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