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“In catering, #MeToo has not arrived”: the commitment of Manon Fleury, starred chef at the head of a female team
“In catering, #MeToo has not arrived”: the commitment of Manon Fleury, starred chef at the head of a female team
(SPECIAL SUBJECT / FRANCE 2)
“Special Envoy” met a young chef who defends another vision of her profession: only female teams in the kitchen, and caring management. Against the violence that sometimes taints the world of catering, Manon Fleury took action by creating the Bondir.e association with other female chefs.
The small world of gastronomy only talks about her: Manon Fleury is said to be the chef who will invent the restaurant of tomorrow. His, Datil, opened in September 2023 in the center of the capital.
In the kitchen, only women, a positive discrimination assumed in a world which remains very masculine. “We want to put women in positions of responsibility, because, in our opinion, this is how our profession will evolve,” justifies the young chef. The only man on the team, Louis Copans, works in the gym, and he finds the bet “a little intimidating, but super stimulating”.
“Dysfunctions and deviations” in the kitchen
If Manon Fleury attracted women to her teams, it is, she thinks, because she openly addressed the question of their place in the restaurant industry, based on her own experience.
Having to state an instruction three times where a man did not need to repeat it, she experienced it. Something to feel “quite strongly” that was attributed to him “less legitimacy”. She was also able to observe “dysfunctions and deviances” in the kitchens where it has been, even in those “where things were generally going well”. For things to change profoundly, she said to herself that it was time to act.
Prevention actions in hotel schools
In 2021, Manon Fleury joined around twenty other female chefs to create an association, based on the observation that in the restaurant industry, the #MeToo phenomenon had not really happened. In order to break a form of silence that persists, Bondir.e carries out awareness and prevention actions.
That day, with Natacha Collet, a chef very involved in the association, Manon Fleury spoke in front of the students of the Parisian hotel school Jean-Drouant. The dialogue allows us to make certain clarifications (yes, a boss who goes under the table almost every day, this can be assimilated to sexual harassment), to recall everyone’s right to “put [ses] limits, no matter who is doing it.” this type of behavior.
Things have changed, assures Natacha Collet, since their time, when we told them: “Stay, he’s a prestigious chef. You get through your internship, you take it upon yourself, and then if you don’t have the shoulders, well… change jobs!” The meeting is also an opportunity to encourage those who could experience violence or harassment to talk about it, and to change establishments. “There are a thousand other places. We are waiting for you somewhere, and we will be delighted to receive you.”
Excerpt from “Manon Fleury, a chef who hits the mark”, a report to be seen in “Laspecial d’Envoyé” dedicated to French gastronomy on March 21, 2024.
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