A Woman's Place is in the Kitchen

'An insightful, honest account of a young cook's journey to an inspirational chef' Angela Hartnett


It's a familiar trope: angry men berating each other as pots boil, sauces burn and a giant slab of beef rests in the background. Chaos, fury and the male ego dominate the idea of a professional kitchen. Why then do we also hear that women 'belong in the kitchen' if, professionally, they're all but erased from them?

This is the story of Sally Abé's rise to become an award-winning chef in the brutal world of restaurant kitchens. It's also a stirring manifesto - drawing back the curtain on restaurant kitchens to show how she is trying to change them for the better. With stories of Michelin-starred food, the relentlessness of kitchens, as well as hope for the culinary world's future, Sally's memoir is set to become a classic.


'She doesn't so much pull back the curtains as yank them away, revealing the plain truth of what it takes to get dinner on to your plate' Observer


'Sally Abé is lifting the lid on what being a woman in male-dominated, professional kitchens is really like' Independent


'An exciting deep dive into kitchen life from one of Britain's leading young chefs' Tom Kerridge