During the interview, there seemed to be a general consensus at the table that women, in general, are less inclined than men to subsume their personal lives to their career. Alcocer-Thomas and Johnston both agreed that while they see the men they work with giving themselves over completely to the insular social and professional microcosm of the restaurant, the women they work with more frequently attempt to navigate outside its perimeter. However, most women they know insist on setting limits for themselves. This could explain why there are more women working as pastry chefs than in any other capacity in the kitchen. The flexible schedule of doing pastries, coupled with the relative autonomy pastry chefs have in the kitchen, allow women to maintain satisfying careers without sacrificing their personal lives.
Catering offers the same sorts of advantages.
Many of Austin's older generation of women chefs eventually chose this or a similar path after being disillusioned by the relentless harangue of the male-dominated restaurant industry. In fact, the majority of Austin caterers are women. Indeed, there seems to be a real tension between the two. Some restaurant chefs don't consider caterers to be real chefs, while many caterers feel as though their skills go largely unacknowledged. It was curious to me that the of four women I talked to that day, only one felt strongly that discrimination continues to be an issue in the professional kitchen.