Women in food

Some of the biggest names in food are women — but it hasn’t always been that way. For decades, being a cook was frowned upon as a career for ladies, and men dominated the kitchens of restaurants. They didn’t really create a welcoming environment for the women who wanted to crack the glass ceiling of those kitchens either as indicated here, here, and here.

There’s more on that point, but let’s focus on just a few of the amazing things women have been bringing to the table lately, and where you can take inspiration from them. 

Alison Roman 

Alison is the cool girl you would want to hang out with in your kitchen — or her adorably full one in New York. Either way. You know you’d eat well. Known for her recipes for The Cookies and The Chicken, Alison is at once charming and fun while being casual and confident. Her YouTube channel is a must-watch as are her videos for New York Times Cooking where she’s a columnist. Alison also writes for Bon Appetit and has two great cookbooks for entertaining and eating at home. She has a fun Instagram, too. We’re fans. 

Nigella Lawson 

Back in the early 2000s, you might have seen Nigella on her adorable series Nigella Bites or Nigella Feasts — she was practical about feeding kids after school, inspiring about gold leaf and bees on gorgeous chocolate cakes, and just so into food, it was infectious. She’s the goddess of home cooking that looks impressive but is deceptively easy. Her amazing gingerbread is now my amazing gingerbread, and her book How to Be a Domestic Goddess is at once aspirational and achievable. How many cookbooks can you say that about?

Ina Garten 

Ultimately, I think Ina would be most at home in a French bakery in Paris, but popping into her kitchen weekly in the Hamptons is such a soothing experience each Sunday morning… I have to hope she’ll never ex-pat. She’s the calm center of the cooking world. Did you know she doesn’t really love cooking? It doesn’t come easily to her, and she would never describe herself as a chef. But her legions of fans toting her dozens of cookbooks would disagree. So would Jeffrey and his weekly roasted chicken. How easy is that?

Samin Nosrat 

Samin Nosrat is a chef, food writer for The New York Times Magazine, and her cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat inspired its own series on Netflix. She is perhaps less of a household name than some of these women, but she feels incredibly approachable — and that’s also her cooking vibe. Her book is divided into four sections 9as indicated by the name) breaking down the essential elements of cooking, and her series encompasses cooking, travel, and food. It’s gorgeous to look at and you come away with practical tips. When was the last time you could say that about a Netflix show? 

Julia Child 

Seriously? Reevaluate your life if Julia Child is an unknown. She was a delightful host of one of the first cooking shows ever — and the reason we have food tv shows, YouTube food channels, and entire cooking networks now. Julia is the center of the food universe and true north when it comes to being guided through a complicated recipe. She co-authored one of the most famous cookbooks ever (Mastering the Art of French Cooking). She’s the ultimate “servantless cook” and a total foodie fan girl moment. 

Edna Lewis

She championed the use of fresh, seasonal ingredients in the South when, let’s face it, many other cooks were embracing canned, creamed things. Don’t get me wrong, we all love a cream-of-mushroom-soup concoction, but the whole foods approach to serving up meat and veg must have felt very fresh in the 1970s. The granddaughter of freed slaves, Edna became a grand dame of Southern cooking as chef, author, educator, and James Beard award winner. She is famously known for saying that ham is the little black dress of the kitchen — it works with everything for every occasion. Amen, Edna. Amen. 

Rose Levy Beranbaum

If you know Rose, you are a baker. Hello, friend: floured-hand high-five! If you don’t, her 1988 breakout book The Cake Bible or The Baking Bible are your perfect points of entry. Rose’s pioneering approach to how to mix a cake is life-changing — if you’re into that sort of thing. (We are.) Her “bibles” on bread, pie, and pastry line our bookshelves and are regular gifts for new bakers on the block. Rose is the baking legend among these famous women of the kitchen. 

Alice Waters

Alice Waters is the futurist. In 1971, she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant that’s famous for using organic, locally grown ingredients. She pioneered the idea of “California cuisine” (light, fresh, cool) and invigorated a slow food, locavore approach to eating. What we find particularly interesting about Alice is that after her restaurant became successful (profitable) in the late 1970s, she turned back to advocacy and became equally famous for her contributions like the Edible Schoolyard and Cooking Classroom. She’s got a lifetime achievement award from the James Beard Foundation and her memoir, Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook was published in 2017.

Vivian Howard

Vivian has earned a James Beard award, a Peabody, a Cookbook of the Year award, and Julia Child First Book Award. That 2016 book, Deep Run Roots, is a tome filled with gorgeous, tasty recipes. But for me, her delivery of cooking expertise through her honeyed-whiskey southern drawl on the PBS series A Chef’s Life is what makes Howard the most down-home delightful chef ever. On her Christmas special you can see Vivian emotionally working through the slaughter, cleaning, and butchering of a hog that was alive that morning. Very real.