Vancouver chef under fire for comments about women

Harsh reviews for famous chef's comments Prominent Vancouver chef David Hawksworth is getting some harsh reviews, not for his award-winning food, but for what he said about women to a Toronto gathering.

Prominent Vancouver Chef David Hawksworth is getting some harsh reviews, not for his award-winning food, but for what he said about women at a Toronto gathering.

The chef behind the Hawksworth and Nightingale restaurants found himself in hot water after remarks about why women aren’t breaking into the restaurant industry.

"The hours are long, it’s a trying place, a very hard career. Women are smarter staying away," Hawksworth told the 2019 Spring Icons and Innovators conference last week.

But hard work has nothing to do with a glass ceiling in the restaurant industry, said Toronto Chef Felicia De Rose of the Chase Hospitality Group.

"Honestly I was furious," she told CTV News. "I have a pretty thick skin and tolerance for ignorance like that."

De Rose posted a recording of the comments on Instagram and heard from dozens of restaurant workers.

"It’s a boys’ club," she said. "It needs to end. I’ve experienced it. It’s not fun."

Hawksworth should apologize, she said.

The chef didn’t respond to an interview request, but sent a statement to CTV News Vancouver.

"(Hawksworth) is not, nor has ever been, prejudiced against women. He has employed, worked alongside, and championed many extraordinarily talented women throughout his career and continues to do so," the statement says.

Hawksworth referenced the Hawksworth Young Chef Scholarship Foundation.

"While the ratio of female to male applicants is not something that can be controlled, Chef Hawksworth has always ensured a strong female presence on the judging panel celebrating role models such as Connie DeSousa, Lynn Crawford, Jackie Ellis, Sarah Musgrave, Mijune Pak and Anna Olsen who have all lent their support," the statement says.

UBC sociologist Jennifer Berdahl told CTV News her research shows women not being represented in certain industries because of a culture that rewards dominance over talent.

"When you look at women’s careers, they often involve long hours and hard work. Even in his own industry, it’s long hours and grueling work," she said.

"It’s not that women aren’t capable of that work. It’s that the work is in a male dominated industry. Celebrity chefs are male. It’s much higher pay and higher prestige," she said.

"I think it’s a clueless comment. I think it needs to be closely examined. Is it the culture that’s making it hard for women?" she said.