To be fair, some female food entrepreneurs were included on the list, but the exclusion of any female chefs inspired the Daily Meal to offer up its own list of "20 Badass Female Chefs Time Overlooked." And at #14? Denver's own Jennifer Jasinski. See also: Jen Jasinski doesn't win Top Chef Masters, but she wins for Work Options for Women
According to the Daily Meal, Jasinski is Badass Because:
• She held her own in Wolfgang Puck's most boiler-room kitchens, including Spago in Las Vegas, Malibu, and Chicago, Postrio in San Francisco, and as corporate chef at his food company. • After her first restaurant, Rioja, opened in 2004, and after being named 2004's Colorado Chef of the Year by the American Culinary Federation, she could have rested on her laurels but instead bought a French bistro across the street, and opened another restaurant around the corner. Oh, yeah: she also won the James Beard Foundation's Award for Best Chef Southwest in 2013. • On the most recent season of Top Chef Masters, she made it all the way to the finale, edging out such notable chefs as David Burke, Richard Sandoval, and Sang Yoon. In the process, she won money for her charity, Work Options for Women.And on Friday, we learned one more reason that Jasinski is a badass: She and Crafted Concepts partner Beth Gruitch will be opening their fourth restaurant next summer: S&G Fish in Union Station.
That's just blocks away from Larimer Square, where they already have Rioja, Bistro Vendome and Euclid Hall.
"We're thrilled to be opening up our fourth restaurant from the Crafted Concepts family in this iconic development," Jasinski said in announcing the new venture. "Beth and I want this restaurant to be number one in peoples' minds when they think of seafood. It's going to be off the hook."
Jorel Pierce, currently Euclid Hall chef de cuisine (and Jasinski's sous on Top Chef Masters), will be in charge of the S&G Fish kitchen; Josh Prater, Euclid's sous since that restaurant opened three years ago, will move up to head Euclid's kitchen.
And Jasinski? She'll remain badass.
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