Women chef-restaurateurs make their mark

IN a male-dominated food and beverage industry, it’s hard enough to find female chefs heading the kitchen, much less running their own restaurants.

With International Women’s Day around the corner, we shine the spotlight on chefs in Asia who are cooking on their own terms. In Friday’s edition of BT Lifestyle, read the stories of six women from Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Hong Kong and Japan, who have struck out on their own and earned accolades from their peers in the process. They include Pichaya Soontornyanakij or Chef Pam of the one-Michelin-starred Potong – one of the hottest tables in Bangkok now; Vicky Lau of the two-starred TATE Dining Room in Hong Kong; and Tokyo’s Natsuko Shoji of ete in Tokyo, winner of the Asia’s Best Female Chef 2022 in the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants guide.

Meanwhile, learn about the work of women directors whose female-centric films are now playing at the cinemas, including the Oscar-nominated Women Talking and Corsage, which was a hit at Cannes. In Arts, get set for the upcoming Singapore International Festival of the Arts, which releases its slate of shows for 2023.

In Dining, it’s time to revisit Lolla, whose head chef Johanne Siy replaces Natsuko Shoji as Asia’s Best Female Chef 2023 in this year’s Asia’s 50 Best guide. For all this and more, get your copy of Friday’s BT.