The host and trained sommelier Mara Feisst and her team from the Kommod restaurant recently took over the former Pizzeria Azzurro in Vienna and transformed it into Café Azzurro. Just over a year ago, she also co-founded the “Female Wine Collective”: Since then, the feminist collective has been making it clear that something needs to change in the wine industry and beyond, especially for women reading people. This makes her the ideal interlocutor to talk about what working conditions and behaviours are needed to work together in the catering industry without abuse of power, sexism and discrimination - and how a collective like hers, but also a tavern, can be a “safe space.”

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What is the score of diversity in the catering sector?

There is diversity in terms of gender, people of color and queerness. However, it is not visible. And what is often forgotten is that people with physical disabilities are not yet well integrated into the industry. In the case of women — more precisely: female readers or FLINTA — it is the case that there are many and also some in management positions, but this is not known. They are often not mentioned in gastronomic journalism. That's why it's about creating attention and awareness and saying: Maybe you don't see how diverse gastronomy is because a distorted image has been presented so far. The structures have been patriarchal for many years. That's slowly changing, so the first thing you can do is open your eyes. How many FLINTA are there at a wine tasting? Who is named in a report, who actually runs a restaurant?

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In addition to visibility, is sexism also an issue that FLINTA may have more to contend with among all the men in the catering industry than anywhere else?

Of course, this is a big issue. I like to compare it with the film industry because there is a working atmosphere here and there, where you work in close contact every day and are exposed to extreme stress. I myself have also experienced the worst insults; I was once thrown at me. It is easy to abuse power in all forms. Many attacks are not addressed or remain without consequences. When a chef insults or touches a young waitress, she barely has the means or strength to make it public. In this way, you are exposed to the whims of a higher-ranking individual, harden yourself or fight your way through. At some point, they found the company where this is no longer the case. But it shouldn't be that you have to say: That's part of it, you have to persevere. Many forget that the restaurant is also a normal workplace with employment rights.

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These workplaces are often places where you might let yourself go a bit, drink a beer too much and say something you don't usually say.

But that is no excuse for such behavior. It is a system that needs change. And something has already happened: Many companies are currently changing their working culture in the kitchen and also in service, because no one else will be involved soon, see shortage of skilled workers.

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Can a tavern also become a safe space — and do we need such places?

Safe spaces shouldn't really exist, but they still need them: We need to create places where it's possible to talk about things that are unpleasant. One example is the Nobelhart & Schmutzig restaurant in Berlin, which has a Guide of Conduct as a position against abuse of power, sexual harassment and discrimination. It starts with training that you have to create awareness for such topics. In the end, it should be an inner attitude. There is a regulation of labor rights, but there is a lack of a workers' lobby. The Chamber of Labour is helping, but during the pandemic, I noticed that we have no contact persons and spokespersons. Catering is one of the largest sectors of the economy, and politicians should also get involved. The responsibility to create safe places where people can go without fear of consequences is pushed back and forth and, in the end, it is too rare. In our Female Wine Collective, questions about discrimination and sexism pop up again and again that cannot be discussed elsewhere. For example, even in star restaurants, it is common for innkeepers to insist on a binary or sexist dress code — I recently heard of a restaurateur who wants to introduce lipstick requirements for his employees. You don't learn in training whether this is legally possible.

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Was the Female Wine Collective therefore founded to create a safe space for negotiating such topics?

A collective is founded because something is wrong. I had already discussed employment rights with women's networks, then colleagues and I realized that we don't know each other, even though so many FLINTA are doing great things in the industry. That's how we realized that there was something wrong with visibility and said: Let's talk about it together. At the first meeting, we decided: That's enough, we have to do something now. After a few weeks, we already had 62 members — we hit a nerve. It takes a lot of time — we work 50 to 70 hours on the side — but it is touching and empowering together every time we meet. Men create gangs all the time. Now we've founded one.

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Why start with wine in particular?

