The Chef project explores the problem of gender inequality and negative attitudes towards female chefs. We interacted directly with our visitors through tastings and further calls for e-voting for the best concept. Voting took place in the Usachevsky market.

In Russia, there is a stereotype that the best chefs are men.

Main stereotypical arguments against female chefs:

• Physically hard work.

• The most important thing for women is family.

• Women have low gustatory sensitivity.

• Women have less developed managerial skills.

The goal of our project was to draw public attention to the problem of disrespectful treatment of female chefs in Russia.

The mission of our project was to dispel the stereotype that the best chefs are only men.

To influence the attitude towards female chefs, we conducted a vote on the Usachevsky market for the best restaurant concept using a mobile application. The voting was carried out among the visitors of the market who tried the dishes in our restaurants. The result of the vote helped determine the winners, who were mostly female chefs. So, we were able to dispel the myth that the only professionals in the kitchen are male.

We conducted a study on the problem of negative attitudes towards female chefs in Russia and the world. Most ratings of chefs are complied with men. Moreover,unlike English all words in Russian have a gender assigned to them most professions have two forms associated with them a masculine and a feminine. The word “Chef” was only considered as a masculine word.

In order to influence the situation, we organized a tasting for restaurant visitors at the Usachevsky market. The call to action was to vote for the most delicious restaurant using a mobile application. Moreover, we contacted online dictionaries and added a new gender for the Russian word Chef.

We defied the stereotype that the best chefs are men.We got a lot of media and public attention. The total number of impressions of The Chef project amounts to more than 87 million throughout Russia.

And for the first time ever, the LARGEST online dictionary of Contemporary Russian has announced officially that the word “chef” can be used both in the masculine and feminine genders.

The number of visitors to the Usachevsky Market has doubled and the revenues of restaurants with female chefs has, in turn, increased by 230%.

Usachevsky Market is a popular place in Moscow, with more than 30 best restaurants and cafes with different national cuisines.