Women In The Kitchen

Ireland’s only Michelin-starred female chef, Danni Barry, from Deanes EIPIC in Belfast, shares with us her favourite female food fixers from around the world.

La Dame de Pic, Paris

?Anne-Sophie Pic is a self-taught chef. Her food at La Dame de Pic is delicate, refined, and full of complex, interesting flavours. With classic dishes paired sometimes with Asian influences, she uses all sorts of wonderfully exotic ingredients, such as Sarawak pepper, tonka beans or liquorice, but nothing ever overpowers. I think her Game Pithivier with Coffee and Amaretto is perfection. The restaurant is elegant but casual, with fresh flowers and shared tables and an open pass kitchen – it’s definitely something different when in Paris.?

anne-sophie-pic.com

Spring, London

?Spring by Skye Gyngell is one of my favourite restaurants and has to be one of the most beautiful rooms in London. It’s in a former tax office, a high-ceilinged, 19th-century room that’s been transformed into a very stylish and feminine, really light, airy space. There are lots of trees, flowers and plants throughout, reflecting the focus on seasonal ingredients, and those ingredients are prepared with real care so you get these vibrant, clean, fresh plates of the most delicious food. The set lunch is always good – order all the sides to experience the best.?

springrestaurant.co.uk

The Spotted Pig, New York

?I love the atmosphere here. Loud and lively, always packed, you’ll probably have to wait a while for a table but it’s a must if in New York and, besides, waiting at the busy bar watching the cocktail masters at work is no hardship. April Bloomfield’s generous plates of proper pub food seem to have been magically enhanced to be more full of flavour than is possible – the snacks are amazing, the burgers are legendary and the smoked haddock chowder is probably the best you will ever have.?

thespottedpig.com

Atelier Crenn, San Francisco

?Artistic and innovative, Dominique Crenn is as much an artist and poet as she is a chef. Totally original, and influenced by her childhood to create playful dishes, flavour is still key and that’s what stays with you after you’ve eaten an oyster from an edible shell. At this two-Michelin-star, the tasting menu is written like a poem. Take the entire journey – ?A walk in the forest? is a dish of different mushrooms, pine-scented meringues, herbs and hazelnuts all eaten from edible bark.? ateliercrenn.com

This article originally appeared in Cara magazine (visit aerlingus.com for more destinations).