Where My Ladies At?
The year was 2008. Michelle Bernstein won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South. Cindy Hutson’s Ortanique in Coral Gables already had a decade of accolades for its soulful Caribbean cuisine. In F...
Citi Taste of Tennis All-Women Lineup: “The Time Was Right”
January through March means high season in South Florida, when airports are packed, hotels and restaurants are fully booked and it seems like there’s a food and drink festival and tasting event every weekend.
For food events, headliners are generally those South Florida chefs whose names appear many times on our pages. Nearly all are men. Except for CITI Taste of Tennis, the event that kicks off the Miami Open in March. Every participating chef is a woman.
Photo 1: From CITI Taste of Tennis 2019
Photo 2: Chef Adrianne Calvo
“We thought the time was right,” says Penny Lerner of event-planning firm AYS, which she and her mother, Judi Lerner, founded in 1996. They first combined their expertise to create events featuring cuisine prepared by top chefs and appearances by pro tennis players before major events. These include the Miami Open (March), the US Open in New York (August), and events in Washington, DC, Indian Wells and Melbourne, Australia.
Over the years, Penny says, they’ve worked with women chefs, including Michelle Bernstein and Giada di Laurentiis, Carla Hall and Alex Guarnaschelli. And their events include the world’s top women tennis players – Venus and Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens, Olga Savchuk, Victoria Azarenka, to name just a few – underscoring the impressive contributions of women. So it makes sense for them to go all in and shine a light on culinary stars who happen to be female.
Photo 1: Fernanda Alvarez
Photo 2: Chef Paula Da Silva
“This does matter,” says Penny, whose own company is 85% female. “Women are just as good and talented, and we understand they are sometimes not taken seriously.”For this year’s event, they brought back chefs like Adrianne Calvo, Karla Hoyos and Karina Rivera. But instead of filling out the roster with the usual (male) suspects – an easier task – they went after new faces, including sous chefs, pastry chefs and line cooks. Rivera, who organized Women Chefs 305, helped with the connections.
Photo 1: Alejandra Bressan for Tacology
Photo 2: Val Chang of Itamae
Photo 3: Estefania Andrade of Obra
Photo 4: Dayanny De La Cruz Photo: Hard Rock Stadium
Penny challenges diners to put their money where their mouth is by supporting women in the industry – it will lift everyone in a powerful way. “Don’t just say it, but believe it,” she says. “We like to rise together.”
Citi Taste of Tennis Miami
Mar. 23, SLS Brickell
tasteoftennis.com/miami
Participating Chefs
Karina Rivera, WomenChefs305
Fernanda Alvarez, The Healthy Mexicana
Karla Hoyos, Bazaar Mar
Ruth Castilleja Albarran, Atlantikos at St. Regis Bal Harbour
Christa Tawil, Zaytouna Foods
Paula DaSilva, Burlock Coast, Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale
Valerie Chang, Itamae
Estefania Andrade, Obra
Alejandra Bressan, Tacology
Manuela Lopez, Elcielo
Adrianne Calvo, Chef Adrianne’s, Cracked
Dayanny De La Cruz, Hard Rock Stadium
Jennifer Sosa, Nature's Cut
Where My Ladies At?
The year was 2008. Michelle Bernstein won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South. Cindy Hutson’s Ortanique in Coral...
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