Blog Post: Reflections on NYC Food and Chefs

July 23, 2012 -

By Morgan Wilkinson, Legal Momentum Intern Summer 2012

One of the great things about being able to spend the summer working as an intern in New York City, is the availability of great food, ranging from edgy food truck to fabulous restaurants.  If you are a foodie, and I am, this is the place to be.  Every summer New York has restaurant week, which is possibly the best week to go out to eat. This year is the 20th anniversary of the event, where upscale restaurants offer packages for people to enjoy their food at a better price.  This summer the offer is July 16th through August 10th.  Participating restaurants are serving a three-course lunch for $24.07, and a three-course dinner for $34.00.  Selection of restaurant can be by neighborhood, type of food or just by name.  NYCgo.com has been set up as an easy guide to NYC for tourists, but the event is also frequented by locals. The many things this city has to offer gets lost sometimes in the hustle and bustle of everyday New York life. It is refreshing to learn about the free and low-cost events one can enjoy here.  Summers in New York City can get pricey for many college students.

Recently on TV, there have been a lot of popular food critics and chef shows.  Americans, and especially New Yorkers, take eating out very seriously.  Working in Legal Momentum has given me a good deal of insight as to the reality of women not being equally recognized in the workplace, and I’ve seen that unfortunately, New York City lacks coverage on female chefs.  Women dominate all other areas of culinary arts such as catering, cook books, and cooking schools.  I read an article on the Huffington Post about how female chefs have not been featured in articles on restaurant chefs, such as a recent New York Daily News article.  All seven of the “top city chefs” were men, which seems disproportionate to the abilities of woman in food services.  It is especially difficult for woman chefs in New York because of the competitive nature of food industry in the city.  Women still have to work hard to prove themselves.  The article talked about encouraging the patronage of women in the industry.  In New York Magazine, some of the top New York City chefs were interviewed about being a NYC female chef, such as Anita Lo of Annisa, and April Bloomfield of the Spotted Pig. These women felt as though it is harder to raise money as a woman because of lack of patronage.  However, even on TV and in the media, shows seem to be featuring more male chefs.  I hope in the years to come women become more authoritative in the cooking industry, especially in New York City.  Since working at Legal Momentum I have an enhanced awareness of women and their impact on society.

UPDATE: Beverly Wettenstein has a new article in The Jane Dough, Why Does Food & Wine‘s ‘Best New Chefs’ Keep Snubbing Women?, which discusses the low representation of women in Food & Wine magazine's annual July “Ten Best New Chefs” list. Good to see that others keep tackling the issue!