Miami-based chef and restaurateur Michelle Bernstein mentored Lindsay Autry, now executive chef at The Regional in West Palm Beach. Photos provided
A growing number of establishments are owned and led by females
By Jan Norris
Professional kitchens have come a long way since the 1970s when women were making small inroads into the male-dominated culinary field.
Although the changes followed those in other patriarchal industries, cracking the centuries-old kitchen batteries led by stereotypical angry male chefs was different, according to Miami chef and restaurateur Michelle Bernstein.
Bernstein, who hosts the PBS show Check, Please! South Florida and owns MB Catering, knows the challenges very well. Women’s places in the hospitality industry and entrepreneurship will be the focus of her talk as the keynote speaker at a luncheon sponsored the Jewish Women’s Foundation of the Greater Palm Beaches.
The second annual Investing in Women luncheon is March 9 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach.
Bernstein, who opened the restaurant at the former Omphoy resort in Palm Beach — now the Tideline — is frank about her experiences as a woman breaking into the culinary world when females were generally relegated to serving positions. There were very few executive woman chefs as role models.
“It isn’t easy,” she said. “But I can’t think of anything else I’d have done. I’ve been doing this for 30 years — since culinary school. I don’t look backward. Never, ever once did I reconsider or thought maybe I should think about doing something else.”
Because of the pandemic and a brief shutdown, she got “a little glimpse of a life.” She experienced what a “normal” working woman’s life looks like, with time to have girlfriends to hang out with over dinner, or enjoy Hanukkah at home with her family, she said.
Being a chef, “I missed out on that. COVID is the first time I stopped, and made girlfriends. I was loving it.”
The independent kitchen was a rough place. Along with scrutiny and sexual harassment from coworkers, she was taunted with bets made against her success. “‘You’re too Jewish, too little, too weak,’ they said. ‘You can’t do it.’”
She proved them wrong.
“It lit a fire in me. Thanks to all those schmucks, all those insults and constant tests, I actually grew into someone bigger. I became a strong person.
“I took the BS the first three-quarters of my life. I was the demure, want-to-please person who went along. I was pushed and bullied to the point I asked, ‘Why not me? Why can’t I?’” she said.
Instead of becoming a “sour grapes” worker, which she said she saw a lot of among other women, she decided she would not be bitter.
She had given up a promising ballet career for the kitchen, and as on stage, she knew “a lot of angry people who never made it. I never wanted to be that way. I’m a happy person — a very patient one at that.
“I said, ‘You’re going to be a strong, amazing woman. I’m not going to take shit. I’m not going to use all this anger and bitterness against them. Who would want to work for these women?’”
She gained confidence and experience working as one of several females for renowned chef Jean-Louis Palladin in Washington, D.C. He helped her realize the dream of becoming an executive chef and restaurant owner.
She found national fame after opening Azul in Miami in 2001, and won the prestigious James Beard Best Chef South award in 2008, cementing her place among the pros.
Since then, she has opened her own award-winning Michy’s, and now has Cafe La Trova, La Cañita and Sweet Liberty, all in Miami.
She plans to open two fast casuals in the coming months, Michy’s Chicken Shack and Luncheria, both in downtown Miami.
Investing in Women luncheon, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 9 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. 561-275-2200 or https://jwfpalmbeach.org/iiw2022.
Lindsay Autry
Bernstein is proud of all the chefs, both women and men, whom she’s mentored and who’ve found their own success. They include Lindsay Autry at The Regional in West Palm Beach, and Timon Balloo at his new restaurant, The Katherine, in Fort Lauderdale.
“I’m humbled they call me their mentor. They have surpassed me a long time ago,” Bernstein said.
Autry as an executive chef still looks up to Bernstein, however. “She’s like a big sister to me. I got to see how to handle it, and she taught me how to manage it.”
She also remembers a day when female chefs were scarce. “There were only two of us girls at Azul — me and Michelle,” she said. She knew of only a few women’s names that were associated with high-end kitchens — Cindy Hutson and Hedy Goldsmith, a noted pastry chef.
“Our industry is starting to evolve,” Autry said. “There are a lot more females in the kitchen now.”
But there’s still a puzzle to solve: “We need to figure it out — how to be a mom and a chef. It is hard,” Autry said.
She has a 2-year-old and must find ways to spend quality time with him yet still run a restaurant.
