They've Got Game

Women Are Quietly Transforming The F&B Industry Beyond The Kitchen.

- Angelo Comsti

They are definitely out there. In 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that more than a fifth of the chefs or head cooks in the US are women. At the International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute), almost half the 2012 graduates of the culinary program were ladies. And that’s not just as of late. When Tippi Tambunting of M Dining and Bar enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America back in 2000, the ratio of students based on gender was 50-50, she says. “Bordering on 60-40 even.” Given the numbers, where have all the female chefs gone?

WORLD REPORT

“In Singapore, there are more men than women chefs,” says Janice Wong of 2am:dessertbar. But only because it’s a comparatively young country. “Most of the education in Singapore is focused on law, medicine, and economics. The arts, including design and culinary, was not given as much focus 20 years ago. But things are changing. A lot. More women are coming into the industry.”

As an economics graduate, the then 22-year-old Wong chose to pursue further studies at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. Being a lover of all things sweet, it was a natural transition to master patisserie. Her mind was set but not everyone seemed to be convinced. Her parents were initially unsure of her decision but after witnessing how determined their daughter was about her craft and how creating confectioneries fit her like a glove, they realized that desserts were indeed her true calling.