Wine Enthusiast Magazine
SubscribeDo Women Have to Grow a Pair To Make It In the Wine and Food World?
by Susan Kostrzewa
You think cooking is a cute job, eh? Like Mommy in the kitchen? Well, Mommy never had to face the dinner rush while the orders come flooding in . . . every second counts and you cannot be mommy. –Colette, Ratatouille (2007)
A lot has been written about sexism in the wine and food (specifically restaurant) industry; we tackled the topic ourselves in our October 2008 “Bottle of the Sexes” issue. It came up again for me last November in Philadelphia as I sat on a “Breaking Through the Cork Ceiling” panel discussion with influential women of the wine industry like Martine Saunier and Cristina Mariani-May. The good news in the wine world at least? Most of us agreed that if you’re smart, hardworking, and take what you do seriously, you’ll get ahead, regardless of the occasional old-boy boneheads who scowl at you when you crash their Victorian frat parties. We all felt that some of our most supportive mentors along the way had in fact been men and that no one was happier to see new perspectives and voices in these traditional dude fests than the forward-thinking men we worked alongside.
But do you have to act like a man to get ahead in the wine and food business? Last night I sat with three accomplished women in the culinary and wine world over a table of exquisitely arrayed sustainable seafood dishes at Harbour and as we talked about the talented (all-male) kitchen line-up at the restaurant, one of the group recalled her days in culinary school and the rolling pin-swinging that went on behind the kitchen door. Screaming chefs, cursing cohorts, flying utensils, indulgent details about life between the sheets….the cultural dictate was, she said, all male, all the time. She was pushed and prodded, teased and picked apart in a way she said she hadn’t experienced since grade school. She decided the head-butting wasn’t for her and left the kitchen for other food-related pursuits. It’s a story I’ve heard many times about life on the firing line of a restaurant—no chicks allowed. Grow a big set or make pastries, end of story.
I think the wine world is a little less abrasive, but male behaviors dominate, certainly among tasters. I’ve seen this at formal tastings (and one wonders why as bottle price goes up at tastings, so do the ratio of men to women invited), where me and maybe 2-3 other women are lost in a sea of suits and often (with no disrespect to the valuable experience this conveys), white hair. There’s backslapping, posturing, and certainly one-up-manship, whether it’s spouting out more stats, coming up with the newest “find” that outdoes the last guy’s, or simply talking loud enough to drown out the other people talking. Again, there are always those who light up to see a new face and hear a new take on the wines. But one gets the sense that many of these men are not so much discussing the wine as they are scrambling to be alpha dog. I’m no wallflower, but I’m also not impelled to jump into the fray. Should I have to in order to be respected, or even be heard?
The icons of worldwide wine expertise—people like Parker, Johnson, Tanzer—are all men who employ mostly men under them as tasters. But women like Jancis Robinson, Andrea Immer, Karen MacNeil, and Monica Larner, Wine Enthusiast’s Italian editor in Rome, are all respected greatly in the wine industry and continue to pave the way for women who think and approach tasting and rating in their own way and not as prescribed by tradition. None of these experts feel the need to be anything but thorough and knowledgeable, and all are accessible, eons away from the kind of wine snobbery that prevailed in the past.
Are things changing in the wine and restaurant world for women? Or do we need to impersonate our male cohorts to make our mark?
Filed under: Connoisseurship, Critics/Competitions, Industry Issues, Opinions and Commentary, Restaurants and Food, Uncategorized, Wine Tasting
10 Comments
10 Responses to “Do Women Have to Grow a Pair To Make It In the Wine and Food World?”
Please Wait
June 5th, 2009 at 3:10:47 PM
Call me naive but I don’t think the wine and food area is all that different than ye olde business worlde. I spent my past 20 years in a male-dominated industry, and plenty of time sitting on conference panels with brilliant woman who could easily run circles around their male counterparts. I’ve also meant plenty of idiots – both male and female. My point is simply that for those of us working in areas that used to be mostly testosterone based, we are going to have a fight a bit harder, and be a little more thick-skinned. I would love to think that times are changing in both the wine and restaurant world, not to mention the legal field – but I think we have another decade or two left of educating the masses. Luckily I have no problem speaking up and out when a good old boy in the flag-waving confederacy in which I live asks me to get him a drink.
