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March 2018

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seeing around town.<br />

I would argue that trendy is not a thing we want a career to be. Calling something<br />

a trend is indicating it is fashionable. I do not relish the idea of people making career<br />

decisions based on this. Have we learned nothing from history? When food television<br />

hit big, culinary schools trended and the industry was flooded. Most of those poor career<br />

fashionistas weren’t cut out for the job and are either back at their desk at the insurance<br />

company, or suing the culinary school for false promises. Those who stuck it out are not<br />

trending. They are talented.<br />

Remember what else was trendy? Legwarmers. Rainbow bagels. Crystal Pepsi.<br />

But more to the point, can we please stop making gender a thing? I have been fighting<br />

against being labeled a female chef my entire career. (See Arroyo, February 2016 and<br />

January 2015 at issuu.com/arroyomonthly.) The label puts women at a disadvantage right<br />

away. It is tantamount to saying we are “pretty good, for a girl.” Even before we enter this<br />

career we are being judged for how we look, how fat we are, how thin we are, whether<br />

we are mothers or not mothers, whether we are ambitious or not ambitious enough, or<br />

too old, or too young and on and on. It is hard enough to defend one’s work without also<br />

having to defend our bodies.<br />

To be fair, Gold is not the only offender — far from it. A recent Zagat article listed “15<br />

Badass Female Chefs and Restaurateurs You Need to Know Around the U.S.” The same<br />

“It is hard enough to<br />

defend one’s work<br />

without also having<br />

to defend our bodies.”<br />

article would’ve been completely on point if they had left off the word “female.” Sure, it<br />

was a list of great culinary artists. But why-oh-why is being a woman still noteworthy?<br />

“Isn’t that cute! She can run a restaurant and have boobs!”<br />

Paul Bocuse, who just passed away, famously said, “I’d rather have women in my bed<br />

than at the stove.” And if you saw the crowd of 1,500 mostly male chefs at his funeral in<br />

a Lyon cathedral you’ll see that many shared his opinion. That is the attitude chefs of my<br />

generation have fought to overcome. But when you point out that being a female chef is<br />

remarkable, you are also signaling that it is in some way surprising, and that sets us back<br />

decades. Isn’t it time to simply talk about the food, and not the fact that some of us have<br />

ovaries?<br />

Perhaps what you meant by your well-intentioned list was to point out that we should<br />

be paying more attention to the females of our industry. Like the film industry did with<br />

the pro-diversity hashtag #oscarsowhite. If that is the case, may I humbly request that,<br />

instead of belittling our contributions as a fleeting fancy, you advocate for pay equity, safe<br />

workplaces and decent benefits. Let’s make that a trend --- #chefsdeservebetter.<br />

Also on the list of trends was “Fire.” If this is the kind of industry insight that<br />

constitutes award-winning journalism, let me add that I’ve heard water can be put into a<br />

freezer to get hard.<br />

Boom! I’m a trendsetter. ||||<br />

Leslie Bilderback is a chef and cookbook author, a certified master baker and<br />

an art history instructor. She lives in South Pasadena and teaches her techniques<br />

online at culinarymasterclass.com.<br />

INGREDIENTS<br />

1 slice serrano pepper wheel<br />

3 blackberries<br />

2 leaves basil<br />

½ ounce fresh lemon juice<br />

THE DEVIL’S GATE<br />

METHOD<br />

Muddle ingredients together. Shake, strain into glass with ice. Top with 2 ounces club soda.<br />

Lemon Grass Syrup<br />

3½ ounces chopped lemongrass<br />

4 cups water<br />

4 cups sugar<br />

THE<br />

DEVIL’S<br />

GATE<br />

STORY AND PHOTO BY MICHAEL CERVIN<br />

When The Flintridge Proper opened five years ago in La Cañada Flintridge,<br />

everyone wondered how this restaurant and bar could boast the world’s<br />

largest selection of gin served in a bar. Because that’s what owner<br />

Brady Caverly wanted, that’s how. The bar is ideal for quiet conversation — with<br />

its comfortable armchairs and couches, it feels and looks more a library than a<br />

neighborhood tavern. The custom wooden bar with carved horse heads recalls the<br />

area’s equestrian past.<br />

Devil’s Gate Dam inspired this drink, a nod to a time when boats could float<br />

languidly on the Pasadena reservoir. “It’s designed to capture the flavor of the Arroyo<br />

— berries and wild herbs and serrano peppers — to scare the devil out of you,” says<br />

Caverly. It combines sweet and spicy, tempered by citrus and fruit, with a potent heat<br />

from both the ginger and pepper. The soda’s slight fizz brightens the palate. Pair this<br />

with their fresh oysters on the half shell or short-rib pot roast. ||||<br />

½ ounce fresh lime juice<br />

3/4 oz. lemongrass syrup (see below)<br />

3/4 oz. ginger syrup (see below)<br />

2 oz. Tanqueray Gin<br />

Add chopped lemongrass and sugar to 4 cups water. Bring to boil on stove, remove and let cool.<br />

Strain out lemongrass.<br />

Ginger Syrup<br />

Combine two parts each ginger juice and sugar to one part water. Blend until sugar is dissolved.<br />

03.18 | ARROYO | 45

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