BOSTON — During Women’s History Month, The Langham Hotel in Boston holds its annual Women’s Day dinner. A talented lineup of female chefs create a seven-course meal, all in support of a local charity.
Kerry Levesque always had a knack for baking.
“My mom had these Wilton cake decorating magazines,” said The Langham Pastry Chef Kerry Levesque. “And so, eating cereal, I just flipped through the magazines before school.”
The pastry chef has been working in Boston for 15 years. At The Langham Hotel, her team makes decadent desserts from scratch.
“We really want to make sure that we’re utilizing everybody’s creative ability to, you know, maintain and improve and just have fun,” said Levesque.
Levesque is proud to be a part of The Langham’s Annual Women’s dinner, where female chefs from across the city come together for one night to celebrate all they’ve accomplished.
“Yeah, we all are in competition, but at the end of the day, we’re all in this together, and so we all have the same passion, we all have the same drive, we all care about the community,” said Levesque.
“This is our bread, we mix it by hand here,” said Bar Vlaha Pastry Chef Eva Kranefuss.
The bread at Bar Vlaha will be among the menu items at the dinner.
“This is about 24 hours of work, and it is everything that we do here,” said Kranefuss.
Even though Chef Eva Kranefuss attended Tufts University for pre-med, she found her passion while walking into a local bakery and found a mentor who asked her one simple question:
‘Are you going to take this seriously? Or is this, you know, a stopgap measure until you go do the MCAT and go to med school,’ and I said, I’m going to take that seriously," Kranefuss remembered her mentor asking her.
In just three and a half years, Kranefuss now leads a team to create Bar Vlaha’s signature menu item—and does take her job seriously.
“I love kind of constantly having to create, constantly having to work on things,” said Kranefuss. “I am my own harshest critic at all times. I always know I can be better. And that’s what I’m working towards every day.”
“I’ll put that down at the bottom,” said Delaney Lambrix, the Sous Chef at The Langham, as she talked about the dish she was preparing.
Also quickly working her way up is The Langham’s Sous Chef Delaney Lambrix. She learned from her grandmother and turned that joy of cooking into her career.
“There’s a stereotypical role of that women should be in the kitchen, but they should be at their kitchen at home,” said Lambrix. “And so when it transitions into a commercial or your full-time gig, it’s really hard to stand up for yourself and be like, no, this is exactly what I want.”
At The Langham, women have found their voice: 58% of its female employees are in leadership roles, and it was recognized as one of the best places for women to work in Boston.
“There’s so many more things that we can do, and it’s only up from here,” said Lambrix.
And for one night, these chefs are looking forward to collaborating and building partnerships for life.
“It’s more than just cooking for the guests,” said Levesque. “It’s a shared experience for all of us.”
The dinner will support the Women’s Lunch Place. It’s a day shelter for women experiencing poverty and homelessness. Each year, staff and volunteers assist around 2,300 women with wide-ranging needs.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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