The Culinary Queens

With the Indian society expecting women to work and manage the kitchen and the household, the culinary industry differs from this belief. Being a male dominated industry, L’Officiel India sits down with these 5 hungry (pun-intended) women who are changing the face of this testosterone driven workplace, are not afraid of a challenge and are breaking the rules of the Indian mentality.

Photography by Parth Sharma

Styling and compilation by Trishla Chadha

Hair by Aanchal.

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Makeup by Nishtha Gaind.

Fashion assistant: Vaishnavi Shivram.

Naina de Bois-Juzan, Founder of Le Bistro du Parc: Actually its more about attitude than gender in the culinary industry. There are some things that come naturally to a woman like design, creativity, hospitality, to deal with customers and this is an advantage. There are also challenges to face to be accepted in the “boys club” culinary environment. I entered this industry very young with no idea of failure and my energy and enthusiasm helped me to conquer obstacles and make a space and respect for myself.

Kriti Malhotra, Sommelier at the Pullman Hotel and the Novotel Hotel at New Delhi Aerocity: I was always told that women and alcohol don’t go along in India, It’s the man’s world. I am proud to say that today I am a sommelier for not just one but two leading hotels – Pullman and Novotel Hotels at New Delhi Aerocity. A tipply toast to all the women and (men) who see us as equals.

Anahita N Dhondy, Chef at SodaBottleOpenerWala: In the kitchen, it doesn't matter if you are a woman or a man; the workload is the same and is equally distributed amongst all. I am surrounded by many Gordon Ramsays in the culinary world, but it doesn't scare me, it actually challenges me to do better with them being around, sometimes competing with them is another adrenaline rush. It’s all exciting, and that's the way it should be looked at. We are not the weaker sex, we just make ourselves feel that way, but actually we are stronger than them, more elegant in the way we cook, more meticulous and organized and multi-tasking is our forte. I feel we can over throw the Gordon Ramsays (Even though I respect him a lot) of the culinary world and create something of our own.