Top female chefs are already in the kitchen – so why not in the Michelin Guide?

For every female-led Michelin-starred establishment, there are 16 run by men, and this week the guide handed out just six of over 50 French stars to women. There are more women working in top kitchens than ever before, so why is recognition still so elusive, asks Hannah Twiggs

Leaves a bitter taste: the total number of women ‘honoured’ by the guide in France is 32 – out of 639 (Getty)

In news that should come as a shock to no one, of the 52 new Michelin stars handed out to French chefs at a ceremony at the Palais des Congrès in Tours on Monday, only six of them were to female-led restaurants. That brings the total number of women “honoured” by the guide in the country to 32… out of 639.

“Where are all the women?” exclaimed the guide’s international director Gwendal Poullennec in a speech on the night, presumably a pre-emptive attempt to fend off the impending criticism. This is hardly the first time Michelin has found itself in troubled waters, though it might be the first time they’ve had the balls to acknowledge it. Bravo, I guess?

Perhaps they’d done some loin girding since February, when they dished out only one Michelin star to a female chef in the UK. Adejoké “Joké” Bakare, whose West African restaurant Chishuru received the honour, is also the first Black female chef to make the UK list, and the second ever in the world.