In Praise of Female Chefs

I love living in a time where we honor and recognize chefs. With popular cooking shows like Kitchen Nightmares and Top Chef we’ve had the opportunity to see behind the curtain into a world where it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to succeed. The chefs who work insane hours, miss holidays and time with their family just to create delicious food for us deserve some recognition.

It just happens to be International Women’s Day so let’s recognize some amazing female chefs:

1. Julia Child brought French Cooking to America
2. Sara Moulton made cooking approachable in her television show, Cooking Live
3. Cat Cora is the first female Iron Chef
4. Alex Guarnaschelli is the second female Iron Chef (and cool judge on Chopped)
5. Alice Waters pioneered California Cuisine and eating local, organic food
6. Clare Smyth is the first female chef to hold and maintain three Michelin Stars
7. Gabrielle Hamilton won three James Beard awards, one of them for her deliciously penned book “Blood, Bones & Butter”
8. Stephanie Izard is the first female chef to win Top Chef
    

   The last two spots on the list I’ve saved for local women who inspire our community with their dedication to good food:

    

9. Amy Wright brought healthy, crave-worthy cuisine to Bend, Oregon
10. Anna Witham brought the exciting world of pop-up restaurants to Bend, Oregon

Do you have incredible female chefs in your community? Tell us about them in the comments.