Georgia Magazine - April 2022 - 34

GEORGIA Cooks
By Cameron Whitlock
Sasser and Love: Leading
women in the culinary field
N
ationwide, fewer than
10 percent of head chefs and
restaurant owners are women.
It's an especially astonishing
number when you consider that,
culturally, women have been placed at
the center of the kitchen. But regardless
of this culinary tradition, gaining
prominence in the restaurant industry
has been an uphill battle.
Despite the lack of representation
at the top, the future for female culinary
professionals appears bright. Data USA
reports that today, more than 50 percent
of new culinary-school graduates are
women, and the infrastructure promoting
equity in the industry has never
been better. That's in part because of the
women already in leadership roles, who
are working hard to create opportunities
for the next generation.
Chef Savannah Sasser has been a
staple in the Georgia culinary scene for a
decade. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Institute
of Culinary Arts of Pittsburgh, she rose through the ranks
of the restaurant industry before eventually becoming executive
chef at Twain's in Decatur. She later headed kitchens at Hampton
& Hudson in Atlanta and The Expat in Athens. Today she
is a private chef and food stylist and shares her love of cooking
through her Atlanta-based business, Sasser Culinary Insights.
Sasser says she wanted to be a chef since before she could
spell the word. When she was a young girl, her stepfather passed
away suddenly, and she found herself taking on more duties at
home. She quickly learned that she was most successful in
the kitchen.
" Early on, I learned that food can be more than just eating
to eat, " she says. " It's about how it shapes us-how it can be
comforting or nostalgic. It can bring up painful memories and
great memories. "
Sasser says she feels lucky that her mother served in the
military because that experience likely led her to teach Sasser
that " she deserved to be treated no differently than a boy. "
34 Georgia Magazine April 2022
Left: Chef Skye Love prepares
chocolate-dipped strawberries.
Above: Cakes made with olive
oil tend to be moist and have
a nice, tender texture.
That attitude has resonated through Sasser's kitchens
throughout her career.
" I've never helmed a kitchen where someone disrespected
me or anyone else in my kitchen, " she says. " Life is too short to
not be respectful to one another. "
Sasser says she believes that one of the biggest challenges
women face in her industry is managing a healthy work-life
balance.
" In this industry, for women, it's not necessarily how
people treat you that is the most challenging part, " she says. " It's
'Do you want a family? Do you want to see your loved ones? Do
you want health care?' "
Only about 14 percent of restaurant workers are offered
health insurance by their employers, and even fewer are
offered child leave, according to a 2014 report from the
Economic Policy Institute.
" The sacrifice is real for every chef, " Sasser says. " You give
so much of your time to the craft-with 60- to 80-hour workCOURTESY
SKYE LOVE
Georgia Magazine - April 2022

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