Flavors Unknown

A Panel Discussion with “Her Name is Chef”

Cast of Her Name is Chef

Today’s guests are film director Peter Ferriero, Chef Elizabeth Faulkner, and Chef Juliette Masters of The Edge in Harlem. They’re part of the team behind a new documentary called Her Name is Chef, a film that takes a hard look at what it’s really like for women in professional kitchens. You’ll hear perspectives from two of the film's stars, their experiences gaining respect from a male-dominated industry, and you’ll learn about the inspirations behind the food they create.

What you'll learn in this episode of Her Name is Chef

The inspiration for the documentary “Her Name is Chef” (3:49)
The system of power within the restaurant structure (9:05)
Paying respects when a star (Chef Fatima Ali) is lost after filming “Her Name is Chef” (11:45)
The difference between male and female cooking (15:17)
Global influence of the US restaurant model when it comes to gender (19:27)
The gender stereotypes female restaurant owners face (23:20)
Arguing price points when you’re the expert (24:57)
Sage advice for aspiring female chefs (30:11)
Inspiration for the food coming out of these female-run kitchens (32:27)
How the documentary is inspiring young women (39:48)
Why it all comes back to simplicity (43:56)
Post-pandemic restaurants to add to your list (49:12)
Cooking fails from the pro’s (52:06)
Series of rapid-fire questions.
Link to the podcast episode on Apple Podcast

Links to other episodes with current guests from Her Name is Chef

Conversation with Chef Elizabeth Falkner (episode #63)

Click to tweet

“I said, ‘Oh my god, this is a story and I do want to tell it and I want to find the best female chefs’. And I did not have a problem finding female chefs because there's just so many of them all over the country.”

Click To Tweet

“The whole current restaurant structure has been built by men. So it's not that women haven't been in charge for hundreds of years before all this. We still have vestiges from the past in our systems.”

Click To Tweet

“I generally like female cooking more than male cooking. But that's just my personal preference. I think that we do have different attitudes and different ways of running kitchens and just a different way of handling food.”

Click To Tweet

“Having us have more face time with young women out there will start to change the dynamic. You see more female chefs. You see them out there and they can aspire to do something like that. A movie like Her Name is Chef is a start.”

Click To Tweet

“I have had to be come a louder, more aggressive female in order to survive in a very male dominated world that I've constantly been in.”

Click To Tweet

“Becoming a boss of the kitchen, which is what a chef is, you're the head of the kitchen, that's a whole other dynamic that you grow into slowly. You don't suddenly walk in and know how to boss. You learn to do that.”

Click To Tweet