By Emma Meiselwitz
Shouts of “corner” and “behind” come from a bustling kitchen. It’s 4:30 and the spot just opened for Sunday dinner service, but the chefs have already been here for hours.
Tessa Bristol, Chef de Cuisine or Head Chef, is heard above all others as she helms the ship and commands the kitchen staff throughout service at Fox & the Knife.
By 5 pm the cozy spot fills up as conversations between couples, families, and friends fill up the aperitif-inspired space and drown out the chefs at work in the semi-exposed kitchen.
Tucked away in South Boston, the restaurant offers traditional Italian food including homemade pasta and antipasti.
The restaurant was created by Chef Karen Akunowicz, a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef Northeast, Bravo TV's Emmy Nominated Top Chef, and Cookbook Author. She is not only the Executive Chef at Fox & The Knife but also the co-owner with her partner LJ Johnson.
Akunowicz fell in love with Italian food when working at Via Matta in Boston’s Back Bay. After spending a year working in Modena, Italy she opened Fox & The Knife.
The menu includes delicious dishes from an option of five courses; aperitivo, pane, antipasti, primi, and secondi. Among the most popular are the Broccoli Alla Griglia and Raviolo Carbonara.
The restaurant’s legacy as a female-run business continues into managerial roles with Samantha Plasker as General Manager.
But what most customers of Fox and the Knife don’t know is that the restaurant is a rarity in Boston and the entire United States. Not only is its kitchen run by a female chef, but the entire business is also female-owned and operated.
The highest-level role in a kitchen is the Executive Chef who plays a combined creative and managerial role. Just beneath that is the Chef de Cusine or Head Chef, who runs the kitchen.
Women make up only 12.5% of Executive Chefs in the United States, according to Zippia. Men make up the other 87.5%.
The numbers are even fewer for Chefs de Cuisine currently employed in the United States; of them, only 10.4% are women while 89.6% are men.
The gender disparity of high-level chefs isn’t unique to Boston. And it doesn’t reflect the industry as a whole. Zippia reports that 38.7% of all restaurant workers are women, while 61.3% are men.
Why are women less represented in the top levels of the restaurant industry?
It’s not because they aren’t interested. Data USA reports that 53% of people who hold a degree from the five largest culinary institutes are women.
This divergence isn’t a shock to most. Male chefs are notoriously celebrated far and wide in media.
In 2013, Time Magazine published a spread of 50 influential chefs interconnected in a family tree. Not a single chef listed was a woman.
Just last year, Chef’s Pencil published a list of the "20 Most Famous Chefs in the World, According to Google". Only five are women.
Every chef has a different path to success— upbringing, culinary school, etc. But it is clear that the last few rungs of the ladder to culinary success are far easier for men.
Many organizations are dedicated to the issue. Les Dames d'Escoffier is a nonprofit philanthropic society of women in food and beverage and hospitality. The all-female organization is dedicated to educating and empowering women in food, beverage, and hospitality by cultivating a network of women in these businesses.
The International organization started in Boston in 1959. Anastasia Terechina-Nickerson is the president of the Les Dames d'Escoffier’s Boston Chapter which has over 60 members.
“Over the years, we as a local chapter have supported women chefs,” Nickerson said. “I think by having a forum where you can share experiences and then seek the strength of maybe similar experiences, I think that was the help.”
Les Dames d'Escoffier also provides a scholarship through the Boston University Culinary Program. This is the second year it will be offered.
But chefs aren’t the only women that the organization aims to help. Nickerson comes from a background in food manufacturing and sales and says this mix of hospitality and food industries is important to the organization’s mission.
“We all come from different circuits of the food business,” she said. “And by sharing information and our experiences, we might provide an opportunity for somebody. We're creating our own network for potential job opportunities.”
Les Dames d'Escoffier continues to grow as an organization. “I think there's a lot of energy and a lot of knowledge," Nickerson said, "And when we combine our forces, we’re just a bigger machine."
Despite the success of chefs like Karen Akunowicz and Tessa Bristol from Fox & The Knife, Nickerson said there’s a long road ahead to gender equality in the restaurant and food industry; but she believes it’s possible.
“It's a tough job to be a chef and I think women are so strong and resilient. They have carved the path for themselves.”