We have noticed that it is a skew when 30 people are invited to a wine tasting session and only two of them are sommeliers. And in the restaurant, of course, people ask: May I speak to the sommelier? Or when dealing with wine: When I'm a guest, it often happens that I order the wine and my husband gets to taste it. There are always sexist stereotypes, for example that women drink rosé and men drink tannin-rich red wines. Or how to react to a drunken woman as opposed to a man. It's a structural problem, but once you pay attention to such things, you can also work on them as an individual person. The change towards equality starts on a small scale.

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What does your joint work look like?

It's an interest group, and we're definitely doing activist work. We are all FLINTA who work with wine — in retail, in wineries or in restaurants — and have a core operational management team that meets every two weeks. A round table is held once a month, and everyone is invited to attend. There is then a topic for which everyone brings a wine to the tasting. We talk about wine, the industry, what has happened recently, what we plan and do, we arrange jobs for each other. For educational work, we plan events where external people are also invited. Fortunately, we keep getting media attention, we have platforms where we can publish — such as a column in Popchop magazine — and are connected, among other things, with Die Gemeinschaft e. V. in Berlin, which is a network of food producers and restaurateurs for cross-sector networking and educational formats. We work with our presence by giving talks and being present. It seems a bit as if we were the reprimands of decency wew. But that's okay, because that's how people start thinking and seeing if FLINTA is at an event.

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What are goals so that there is no need for blame anymore?

A long-term goal is for politicians to listen to us and help us. It is also about creating a safe place for the future so that young people enjoy working in the catering industry again. It is also important to get colleagues on board; we have great male supporters in our haze. As well as journalism: There is a need for a more critical media view of working culture in the catering industry. We ourselves can only work on a small scale: To initiate change, we need everyone, including the guest.

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What can I contribute as a guest?

For many, it is important that everything on the plate is of high quality. But in the end, few guests are interested in who is behind it or what the diversity in the kitchen is doing. I understand because the inn should be a place where you can relax. But if things continue like this, it will simply no longer exist. We therefore all have a responsibility to make it a place where you sit at a regulars' table again — that is actually what the inn is all about: Everyone should sit next to each other on equal footing, the doctor should sit next to the farmer and the mailman, and different generations should come together.

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When you think of the regulars' table in the tavern, you also think of a cliché of guests who say stupid sayings about women. Is that an outdated prejudice?

I am sure that this is still often the case and that many colleagues or queer colleagues have already had confrontations, homophobic comments and so on. This applies to all areas, from taverns to trendy restaurants. In principle, everyone who is in the restaurant should be appreciated — from guests to cleaners, everyone is equally important. If this were part of standard, respectful treatment, there would no longer be a need for a safe space. It sounds pathetic, but I think that's the key. One goal in the Female Wine Collective is therefore to set a positive example.

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Which specific measures are obvious?

External support is also important, especially for employers, I'll say: coaching. If I am a host and have worked for 40 years, I may be overwhelmed by the demands that young people have. The money should be there. There should generally be a basic consensus in society that we don't have to do it alone.

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Are there other collectives in the sector that are committed to topics such as diversity — can there be synergies?

There is #proudtokellner in Berlin and in Austria the Women's Domain, Lisa Dunbar's Hospitality Worker Collective or the Female Chefs, which are about women in management positions in the catering industry. The Female Wine Collective is still young and needs time, but we want to work more together in the future because they also initiate important issues, one keyword: childcare during night work and discriminatory laws, gender pay gap, occupational safety... We also need partners and sponsorship. Our first birthday is coming up and we are going to have a party there. Then we'll see where the journey goes. We are very hopeful that now is a good time for change — with the support of many, and when you're loud and unpleasant. We need to talk and work together. We don't want to be a bubble and not exclude anyone, take anything away from anyone or diminish their career, but say: There is much more than the tried and tested. When things change, at some point there doesn't have to be anything like the Female Wine Collective anymore.

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