Opinion Express View on Garima Arora’s Michelin Star: One for cuisine, two for diversity
Even as her achievement is celebrated, it is an opportunity to consider how the restaurant industry can achieve greater gender diversity
The problem isn’t just about lack of numbers, but comes down to a combination of entrenched bias and the “boys club” environment of most restaurants that keeps women from rising through the ranks. 
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In winning her second Michelin Star last week, Mumbai-born chef Garima Arora has achieved two remarkable things. Not only has she joined the thinly-populated ranks of Indian chefs with two Michelin Stars, she’s also become the first Indian woman chef to have won this honour — in fact, one of the few women (less than two dozen) to have done so, underlining how much the recognition skews in favour of men.
Some of this is the result of the historical overrepresentation of male chefs in the industry, but that has been changing. According to a survey in March by The Chef’s Pencil, a food industry magazine, about a quarter of chefs, globally, are women, with their numbers having steadily risen over the past seven years.
Yet, when it comes to the very top — including the ones who win Michelin stars — the difference is striking. As the survey, which analysed 2,286 Michelin-starred restaurants in 16 countries, shows, only 6.04 per cent are run by women.
The problem isn’t just about lack of numbers, but comes down to a combination of entrenched bias and the “boys club” environment of most restaurants that keeps women from rising through the ranks.
There have been some attempts to correct this bias: Ten years ago, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants introduced an award for Best Female Chef. The award attracted some criticism — as many rightly pointed out, this would only result in women chefs being shoved into a gender-based category. Yet, it was an acknowledgement, even if belated, of the industry’s lack of diversity. Even as Arora’s achievement is celebrated, it can also serve as a moment to reflect on how this can be corrected.
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