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Dominique Crenn, chef and owner, Atelier Crenn
When Dominique Crenn was named the “World’s Best Female Chef” by The World’s 50 Best in 2016, she used the opportunity to vocalize the need for equality in the industry. The chef only accepted the honor as a platform to express her hope that such an award would not exist in the future since a chef is a chef, regardless of gender.
Crenn is proving herself to be a culinary great, no qualifiers needed.
Her modernist French restaurant in San Francisco, Atelier Crenn, recently received three Michelin stars, the highest rating possible from the yearly guide. The accomplishment was record-breaking: Crenn is the first woman in America to ever achieve such a feat.
Accolades aside, Crenn is also an advocate for sustainability and social justice — focusing on the humanity that unites us. She regularly raises awareness on the effect that food production and waste have on the environment.
In the kitchen, Crenn’s people-centric philosophy fosters an enjoyable and balanced work culture that is more than just talk.
The chef implemented radical changes at Atelier Crenn — raising the price of her tasting menu, adding a 20-percent surcharge to guest checks, eliminating tipping and moving to a prepaid reservation system — to provide a living wage and benefits for her staff.
