Women chefs are still drastically under-represented in the food industry across the United States, however Clarke, New England’s Official Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove Showroom and Test Kitchen, is crushing that trend. Clarke now employs all female chefs in its three locations in Boston Seaport and Milford, Massachusetts, as well as their Fairfield County, Connecticut showroom in South Norwalk.
What’s more, all three Clarke corporate chefs are graduates of Johnson & Wales University, where Clarke has collaborated on an internship program with JWU faculty for almost a decade, providing the perfect “test kitchen” for young culinary leaders. Several of the JWU interns have gone on to work for Clarke as corporate chefs with very unique duties.
According to various demographic studies, men hold approximately 75% of professional chef positions, while women hold only the remaining 25% of these jobs. When it comes to head chefs and restaurant owners, the statistics are even more shocking with only 7% being women.
“When we hired our first corporate chef over a decade ago, we chose a woman,” said Clarke President Sean Clarke. “We’ve had several wonderful female chefs on staff over the years. They are key to our company’s mission of providing a one-of-a-kind experience for our customers. Our chefs not only design menus and prepare food for our showroom visitors, they also plan for daily culinary activities and many large events held at Clarke. They are product demonstrators, nutrition teachers, brand ambassadors and more. Clarke’s mission is all about providing tools to create delicious, nutritious food and our chefs are an invaluable part of our showroom experience.”
Clarke’s Culinary Team Today
Chef Shelby Grigoriadis
Chef Shelby has been with Clarke since 2018. She manages the Clarke Test Kitchen in Clarke’s Boston Seaport showroom at 7 Tide. She is a native Californian and earned her degrees in Food Service Management, Culinary Arts and Sommelier from JWU. She worked in several commercial kitchens before joining Clarke and was chosen as a chef for the prestigious JWU Presidential Dinner. In addition to running the kitchen at Clarke, Shelby also maintains a garden at the Boston Showroom to provide herbs and other fresh ingredients for her menu.
Chef Tiara Hyman
Chef Tiara joined Clarke to run the Milford, MA Test Kitchen in fall of 2020 after serving as a banquet chef at a well-known wedding and special event catering company in Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University with degrees in Restaurant, Culinary and Catering Management, as well as Culinary Arts. During her JWU tenure, she spent six months in the kitchen at The Coral Reef, a gourmet restaurant at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center.
Chef Kimberly Tuntigian 
Chef Kim is the newest addition to Clarke’s culinary family. She graduated from Johnson & Wales University in 2020 and joined Clarke after completing both an internship in Clarke’s Boston Showroom and a summer working in the South Norwalk Showroom. She became a Clarke chef in January of 2021 to manage the South Norwalk Test Kitchen. She has worked at high-end catering companies and chic restaurants, as well as serving as a personal chef in Manhattan and New Jersey. During the past year, Chef Kim was instrumental in helping to feed those in need in New York City during the pandemic.
Clarke Loves Highlighting Women Chefs!
Clarke has always been passionate about highlighting great women chefs. Clarke has partnered with the Greater Boston Food Bank to honor Chef Jody Adams at their Women Fighting Hunger event and highlighted Chef Joanne Chang on “New England Living,” the WBZ television series that was pioneered by Clarke. Great women chefs including Lidia Bastianich and Ellie Krieger have chosen Clarke Showrooms as their television kitchen studios.
Tap Into the Knowledge of Clarke’s Women Chefs
If you would like the opportunity to tap into the extraordinary knowledge of Clarke’s Culinary Team to get the most out of your Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances, feel free to schedule an Ask the Chef session or register for a Wolf Product Demonstration.
