Chef wanted to refuse best female award because she wanted to be best on merit not gender
Three Michelin-starred chef Clare Smyth has said she did not want to accept the Worlds Best Female Chef award because she hoped to be recognised on merit rather than gender.
Three Michelin-starred chef Clare Smyth has said she did not want to accept the Worlds Best Female Chef award because she hoped to be recognised on merit rather than gender.
Ms Smyth, who runs Core in London, said she reluctantly collected the award after being given a kick up the backside.
The 45 year old is focused on getting to the top because she was a great chef - and not because she is a woman.
The chef, who trained under Gordon Ramsay, was declared the Worlds Best Female Chef in 2018 by the prestigious Worlds 50 Best Restaurants.
Three Michelin-starred chef Clare Smyth has said she did not want to accept the Worlds Best Female Chef award because she hoped to be recognised on merit rather than gender
The 45-year-old, who runs Core in London, said she reluctantly collected the award after being given a kick up the backside (Pictured: British chef Clare Smyth receives the Best Female Chef award during the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants awards in Bilbao on June 19, 2018)
Clare Smyth, who was the first female chef to hold three Michelin stars in the UK, was declared the Worlds Best Female Chef in 2018 by the prestigious Worlds 50 Best Restaurants
But despite the honour, Ms Smyth said she would have disagreed with the award in her younger years and felt reluctant to accept it.
She told the Desert Island Dishes podcast: It didnt really occur to me that I didnt have any female role models (and) Ive realised as Ive grown up it is important to other women.
When I was given the worlds best female chef award I wasnt sure I really wanted to accept it.
I did in the end because someone gave me a bit of a kick up the backside and said to me "if you want to change things, you need to be on a platform to change things".
Lots of young women were very inspired by it and lots of them werent.
Some of them think I shouldnt have accepted it and I probably would have been one of those young women that disagreed with the award - because I felt I deserved it on my own merit as a chef.
But I think the important thing is having the conversation and thats what Ive realised as Ive grown up.
(Pictured: Clare Smyth second from right at The GQ Food & Drink Awards in 2018) Despite the honour, Ms Smyth said she would have disagreed with the award in her younger years and felt reluctant to accept it. She now believes the important thing is having the conversation and thats what Ive realised as Ive grown up
Ms Core was awarded three Michelin stars in the 2021 guide, making her the first person from Northern Ireland to achieve the honour.
The County Antirm-born chef has said it is refreshing to see an increasing amount of women getting involved in the culinary industry.
She explained: Its such a lovely environment now compared to how it used to be and it would never be great to have teams of all females or all males - you need that balance.
Its so lovely now, it just feels really fresh.