“For me, the hardest part about myself is myself. I’m always terrified something’s going to go wrong if I’m not there. If I take one night off a week, someone’s going to ask for me and wonder why the chef isn’t there,” Autry said. “The diners expect the chef to always be there. I used to be there seven days a week.”
She’s seeing the attitude change, but said, “It has to be more forgiving for everyone.”
For example, the people coming back to work after having time off during the pandemic are asking for better hours and work conditions.
“I’m proud of them for doing that — asking for it,” Autry said. “We need to find a new way to work our staff. They don’t deserve to have to work 80 hours a week.”
More women than ever before are applying as kitchen workers, she said. “I have five women out of 12. It’s a lot more balanced than it’s ever been.”
Suzanne Perrotto owns the Brulee and Rose’s Daughter in Delray.
Suzanne Perrotto
Perrotto, chef and owner of the Brulee and Rose’s Daughter restaurants in Delray Beach, is the daughter of a female chef and grew up in the business, yet even her father was against her running a kitchen, she said.
“He told me I’d never make it. He said the only reason my mother made it was because of him.”
Like Bernstein, she says all the challenges made her a better chef.
“Those days were interesting,” Perrotto said. “I experienced issues on several occasions. It got ugly. I got pushback in all the kitchens, but especially in French kitchens.”
But, she said, she always found a positive person to encourage her and make her feel worthy. “I was always a positive person in the kitchen. I was the harder worker. I had to make sure my knife skills were perfect, all my work was better.
“They doubted me at first: They’d throw down a whole fish, assumed I didn’t have a sharp enough knife. They’d watch you, and I’d break it down perfectly, then they were like, ‘Oh, OK.’”
Respect eventually came. “It all made me a better chef. I love to say that in the end, it was all worth it.”
Still, Perrotto would like to see the culture change more. As a single mom, having a family and still working every night in the kitchen made her aware of how hard it is to balance a culinary career and a family.
“I always lived close to my son’s school. But I was the only single mom in culinary school. Later, as a chef, I’d show up at my son’s soccer game after plating 800 salads, then go back to the restaurant to oversee desserts. It was definitely a challenge,” Perrotto said.
Her son now works with her in the kitchen. She has turned into a mentor and brings in young cooks for proper culinary training they don’t get in fast-food jobs. They’re then able to go out on their own and get other restaurant jobs that help them grow.
Challenges from the pandemic are nothing Perrotto can’t handle. “Our profit margin has shrunk,” she said, “But we’re still standing.”
Lisabet Summa runs Elisabetta’s in Delray and is a partner in Big Time Restaurant Group.
Lisabet Summa
Like the others, Summa is a testament to a strong work ethic and self-confidence that comes with experience and maturity. She says she’s had them all along, and that has made a difference.
“I’ve been cooking since I was 19. I’m 61,” Summa said. “Running restaurants and being a chef has been a really great career for me.”
She’s executive chef and co-owner of Elisabetta’s in Delray and partner in Big Time Restaurant Group, which also includes Louie Bossi’s, City Cellar, City Oyster, Grease Burger Bar and Big City Tavern.
She did not find that being the only female in the kitchen ever handicapped her. “My experience was a little bit different. It was very positive. I was lucky: I wasn’t perceived as being inadequate by being a female. I wasn’t exposed to gender adversity as much as others.”
She says people have told her, “You’re a high performer, highly intelligent, people knew not to mess with you.”
Yet Summa admits she’s had to try harder as a woman, “But that’s true in any profession. Most work environments have been a part of patriarchy.”
Today’s women in business are emboldened, she said. “Young women are fierce, enlightened, educated and bold. They are not demure.”
Men have changed, too, especially since the ’70s, Summa says. “The younger generation of men are more aware and enlightened.”
The new women coming to kitchens have been exposed to healthier lifestyles and seen the farm-to-table and artisan food movements along with social changes. And they’re willing to push to have both career and family, Summa said.
“Women shouldn’t have to make a choice between having a family and working as an executive chef. There has to be systemic change.”
She says nighttime child care is one change that women in culinary are pushing for today. “Women feel they have options. They are prioritizing career and happiness in everyday life.”
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Feeding South Florida’s 2022 culinary training and warehouse training programs have been announced. The culinary training is a 12-week program led by chef Lindsay Autry. Graduates will be placed in jobs in area restaurants. The warehouse training enables graduates to move to warehouse work elsewhere.
Contact Feeding South Florida in Boynton Beach at 561-331-5441 for more info.
Jan Norris is a food writer who can be reached at nativefla@gmail.com
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