This International Women’s Day, we shine a spotlight on five unsung female hospitality heroes to bring their incredible contributions to the fore
Women keen to join the hospitality sector in every corner of the world have experienced varying levels of rejection and doubt, whether a century ago and in recent years. To mark International Women’s Day, we salute the strength and perseverance of five outstanding hospitality pioneers (among many) who have shaped – and continue to shape – hotels, restaurants and bars.
Audrey Saunders: the game-changing craft cocktail pioneer .jpg)
Saunders blazed a trail for women in New York's crowded bar scene (Image: Alex Wandael)
In New York, a city renowned for its cocktail culture, Audrey Saunders left a mark. It all started in 2005, when she founded Pegu Club: a narrow, dimly lit drinking den that would go on to become one of the world’s most pivotal leaders of the craft cocktail movement. Saunders is credited with introducing a new approach to bartending, one built on fresh and seasonal ingredients, house-made syrups and top-quality spirits, all woven into a menu that embodied a modern take on classic cocktails. During the bar’s 15-year tenure, Saunders created and popularised several iconic drinks including The Gin-Gin Mule (gin, fresh lime juice, simple syrup, mint leaves, ginger beer) and the Old Cuban (aged rum, fresh lime, sparkling wine, simple syrup, bitters, mint). She also trained some of the world’s best-known bartenders including Jim Meehan, who went on to create PDT (Please Don’t Tell) and Chad Solomon of Midnight Rambler.
Hee-sook Cho: the guardian of Korean culinary culture
Cho is a pioneer in preserving traditional Korean recipes and techniques
Often described as the godmother of Korean cuisine, soft-spoken, Seoul-based chef Hee-sook Cho, the winner of 2020’s Asia’s Best Female Chef Award, has been promoting her country’s cuisine long before it was considered hip. Until recently, she ran the intimate, inspirational Hansikgonggan, known for the chef’s innovative approach to traditional Korean recipes, but her path to the top dates back four decades. The teacher-turned-chef began cooking during a time when European cuisines were celebrated and Korean cooking was deemed inferior. Through years of working 15-hour days at big name hotels, the chef slowly built her kitchen knowhow, continuing her firm belief that Korean culinary traditions deserved as much respect as any of the world’s other great cuisines. Today, the chef is celebrated for ensuring heritage techniques get passed on to the next generation and is revered by her many acolytes, who are taking her teaching on the sanctity of Korean cuisine around the world.
Ada Coleman: The Savoy’s ceiling-busting bartender
Coleman was the first of two women to have held the head bartender position at the American Bar
The American Bar at The Savoy in London is one of the city’s most enduring drinking destinations and has earned such honours as being named The World’s 50 Best Bar in 2017. But long before talents like Declan McGurk and Erik Lorincz were running the show, there was another pivotal figure in charge who set the course of cocktail history. Ada Coleman is the trailblazing British bartender who became a legend during the early 20th century, not only by becoming a female bartender when the profession was distinctly male dominated, but by serving as the head bartender at American Bar, a position she maintained from 1903 to 1926. At a time when women were at best considered barmaids, Coleman was setting a new standard by designing drinks that would go on to become classics like the Hanky Panky (gin, sweet vermouth, Fernet-Branca).
Maude N. Bouldin: activist, feminist and America’s first female hotel manager
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Maude N. Bouldin flew planes, rode motorcycles and openly challenged social gender norms, all while serving as the first US female hotel manager at Downtown Los Angeles’ historical Hotel Figueroa. Under Bouldin’s guidance, the property, which was founded and built by women in 1926 as an exclusive women’s hostel, became a space to empower female activism. The property welcomed solo female travels who would have been prohibited from checking into most hotels without a male chaperone, and served as a meeting place for organisations such as Women’s Law Enforcement Committee of Southern California, the California League of Women Voters and many more. While the Figueroa was renovated and transformed into a boutique hotel in 2018, the property’s feminist spirit continues with its current managing director, Connie Wang, who works under a portrait of Maude that hangs in the hotel lobby today.
Eugenie Brazier: the grand dame of fine French cuisine.jpg)
Brazier was the first woman in history to earn three Michelin stars (Image: Jpbrigand via Wikimedia Commons)
If Auguste Escoffier is considered the father of French cooking, then Eugenie Brazier is undoubtably its mother. The Lyon-based chef and restaurateur – known for seeking out seasonal ingredients of exceptional quality, along with having exacting standards – became the first woman to earn three Michelin stars at her restaurant La Mère Brazier, which is still in operation today. Despite having no formal education and being a single mother, Brazier set the standard for women cooking during the early 20th century, mentoring those who passed through her kitchen, including legendary Lyonnaise chef Paul Bocuse. While her name might not be as known as someone like Julia Child, to this day Brazier is credited with being the last century’s most influential woman in French gastronomy.
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