I don’t eat nearly often enough at what I feel is the best restaurant in the Heights, Zelko Bistro. I don’t go so often because I rarely have the time or patience to wait, and there’s usually a wait.
I was very excited to see that Jamie Zelko, the chef who owns the place, has just redone the wine list to feature exclusively wines from woman-owned vineyards.
I was then extremely bummed out to read this quote:
“I’m not a feminist by any means,” Zelko said by phone yesterday, “but there has to be something said about this industry and what it takes to make it in this industry. And as a woman, if you don’t give that 110 percent you’ll fall back in the crowd.”
OK, what, exactly, does she mean about not being a feminist? Because it sounds to me like she just may be one. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems she is saying that in her industry, women have to work extra hard (harder than men) to make it. She’s not just saying that chefs have to give 110% to make it, because if she were, why would she have added “as a woman” to the beginning of the sentence?
Guess what, dear chef? If you are a woman succeeding in a field in which the most successful practitioners are typically men, and you decide to populate your wine list exclusively from woman-owned wineries (the wine world being fairly male-dominated as well), chances are high that you just may be a feminist.
Claim it. Own it. Don’t be afraid to be a feminist. Sheesh.
nonsequiteuse 
Yeah, I saw that, too. I can only assume she has a caricatured impression of what the word “feminist” means. Too bad, because you’re right – whatever she thinks she is or isn’t, she’s a feminist. And good for her, too.