The Boys' Club

Patricia Williams Contemplates Women in the Kitchen While Gabrielle Hamilton Returns to Hers

Speaking with Fork in the Road, Patricia Williams of Smoke Jazz & Supper Club offers her take on sexism in the restaurant industry, which once again became a hot-button issue after Cash Cab contestant and Dirt Candy owner Amanda Coen recently addressed it. Williams blames, in part, “many of the women who write writing about young men, who are the hotties,” and notes that as opposed to publicist-happy male chefs, “most of the women run smaller restaurants, so we have to get on the phone, write the recipes, make sure the deliveries are there — that doesn’t allow much time for PR.”

Perceptions among restaurant owners are also to blame — a female restaurateur once told Williams she wouldn’t hire a woman chef for fear of pregnancy and family. Meanwhile, a restaurateur who resides on the opposite end of that spectrum, Gabrielle Hamilton, tells the Art Directors Club that she’s just about finished with her memoir Blood, Bones and Butter (it comes out spring of next year) and will soon be making a full-fledged return to Prune’s kitchen.

Chatting With Patricia Williams: Industry Sexism, Her Biggest Kitchen Mistake, and the Beauty of Spoons [Fork in the Road/Village Voice]
Special Gala Newsletter [Art Directors Club]

Patricia Williams Contemplates Women in the Kitchen While Gabrielle Hamilton