Legal Commentary

Top Feminist Chef

By Big Tent Democrat

Melissa McEwan has a nice post about Tom Colicchio, now of Top Chef fame (he was a famous chef before that of course). Some highlights from the article:

Of our final three, Richard had the most experience, the most imagination, and by far the most technical proficiency. He had consistently wowed us during the season, and frankly, this was his competition to lose. . . . My sense is that Richard lacked that last little bit of grit that causes one to hang in there, no matter what. Call it the "Hillary" factor.

Hillary as a positive role model? Who'da thunk it? More . . .

Women are reluctant to enter the culinary world because they believe (and this is not unjustified) that a cooking career is incompatible with raising children, which leaves those of us who want to hire, promote, and mentor women with a slimmer field to choose from than we'd like. And to an extent, they're right: The bottom line is our society does not yet provide women in the workplace with the type of social supports, like high-quality subsidized child care or extended parental leave, that allows them to fully go for it, and the impact this has on the scope and depth of a career is profound. Right or wrong, men plunge into their careers without much thought about how they'll navigate the work/family balance. They assume someone -- spouse, parent, paid caregiver -- will materialize to take care of it (and usually someone does.) This one assumption opens up an entire world of possibility to a young person in a way that can't be overstated. Ask yourself how many female Ferran Adrias, Thomas Kellers, or Joel Robuchons have chosen a different path -- say, catering or opening a bakeshop -- because it seems more family friendly?

No Larry Summers in Chef Colicchio.

Personal aside, my name dropping moment, I knew Colicchio a little bit through a friend of mine, many years ago -- before Gramercy Tavern, when he was up and coming. He was the chef at a restaurant on 58th (somewhere around there) off of Fifth. Already a rising star. I went to the Belmont Stakes with him and a group of people. Nice enough fellow then.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 16, 2008 (boomark / email).