve had experiences, but too scared of the repercussions to say much more.
For many who fall into the latter camp, I think the reason is clear enough: they spent their careers working up the ranks alongside male chefs of a particular ilk. They figured out their ways to get by: keep your head down, don’t complain, and never draw attention to your gender. There was no one there to support – or I suppose, believe – them if they spoke up. So they didn’t, staying quiet in order to continue working in kitchens.
Recent years haven’t done great things for female chefs, either. The Bear has borderline romanticised tattoo’d men verbally, emotionally – or physically – abusing their employees in pursuit of culinary perfection. A number of big name chefs have had their reputations tarnished by scandals only to bounce back better than ever, with more followers, a new product line or even a shiny new restaurant. In the last three years only two women have been awarded new Michelin stars.
In the article in The Times, Atherton applauded the fact that “you can be any gender now in our industry and flourish” which is both ironic and problematic. The former, because by saying you can be any gender now he implies that wasn’t possible before and, as a result, contradicts his earlier statement that he’s never witnessed sexism in the industry. The latter because, honestly, it’s simply just not the case. Yes, there are women finally clawing their way into positions of influence and power. Still, though, it’s hardly equitable. There are still kitchens entirely staffed by men who are cookie-cutter renditions of each other. There are still women who have to leave jobs or have their progression scuppered because, as one woman told Joanna Taylor in The Telegraph, their boss won’t stop groping them.
Sexism isn’t just about things that are done to women, though. It is far more systemic than that. It’s an insidious thing.
Sexism isn’t just about things that are done to women, though. It is far more systemic than that. It’s an insidious thing. It holds women back in their careers through assumptions around parenting and maternity. It is built around implicit and often unrecognised biases that see male colleagues promoted or given extra opportunities while their female counterparts are left to stagnate. It’s the expectation that a woman will take on the pastry section rather than the pans, because they can’t handle the heat.
It seems almost impossible that Atherton has never witnessed sexism in the industry. Whether he was willing or able to identify it as such is another matter altogether. Given the sheer scale of women sharing their stories that range from basic sexism to full blown sexual assault, it’s extremely unlikely that as a prominent man in food he wouldn’t have been around that at some point. Regardless of how his comments were said, or the ways in which they may have been highlighted out of context – as he claimed in an Instagram post explaining his side of the story – ultimately, not ‘witnessing’ sexism doesn’t mean it isn’t there. A true ally to women would have their eyes open to the rife sexism in restaurants, call it out when it happens, and help foster safe and positive working environments for the women on their own team. How can a chef claim to create safe spaces for women if he denies witnessing the sexism so many have experienced?
Atherton has since penned a response in The London Standard, writing “The headline reads ‘I haven’t seen any sexism in the kitchen’ but I never said those words, and I didn’t say it didn’t exist. I categorically do not believe there isn’t sexism in the industry, of course there is. There is in every industry. I just have not witnessed it personally. I was answering for me, no one else.” To which I have to say: perhaps it’s time to start paying attention. He also writes, “I’m just a chef. I know I’m seen as a high profile chef, but my job is just going into the kitchen.” Which isn’t quite true. Atherton isn’t just a chef - he’s a restaurateur. He’s an employer. A man who must pay the salaries of at least a few women, and owes them a working environment where they’re respected and treated equally.
In a letter shared with The Telegraph, 70 female chefs have co-signed a call to arms for the industry, asking colleagues and restaurant insiders to “challenge and dismantle the harmful practices” and help “create a brighter, more inclusive future for our industry”. Many of the 70 women named in the letter are part of a new generation of leaders driving positive change. Some men have shared this letter and included their support. A few have included ways in which they are trying to drive things forward in their own establishments. Yet, still, they are in the minority – overwhelmed, instead, by women sharing their own experiences. And that is perhaps where The Telegraph gets things wrong when it asks if this is food’s #MeToo moment. Because food has had many instances of white men undermining the experiences of women – or perpetrating those negative experiences themselves – in an effort to maintain the status quo. And until those men remove the wool from their eyes, head to Specsavers and start not just seeing the rife sexism, but calling it out too, will the restaurant industry truly see progress.
