The fallout to this week's Jason Atherton interview continues. Following the chef's interview by the Times and his subsequent apology on Instagram comes an open letter railing about sexism still being encountered in and displayed by the restaurant industry.
The letter was published exclusively in The Telegraph today (you'll need a subscription to that but you can also find it on chef Sally Abe's Instagram stories here).
In it chefs and restaurateurs talk of sexism remaining "a pervasive issue in our industry, shaping the culture of our kitchens in ways that diminish the potential and contributions of countless talented women." They also call out both Michelin and the World's 50 Best List as being utterly unrepresentative of "female talent within the industry" and ask for an end to separate award categories for women, saying "true recognition must be based on merit alone."
Signatories include chefs Anna Haugh, Dara Klein, Helen Graham, Chantelle Nicholson and Joké Bakare along with restaurateurs Mandy Yin, Pip Lacey and Selin Kiazim.
And if you want to see a sobering account of what many women have faced in the restaurant industry, just go and take a look at the many, many comments under Poppy O'Toole's original Instagram post.
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