Emma Bengtsson: Female chefs don't need to impress men, they just get on with it

Bengtsson, who has two Michelin stars, responds to claims that men work better around female chefs because they want to impress them
Knives are out: Emma Bengtsson and Henrik Ritzén of Aquavit
Jean Cazals
Lizzie Edmonds @lizzieedmo24 November 2016

Chef Emma Bengtsson says women in the restaurant business just get on with their work without needing to impress anyone — unlike their male counterparts.

Bengtsson, 35, one of only a handful of women with two Michelin stars, was responding to claims by her colleague Henrik Ritzén that men work better around female chefs because they want to impress them.

She said there was no reason why women couldn’t get to the top in the restaurant world, saying it just requires “determination and stubbornness”.

Bengtsson is overseeing the London launch of New York Nordic institution Aquavit, where she is executive chef. The British version, which will be opening as part of the multi-million-pound St James’s Market redevelopment in Piccadilly Circus, will have Ritzén at the helm as executive chef.

New venture: Aquavit London

Asked how many women he had in his kitchen, Ritzén, formerly of La Petite Maison and Dover Street Arts Club, said: “We don’t have enough. We have three. Four with Emma. I think it is a shame. I would like to see more women in the kitchen. It gives balance. It can be testosterone-filled.

“Having women makes the guys a bit more focused. They want to impress them.” Bengtsson added: “Yeah but the women, they don’t give a shit. They just do their work, they don’t need to impress. It’s funny.”

She added: “If there is something that you really want, you have to put the hard work in. It doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman or whatever business you are in.

“It is a lot of hard work and determination and stubbornness to go all the way — a certain kind of person. It’s extremely long hours standing up. Bending and lifting. It’s not easy.”

Famous London restaurants

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Aquavit London, which opens next Monday, will be more casual than its American big sister, where diners can expect to pay £250 or more for an eight-course tasting menu.

The London version will offer “traditional, homely” Nordic classics, such as meatballs and smoked fish, with main courses costing between £16 and £31.

The pair said they had made the new restaurant “less fine dining” to cater for the London market, where people “eat out a lot and don’t necessarily want a tasting menu every night”.

Asked if they were concerned about competition from other Nordic restaurants in the capital, such as Texture in Marylebone, Ritzén said: “We are going to be more outright Nordic. We are more classic.”

Bengtsson added: “A lot of modern Nordic restaurant think in new ways. They take inspiration from other countries. Aquavit is more about looking into the past and bringing that to life in perfection.”

Visit standard.co.uk/restaurants for the latest news and reviews from London’s food scene.

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