Julia Child, renowned American chef, author, and television personality.
While the six chefs interviewed shared some common experiences within and beliefs about the industry, there were enough differences among them to underscore the fact that no small group or individual is meant to represent a larger group. Throughout the books and articles written about women in the industry, evidence abounds of women who don’t see great inequalities between their own and men’s experiences in the professional kitchen.
Perhaps the closest perspective to that one among the six women interviewed for this piece comes from Jesse Mendica (37), executive chef at Olive + Oak. When asked about the topic at large, she said, “It’s funny to me that any of it’s in question.”
We spoke on the phone five weeks to the day after the wildly popular Webster restaurant opened, and Mendica was putting in long days—in at 9 AM and out after midnight, sometimes not until 2 AM. When asked how she maintains that lifestyle and finds time for a personal life, she said, “It won’t last forever,” explaining that her current schedule “is not indicative of working in a kitchen.” Instead, “it’s what it’s like to start one.”
Mendica doesn’t have kids—isn’t sure at this time about having them—but she said that her decision has nothing to do with her profession: “work wouldn’t factor into it.” On the idea of women leaving the industry because of family, she spoke of men doing the same, but “they don’t name it,” so we don’t know that’s why they also step off the line.
Before Olive + Oak, Mendica worked under Lou Rook at Annie Gunn’s with fellow interviewee Ashley Shelton, where the women “outnumbered the men for six years.” At one point, there were eleven women in Rook’s kitchen.
Before landing the gig at Olive + Oak, Mendica was set to be the sous chef at Matt Daughaday’s Reeds American Table. Excited to work with Daughaday’s team, Mendica said that she didn’t seek out an executive chef position and turned down Olive + Oak’s co-owner Mark Hinkle many times before she accepted. Thinking, in stereotypical terms, that most men would be striving to climb the professional ladder, I asked Mendica if she thinks her initially balking at being an executive chef was a gendered response. She quickly shot down that idea, saying that it wasn’t for a lack of confidence: “I can run a kitchen like nobody’s business after working for Lou.” Rather, she simply didn’t feel ready at that time for the experience.
Supporting Mendica in the kitchen is a rotating group of people with about eight men and two women on the line—what she affectionately called her “dream team, a badass kitchen.” Directly underneath her is Kevin Pellegrino, her sous chef, and “anger translator.”
“He’s a big reason why I said yes to this [job],” Mendica noted as she described how their “yin-yang relationship works out perfectly.” They manage the line in a collaborative leadership style—they both “take on some people” depending on the issues at hand. As the “mom, but not necessarily the ‘nice’ mom,” Mendica imagines that her team doesn’t want to disappoint her. Pellegrino has the “passion, excitability, and anger” to step in when needed.
Equally passionate, Mendica said that she prefers to highlight the team rather than herself or even the food when it comes to promoting the restaurant. On Facebook, for example, she has several albums of her work family. “I love showing off my team,” she said, adding that she takes more pictures of “the smiles on our faces” than the food. “All will be taken care of as long as you’re a happy team,” she offered.
Mendica with Olive + Oak's pastry chef, Britt Simpson
When the conversation turned to the stereotype of professional kitchens as male-dominated spaces filled with cursing, crude jokes, and sexual harassment, Mendica said that she “got into cooking because it’s a blast” and considers herself “one of the guys” who doesn’t get offended by bad behavior in the kitchen—up to a point. “I know when it’s too much and can stop it,” she said.
And then she posited an interesting theory about the behavior, based more on lifestyle than gender: back in the day of the closed kitchen, “the culture was we were the hidden people and it was easier to be naughty or silly when stressed out.” Referring to the behavior as “play,” she believes it results from the stress of the job, with people looking “for ways to have fun, purge aggression.”
At Olive + Oak, however, the kitchen is open—“a new world for me,” Mendica admitted. While the food is the same regardless of the kitchen’s design, she notices now that there has to be a greater level of awareness, where “you take people into the walk-in to argue or fight.” Thankfully, “knock on wood,” she laughed, no one has cut themselves yet.
Like Heather Stone and Ashley Shelton, Mendica has also seen her customers gravitate towards men working beneath her, thinking they’re the top chef: “There’s a lot of me getting skipped over here.” With her first name’s spelling (J-e-s-s-e), however, she’s used to being mistaken for a man and enjoys “being a little ambiguous.” Rather than correcting customers, Mendica praises Pellegrino and wishes he would receive more credit for his accomplishments.
Asked if she wants to own her own restaurant someday, Mendica answered, “Who knows what I’ll think of now." Hinkle and co-owner Greg Ortyl told her from the start to “think like an owner,” and in fact she's a minority owner in the business. She also shares creative control of the menu.
Although Mendica doesn’t think that women chefs differ from men, she understands that “it’s going to be a conversation.” For her, everyone needs to work hard in the industry, regardless of gender: “I’ve had success because I worked for it,” she asserted. Moreover, she’s seen some women whine, “Why are they doing this to me?” regarding perceived discrimination in the workplace. She’d say to them, “No, if you’re doing your best job, no one would say anything.”
Finally, regarding whether or not the media should play a role in recognizing women, Mendica said it “has no responsibility to seek out girls to talk about.” If that sounds harsh, she went on to apply her theory to everyone in the industry: “Getting the press doesn’t make the restaurant better or worse.” When pushed to unpack that statement, she explained that good press might bring people in the door, but good food and an overall positive experience is what will make them return customers.
Coming soon is the last installment in this series, which includes an interview with Beth Heidrich, co-founder of the St. Louis chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, and some conclusions based on all of the interviews.
Read other installments in the series here: Part 1, Part 2A, Part 2B
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Mendica is a minority partner at Olive + Oak.
