Rosewood throws its weight behind female empowerment in hospitality

In the hours leading up to this year’s International Women’s Day, on March 8, The New York Times published explosive revelations of workplace abuse at legendary Copenhagen restaurant Noma under the watch of chef-founder René Redzepi.

There is a certain poetic justice to be had that, at the same time, a group of 11 female hospitality professionals from around the world concluded a weeklong residency at Rosewood Hong Kong centred specifically on writing a new, women-led chapter in the toxic, male-dominated tale of the hospitality industry.

The inaugural Rise to the Table programme was conceived by Sonia Cheng, the chief executive of Rosewood Hotel Group and chairwoman of the Rosewood Foundation, to put “real resources, time and proximity on the line”, explains Mehvesh Mumtaz Ahmed, the Rosewood Foundation’s global vice-president of impact and sustainability. This is achieved “by bringing women together, surrounding them with mentors, and staying in relationships with them long after the residency”.

Hosted at Rosewood Hong Kong from March 2 to 6, the programme brought together a cohort of chefs, sommeliers and entrepreneurs from eight countries. These women, ranging from Portuguese sous-chefs to Caribbean coffee entrepreneurs, shared a common narrative: they were hitting glass ceilings not due to a lack of ambition, but a lack of access to female thought leaders. By extension, this also meant the resources and networks they could tap into for career advancement.

Within the hushed confines of the luxury hotel, they were immersed in an intensive programme of executive coaching, industry dialogue and closed-door sessions with some of the region’s most influential figures from the culinary and hospitality sectors. These included the likes of Richard Ekkebus, culinary director of the three-Michelin-starred Amber; Lindsay Jang, the force behind Yardbird; Little Bao founder May Chow; and Shane Osborn of Michelin-starred Arcane.

For many participants, the residency was the first time they could acknowledge the internal barriers that come from working in male-dominated environments.