The Fight for a Better Hospitality Industry Starts Here
How one organization is pushing against wage inequality, gender discrimination, and sexual harassment in restaurants across the country
Late on an autumn afternoon in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Kate Galassi stood with a baby in one hand and a microphone in the other, addressing a group of about 75 women and a handful of men who sat around long tables in a warmly lit, brick-walled event space at the Wythe Hotel.
"We want to change the narrative for working moms in our industry," she said. "We're seen as a liability when we believe we're a strong asset."
Galassi, who is a former forager for New York restaurants including the Spotted Pig, was speaking on behalf of a group that had spent the last seven hours or so brainstorming solutions with the other members of Women In Hospitality United (WIHU).
WIHU was cofounded in 2017 by Elizabeth Meltz, Erin Fairbanks, and Liz Murray in response to the sudden, painful #metoo and #timesup reckoning that spotlighted sexual harassment and assault in the industry, including high-profile restaurateurs Mario Batali, John Besh, Ken Friedman (owner of The Spotted Pig, who has stepped back from day-to-day operations), and others.
Meltz, who had worked in Batali's organization for years as director of environmental health, had "one of those reactions," recalls Fairbanks: "'Holy shit, what does this mean? What role did I play in that? Was I a victim; was I an enabler? Why didn't I know or share?'" In response, Meltz sent an email out to every woman she knew in hospitality.
"I said, 'I'll join you in this,'" says Fairbanks, who as a long-time member of the food industry — she was a line cook at New York restaurants Gramercy Tavern and Savoy and former executive director of Heritage Radio Network — had witnessed the problem first-hand.
