Michelin stars and the rise of female master chefs

21/03/2024
Image courtesy of Jay Wennington on Unsplash

The recent article in our sister publication Larder raised an interesting question about the number of female chefs who make it to the top as determined by Michelin rankings. 

It’s a well-established fact that there are many brilliant female chefs around. It’s often a woman, in the form of a mother or grandmother who inspired a famous chef to take his career path, because of the passion and skill they had witnessed at an early age. 

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But the recent Michelin Star awards in France threw up an interesting statistic – women only make up about ten percent of the Michelin starred chefs in the whole of France (France understandingly containing the most Michelin starred chefs out of any country.)

Larder asked, is this ratio at the home of culinary excellence reflected here in Scotland. The article in full can be read here. The answer to the question is summarised in the table below:

RestaurantLocationChef Michelin Stars
Restaurant Andrew FairlieGleneaglesStephen McLaughlin2
Lalique at GlenturretCrieffMark Donald2
ConditaEdinburghConnor Toomey1
Cail BruichGlasgowLorna McNee1
The KitchinEdinburghTom Kitchin1
Martin WishartEdinburghMartin Wishart 1
Loch BayIsle of SkyeMichael Smith1
Peat InnCuparGeoffrey Smeddle1
TimberyardEdinburghJimmy Murray1
UnalomeGlasgowGraeme Cheevers1
HeronEdinburghSam Yorke1

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