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Paula Deen and Rachael Ray may have become familiar faces on the television screen, but behind-the-scenes in restaurants across the country, women have less of a presence. Starchefs.com, a Web site that covers the restaurant industry, estimates that about 18 percent of executive chefs are women, according to their annual Salary Survey. The percentages were even less for female owners/chefs, sous chefsor line cooks.
"The culinary profession is still dominated by men, with white men representing a bigger percentage at the top," the survey said. "Clearly, women still have that glass ceiling to break through."
Female chefs exist in the Lowcountry, of course, whether that's in catering, pastry, restaurants or working as private chefs. Although no numbers exist for the Lowcountry, local chefs note that the national trend most likely carries through. So, the question remains: Why?
Christine Bohn grew up cooking with her grandmother and spent her whole career in food and beverage, starting as a waitress in college and rising to be a culinary director with a restaurant chain.
About a decade ago she moved to Hilton Head and started her own restaurant and catering business. She recently relocated her restaurant, Christine's Cafe and Catering, to the Atrium Building near the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina.
Coming up in the corporate side of food and beverage, Bohn said being a woman didn't hinder her career.
"The restaurant business has always been a man's world," she said. "But I was never intimidated, never uncomfortable. They never carried my suitcase for me or anything like that. I think they just thought of me as one of the guys. ... For me, it was just the right place at the right time with a little talent."
The restaurant business, like many other industries, isn't kind on the family. Restaurant hours are long and at odd times. Chefs often get off work late in the evening or get a day off during the week. It's not the most conducive environment to raising children, Bohn said.
Bohn was able to establish her career while her husband and mother helped take care of her daughter. She can see how women in a different situation might not end up in the same position. Between the hours and the physically stressful environment, "there's not a lot of women who want to do it," she said.
In a recent series of interviews with female chefs, Starchefs.com offered this advice to women looking to have both a culinary career and family: "Wait. Focus on your career, pay your dues, and then have a family. By then, ideally, you'll be in a position to prioritize."
Lynn Hicks, a former restaurant owner and current president of the local Johnson and Wales Alumni chapter, said part of the issue stems from male chauvinism. Not that all men in all kitchens think the same way, but that an antiquated mindset does still exist.
"I'm not male bashing. But I still hear people say, 'Women belong in the kitchen at home, not the commercial kitchen,'" she said.
The solution is about promoting the fact that men and women each bring their own strengths and weaknesses to the kitchen.
"It goes back to men and women working together. That's where the response comes from," she said. "There's nothing more I'd love to see than people living their passion in the kitchen."
When Dye Scott-Rhodan of Dye's Gullah Fixin's on Hilton Head was growing up in Ridgeland, the job of the woman was to cook. The man's job, she said, was to eat. But as she climbed the ladder in the food and beverage industry, she noticed the roles changed.
She got into the food and beverage business in private communities, working in places such as Bear Creek Club in Hilton Head Plantation. She was the head chef at Spring Island Clubhouse and food and beverage manager at Colleton River Plantation.
She opened Dye's Gullah Fixin's more than two years ago after a stint in the food and beverage department at Beaufort County School District. Her dream had always been to own her restaurant. Now, her ultimate goal is to get her own Food Network show, bringing her country cooking to the world.
Her theory about the lack of women in the industry plays off her upbringing. Traditionally, men have the job of making the money, she said. Women have the job of raising the home. Working as a chef is a profession, hence, more attractive to men.
"It's amazing," she said. "Men took over the cooking world. What happened to us?"
Cooking in a man's world was never intimidating to her, she said. In fact, she issues a challenge to any male chef out there: She may be a rarity in the restaurant world, but she knows she can cook as good as any man.
"I'll take my hat off to any male chef," she said, "but I'll tell them this, 'Bring it on.'<2
