For the fourth year in a row, Resy's The Women of Food campaign honors the women who run restaurants. With The Women of Food, the company aims to highlight women-owned restaurants and raise awareness of the systemic inequities women face when working in the hospitality industry. This year, Miami's Michelin Star Chef from Boia De will be part of the campaign.

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"The Women of Food is central to Resy's mission, to be a platform that champions voices and issues important to the restaurant industry," said Chandler Stroud, Resy's Head of Marketing. "Resy's women-led restaurants will be at the forefront of everything we do – editorial guides, interviews, events – with the goal of driving diners to them and raising awareness of the gender gap that continues to persist."

With chefs like Dominique Crenn (SF), Nancy Silverton (LA), Missy Robbins (NYC) and Asma Khan (London), Resy hosted Women of Food dinners around the world in 2018 and 2019. However, the COVID-19 global pandemic halted the planned 2020 11-city dinner tour. But this year, Resy is back strong with the campaign.

Also, a shoppable online collection of products from women-owned businesses will be available this year, and Resy will provide diners with opportunities to:

• Support women-led restaurants by choosing to dine with them. Look for "Women of Food" guides in the Resy app and on Resy.com.
• Experience special dinners curated by Resy, featuring leading female chefs in 6 cities.
• Buy kitchen goods from women-owned businesses, curated by Beverly Nguyen, Stylist, and Founder of Beverly's New York City. Proceeds will benefit the National Women's Law Center.

Has it been difficult as a very successful female chef in the Miami food industry to stand out?

Chef Luciana Giangrandi: Not really anymore. I guess that comes with being successful, but that wasn’t always the case. When so much attention is given to your sex on the backdrop of its limited representation, it’s easy to stand out. I genuinely hope that my food stands out more than my gender.

How has the support been?

Chef Luciana Giangrandi: The Miami restaurant community has been very supportive. There are a few small owner/operators like ourselves, including several women, who have built some genuine respect and love for one another and understand the unique challenges that anyone faces as a restaurant owner in this city, regardless of sex.

Your restaurant recently won a Michelin Star; what does it mean to you and all women fighting hard to gain more representation in this industry?

Chef Luciana Giangrandi: It feels incredibly gratifying and surreal. For the first time in my career a sales rep walked into Boia De and asked me, not one of the male cooks, if I was the chef. The missteps from strangers on a daily basis since opening, eg “is the chef in?”, “are you the pastry chef?”, “who is the owner?”, have been beyond frustrating, but I’ve kept pushing. Ultimately, the star says we’re doing something good, and, to me, I’m very proud of it. I can’t say what it means to all the other women in this industry, because I was the only one on stage to receive a star, and that in itself was fairly disappointing. I hope other female chefs, who I have to assume share my daily frustrations, are proud of me too, and I hope they know I was thinking of them all when receiving this honor.

What does it feel to work with Resy in such an important campaign to showcase women chef talents worldwide through intimate dinners?

Chef Luciana Giangrandi: Imposter syndrome is real and something i feel every day despite my earned success. There are a lot of very talented women in this city that could have represented for this dinner so I feel very blessed to have been asked. When I heard what the dinners were about and that it would be an opportunity to bring recognition to the women that contribute to our business every day, that meant a lot, because it takes a village. And organically, our village at Boia De just seems to have a lot of women in it. From our ceramicists, florist, artist/brand developer, candle maker, tea distributor, ice cream maker, and so on, we represent local women running their own businesses.

What are some ways you empower women in the industry?

Chef Luciana Giangrandi: It’s hard for me to empower the women in an entire industry, but in the small scale of our restaurant, we do so by creating a space where they are comfortable to ask questions, mess up, grow without being afraid, and see other women in management positions to know it’s possible to get there. Its not easy, and it takes a lot of sacrifice, hard work, and awareness to survive, let alone thrive. I always try to be honest about my weaknesses and struggles so that my employees can see that you don’t have to be perfect to be successful. But you have to constantly strive for growth.

For additional information, visit Resy and Boia De.