Dominique Crenn Seconds Call for Better Representation, Declares Food ‘Gender-Free’

Dominique Crenn elaborates on representation call to arms

On Instagram last week, chef Dominique Crenn (Atelier Crenn, Petit Crenn) called attention to particularly blatant instance of institutional sexism in the restaurant industry. That was the brand San Pellegrino’s selection of almost all men as jurors in its 2018 Young Chef Competition. Crenn has just now elaborated on her point with a piece in the Chronicle regarding representation. “For me, if I had seen a few more images of female chefs while I was developing my craft, I know that some of my more difficult days — those days spent wondering if I could go on and truly reach for the stars I wanted to touch — would have been filled with a sense of not only camaraderie, but also possibility,” the chef writes. “For chefs, we must think about the culture of the kitchen and how each one of us makes it safe for all of us to be awesome culinary artists,” she explains, adding that “chefs need to realize that food is a gender-free item and that our art has been molded and elevated by both male and female minds.”

Casa Sanchez is city’s 100th legacy business

At a ceremony at the Casa Sanchez Bayview production facility, Mayor Lee declared the brand, started in 1923, the city’s 100th Legacy Business. The family-owned salsa and tortilla chip-maker has moved about the city several times, and might be best known for its 24th and York restaurant location, now home to D’Maize, a popular pupusa restaurant.

Stones Throw adds new chef de cuisine

Executive chef Jason Halverson has company in the kitchen at his Russian Hill restaurant Stone’s Throw: A new chef de cuisine, David Zboray, who was most recently chef at Old Bus Tavern and sous chef at Mourad. At Stone’s Thorw, he’ll start playing around with the menu by adding items like more pasta: New dishes like prosciutto and melon tagliatelle are already joining existing ones like a popular squid ink conchiglie.

Tea for two and two for tea

A new tea shop, Sip Tea Room, has grown in the former Secret Garden Tea House (721 Lincoln Way between 9th and 8th Avenues in the Inner Sunset). It’s now open from owners Paula Dinnell and Shannon De Leon, who spent months on renovations modernizing the space. Customers can enjoy loose-leaf teas galore, and the duo serves their own baked goods like cakes and scones.