Andi Oliver, Sally Abé, Laura Kimber: 'A great chef is a great chef, regardless of gender'

 On Tuesday, Sally Abé and the team at The Pem Restaurant hosted an event to celebrate International Women's Day.

A panel discussion saw chef, TV presenter and radio broadcaster Andi Oliver take to the stage, joined by celebrated sommelier Sandia Chang; GM of Soho's The Coach & Horses, Ali Ross; business development executive at Pol Roger, Fikayo Ifaturoti and Hilton's VP of F&B strategy and development across EMEA, Emma Banks.

Among the topics of conversation, the question of whether women should be identified as female chefs - rather than just chefs - was raised.

Celebrating female talent is not the same as celebrating someone's talent 'considering they are a woman'

Andi Oliver was categorical. "Absolutely not," she said. "It drives me crazy. A great chef is a great chef, regardless of gender." 

On programmes like Great British Menu,  she continued, "we're really careful about that kind of language. I think it's really important, because there's no difference."

"If you're in the kitchen and it's hot and sweaty and you're hitting the pass, you're hitting the pass."

"Your biology, your physiology has nothing to do with that. It's nothing to do with excellence. I think separating men and women out as a 'great female chef' is slightly patronising."

"I don't agree with that kind of marginalisation," she said.

Representation is everyone's responsibility

Whilst it is important to hold organisations accountable for how they represent women, Andi and Sally - like the celebrated Asma Khan - stand their ground when it comes to where they appear and how they are construed in the public eye.

Speaking of times when, appearing on TV, she was pulled up by producers for allegedly speaking loudly, speaking too much or speaking over men, Andi said, "I think it's up to people like me who have a prominent position or are very visible to make sure that we don't pander to that stuff."

"It's easy to find yourself falling down that road where you can become a cartoon version of yourself, 'a nicely nicely' version of yourself, because you want to work and you want to keep doing the things that you're doing and you need to get paid."

Even if it means missing out on some opportunities, she added, "turning things down, saying no is important. Feeling safe enough to say no to things that don't have parameters you can trust is really important."

Sally agreed, and said that whenever she is asked to cook at charity functions or to speak on a panel, she always asks who else is involved.

"I'm not going to name names," she said, "but there are certain chefs that I know don't treat their staff well and I will not work with them - and I don't care."

"It's about standing your ground in those situations. Because otherwise you dilute yourself. If you stand for something and you believe in it, you've got to do that 100 percent of the time, not just when it suits you or when the money's right."

We asked our audience on social media whether they believe separating women into the 'female chef' category is not necessary -  a majority of respondents concluded that no, they Don't.

Laura Kimber, head chef at Michelin-starred Salt in Stratford-Upon-Avon, said that being a female in hospitality is "challenging and bloody difficult at times," but that in no way did this warrant a separate denomination.

The chef said that she was proud to be the only female head chef of a Michelin-starred restaurant in the Midlands, but that she would not let this fact define her. 

"I have worked very hard in hospitality for the past 12 years. Never have I let my gender get in the way of what I want to achieve, and why should I?"

And while she sees it as important to bring more women into the industry, the focus should be on bringing in more people, no matter their gender - and creating separate categories is counterproductive.

"We need to encourage more men and women from all backgrounds into the industry," she said, adding that "if we start creating female categories or female-led teams, then surely we are just making the division in the industry worse."