June 5th, 2009 at 5:00:31 PM
The discussion continues at Astor Center on Monday night:
Gender Confusion: Unraveling the Myths of Gender in the Restaurant Kitchen
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http://www.astorcenternyc.com/class-gender-confusion-unraveling-the-myths-of-gender-in-the-restaurant-kitchen.ac
June 5th, 2009 at 6:02:15 PM
I’d be remiss to exclude our own WE tasting panel . . . full of experts who have always supported newcomers, regardless of gender, and urged them to find their own unique voice. That progressive spirit is alive at so many other organizations in the wine and food world, so I’m hopeful that we’re moving away from the old ways in general.
June 6th, 2009 at 10:41:28 AM
As far as Winemaking go. I believe that woman rule the world. Here just a few of them.
Kris Curran
Rosemary Cakebread
Celia Masyczek
Heidi Peterson Barrett
Mia Klein
Kathy Joseph
and so many more that skip my mind at the moment:
June 6th, 2009 at 12:56:19 PM
I live and work in Paso Robles where several women are charging ahead in the wine business (both in the cellar and on the streets) despite the boys club mentality. On a recent visit to a local female owned wine shop (15 Degrees C), a man (young, dressed in traditional cheesy sales rep apparel) walked in. When the owner (Ali Carscaden) approached him, he said he was waiting for my husband (a customer) who was the only male in the shop at the time. As it turned out, he was looking for the owner and assumed Ali was a mere “shop girl”. That was not the first time that has happened to Ali, a young, childless, wine professional who can certainly hold her own in the wine weenie wack off sessions. As a full time working partner in our family food and wine businesses I often feel it necessary (or easier – sorry) to channel my thoughts and ideas directed at certain peers, employees and customers through my husband. Perhaps that’s because I have taken on the role of the default parent and he the default “face” of our businesses. Until science figures out a way for men to breast feed, I believe our struggle to be on the forefront in male dominated food and wine businesses will continue. We have to continue to support our female friends who are braving the locker room, frat boy twaddle, and respect the men who are supportive regardless of gender.
June 8th, 2009 at 9:45:30 AM
JoAnn: That mistaken identity scenario happens often! I have heard quite a few stories of younger wine industry women being mistaken for “assistants” at events. But like you say, there are so many men in the wine industry who want change, and we have to celebrate them along with the talented women in the business.
June 8th, 2009 at 1:37:30 PM
Back to the kitchen and a good example: Sarah Walz who has been a sous chef for many of Napa Valley’s greatest kitchens (and some taquerias-she knows food). She works nonstop, is agile (when things are thrown, thanks to soccer hand-eye coordination!), and has a great sense of taste (on all fronts). She’s now 32 and just became the chef at a major winery. (No, I don’t do her PR, I’ve known her since she was 3).
Which brings me to the point: I wonder if the recession is a bonus for all these great sous chefs and assistant winemakers, The celebrity chef or winemaker costs too much and is let go. Of course, we all still work under the gla$$ ceiling.
The test will be when the economy picks up and owners discover their food and wine are better and the staff doesn’t flinch when the chef or winemaker comes in.
June 9th, 2009 at 3:05:11 PM
In response to Kathy’s comments……Being that I was one of those “celebrity chefs” that was let go, I will speak to this issue with my 20+ years experience.
I know Sarah as well, being that she was my sous chef for five years @ the winery to which she referenced. She also worked as a line cook for me at a popular restaurant in Napa. The implication that chefs like me are overpaid and just coasting along is an unexperinced presumption.
It was the hard work and experince on my part that sees a sucessful program. The ability to set up all the processes, a strong team, and develop the cuisine is not a small task at all.
Yes, it’s true I was let go from my post, but it is the program of which I created that a person like Sarah gets to inherit. Don’t get me wrong, Sarah was a great sous chef for me and she deserves all she has worked for, but I do resent the implication that chefs and winemakers who reach a certain status have done so by bought PR or anything other than hard work and talent.
There will always need to be a chef…..and I will pose the question, that once the sous chef becomes the chef, is it time to eliminate thier position and let the next person in line step up??…..food for thought.
June 10th, 2009 at 6:18:35 AM
I have worked for, with and have had women report to me.
Some were less competent, some were as competent and many were more competent. Mostly the less competent they were, the more they felt the need to do the “testosterone” act. Let’s rather all respect competency than have any more acting or feel the need to be crude to move ahead.
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:11:50 PM
I personally would tend to think a woman could make a better wine. This is not sexest for me I am a man but I realize women are more sensitive. It is a fact as well that times are changing and as times change wine evolves and changes to taste. I would see a woman more open to change and therefor more likely to be a success.