Arumugam - Women Chefs of New York

This electronic edition published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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First published 2015

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015

Photography Alice Gao, 2015

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ISBN: HB: 978-1-63286-076-7

ePub: 978-1-63286-077-4

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Publisher Jon Croft

Commissioning Editor Meg Avent

Designer Kim Musgrove

Projects Editor Alice Gibbs and Emily Holmes

Photographer Alice Gao

Editor Eleanor van Zandt

Recipe Tester Nadia Arumugam

Proofreader and Indexer Zoe Ross

Dedicated to Lynn Akka and Meera,

in celebration of sisterhood!

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

When I was interviewing the chefs in this book, there would come a pointafter we discussed their career trajectory, whether they were raised enlightened gourmands or fed on a diet of mac and cheese, and what inspired them that morning as they deliberated their daily specialswhen I would have to apologize. I had followed up with the question What has it been like to be a woman in a professional kitchen?

Why the apology? Precisely because I already knew what the answer would be. Even when I reached out to the chefs when researching the very idea of the book, it was clear that not one of them would participate in anything that hinted at affirmative action. These are successful entrepreneurs, razor-sharp businesswomen; and above all, these are chefs at the top of their game. They dont feel hard done by or let down by the system, because, for the most part, they are otherwise occupied focusing all their physical energy and mental strength on being the best damn cook they can be, and then aspiring to be an even better one tomorrow. The fact of the matter is that being a chef, whether youre the executive chef or scaling the ladder, whether youre a man or a woman, is unspeakably hard work. It requires persistence, stamina, endurance, humility, affability, ingenuity, and an inquiring mind. And all these qualities the chefs in this book have in spades.

Of course, Im not trying to sell you the unlikely notion that these chefs have not encountered any gender bias. Prejudice and partiality exist, but more outside the kitchen than within. Nowadays, at any rate. Many of the conversations I had touched on the scarcity of media attention devoted to female restaurant chefs. The legendary Alice Waters and Lidia Bastianich aside, household names like Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Ina Garten, and, of course, Julia Child gained renown primarily as TV chefs and cookbook authors. In published compilations of best chefs and best restaurants women chefs and establishments helmed by them have been conspicuous for their absence. Mainstream food magazines prefer featuring portraits of men in their chefs whites, with sleeves rolled up and arms sporting burns, barely healed cuts, and tattoos rather than showing their female counterparts in the same stark light. (This in itself inspired the biannual Cherry Bombe, a publication centered on women in the food industry.) Then there is the question of money. The complaint of a boys club, buttressed by investors who pass up noteworthy women chefs in favor of financing restaurants where men run the kitchens, was an oft-recounted one.

Still, as it turns out, the woman chef is a persevering breed, and her successes are prolific. Over the course of the 15 months that this book was in the making, six of the featured chefs unveiled new restaurants in New York City. Jody Williams opened Via Carota in the West Village; the trio behind Brooklyn-based Pies n Thighs brought their second-to-none fried chicken to the Lower East Side; Amanda Cohen closed the pint-size original Dirt Candy, only to resurrect it a few months later in a larger, swankier space on the cusp of Chinatown; doughnut aficionado Fany Gerson, of Dough, debuted a Manhattan store in the Flatiron; Einat Admony expanded her mini-empire with her modern Israeli eatery Bar Bolanat; and Amanda Freitag introduced her unique brand of elevated diner fare to Chelsea with Empire Diner.

If the impetus behind this book isnt already abundantly clear, let me spell it out: to celebrate great culinary talents, to pay tribute to their achievements, and, yes, to help redress the imbalance of shelf space and printed pages allotted to the notable female presence leading professional kitchens.

Then there was my more private motivation: to get to know the people behind some of my favorite meals. And I really did get to know them. Intelligent, funny, generous, and warm, these women are all as delightful as the food they artfully craft. Aside from recipe testing Ghaya Oliveiras intricate dessert plates, perhaps the most trying element of working on this compilation was deciding on which chefs to include. As a New YorkerI think I can call myself one, having now lived in Manhattans West Village since 2008I decided that confining the selection within the citys boundaries was an obvious first step. Then I drew up my wish list and followed this with the arduous phase of refining and regrouping. Top priority was to feature chefs that are superlative in their field. It was also important to represent a wide swath of New York City, geographically speaking, as well as a wealth of cuisines. Check. Check. The women that grace the following pages are an exciting mix of established masters and up-and-coming stars; and the diversity of food they cook, a pertinent depiction of the wondrous cultural medley of the city they cook in.

Nadia Arumugam

AMERICA N AND MODERN AMERICAN

JEAN ADAMSON

Jean Adamson wants to be clear: shes a chef, but she isnt the chef. Her food businesses are varied and numerous. In 2008, just north of Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), in Brooklyn, Adamson and her boyfriend, Sam Buffa, opened the snug Vinegar Hill House restaurant, named after the historic, quaint neighborhood it inhabits. Next door, she runs an event space that hosts a dinner series with visiting chefs, as well as parties, weddings, and even a regular Sunday and Monday football-watching gathering during the season. Somewhat farther afield, on the Rockaway Beach Boardwalk, Adamson cofounded, with chef Lindsay Robinson, a fry-shack and frozen banana stand, quirkily named Motorboat & the Big Banana. (Adamson is responsible for the devilishly tasty fried fish and shrimp po boy sandwiches.) The pair is also in charge of renting out space on the boardwalk to other vendors.