Are restaurant kitchens still boys clubs?

Does gender still matter as much as knife skills in a restaurant kitchen? That’s the question bouncing around food sites the past week.

After the James Beard Foundation Awards, Chef Amanda Cohen penned the missive “Girls Can’t Cook” on Dirt Candy’s website, where she satirically suggested that the lack of recognition for female chefs means simply that women can’t cook.

Grub Street’s Helen Rosner then sought to answer Cohen’s question about why we don’t pay more attention to female chefs. Her answer? Sexism. 

On Monday, Eat Me Daily writer Paula Forbes posted the essay

“Why I Quit Cooking: Women in the Kitchen,” wherein she

describes her reasons for leaving behind the world of cooking for the

world of culinary writing.

So, how about it, Fat City — is the back of the house still a boy’s club? 

[Image via Flickr: Barto]