Women Chefs & Restaurateurs Conference
Lachelle Cunningham, Carrie Summer, and Kim Bartmann
Are you a young female line cook who reads restaurant reviews to find Chef Jim worked at Noma and Chef Erik worked at French Laundry and then you just sit there and ask yourself: How is that even possible, how do you even get in those doors?
Here's one way, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: The national Women Chefs and Restaurateurs conference is being held in Minneapolis in April 21–23. WCR is a group dedicated to expanding opportunities for women in restaurants, and it's not just for chefs and cooks, its also for sommeliers, managers, owners, and anyone in the field. The conference is coming to Minneapolis to the Hewing Hotel this spring because Kim Bartmann, owner of the Bryant Lake Bowl, Book Club, the Red Stag and another dozen local spots is currently the President. "I can't say enough good things about WCR," Bartmann told me. "I've learned so much from people I've been able to connect with there. I just spent 30 minutes on the phone with Elizabeth Falkner, I get to chat with Lidia Bastianich. At my first conference I gave Amanda Cohen some restaurant growing pains advice. So it's a place I've gotten to meet both people I've revered my entire career and thought were unreachable—and young people I can help."
Carrie Summer, co-owner of the Chef Shack Ranch, Chef Shack trucks, and Chef Shack Bay City, is also involved with WCR. "A couple of years ago I got to meet Lydia [Bastianich] face to face, and when I went to Italy she sent us a connection of a super cool place to stay. I had beers with Gabrielle [Hamilton], to get face time with these powerhouse women, how else could that happen? You're networking with someone you've only read or heard about. If you want to stage, or train, or work in a kitchen in another major market, here's how." As an example Summer told me about a big name New York chef she met through WCR which had connected her to the Beard House, and about a local chef who used that big chefs cookbook all the time—they're now in touch, as the local chef plans a way to get out there.
"There's this gap we're trying to close with WCR," Summer told me. "At what point do we get more generous with our helping and sharing and helping each other up? Where is this gap in opportunities and how can we close it?" If you're wanting more opportunities for yourself and that golden ticket to face-time with your heroes and/or international food stars, go! So far confirmed headliners include: chef, restaurant owner, and television luminary Lydia Bastianich, The Chew's Carla Hall, Top Chef judge and cookbook writer Gail Simmons, and pastry bigwig Elizabeth Falkner. If the conference fee is too much for you to swing, Bartmann and Summer encourage you to volunteer, there are a lot of ways to get in.
You can also hit the ground running by getting involved with She Cooks, the monthly series at Chef Shack showcasing local female chefs. The next one is February 8th, featuring Minnesota's queen of new soulful cooking, Lachelle Cunningham, word on the street is that she has a line on heirloom sweet potatoes. If you've never had Cunningham's coconut cornbread up at the social enterprise restaurant she's been leading on the north side, Breaking Bread Cafe, you're missing out. On March 15th, there will be a dinner featuring Jessie Peine of the food truck Peep's Hot Box, one of my picks as a rising star chef.
That's all, folks! If your New Year's resolutions included getting your act together, putting your career on the front burner, being your own best helper, or any associated initiatives consider this your engraved invitation.
Women Chefs and Restaurateurs Conference, Minneapolis, April 21–23 2018.
