Let’s Talk is a collaboration of women restaurateurs to counter the pandemic and build combined economic power. It is not an organization, it is not an entity, it is an action-led movement by women business owners as peers.
- Let’s Talk Womxn was started as a conversation forum in July 2020 for women restaurateurs to get to know each other, vent, learn from & support each other.
- It has explosively evolved to much more – to help women business owners build bargaining power, build visibility, combine our voice, and undertake joint economic and political action.
- It has grown to include women entrepreneurs across food and drink.
- Everything we all do is out-of-hide and voluntary, to build each other up.
- Let’s Talk forums connect over 350 women restaurateurs/owners across 12 cities, with both virtual sessions and on the ground initiatives.
- Each Let's Talk forum is co-hosted, nourished and led by 2-4 leading women restaurateurs.
- Marquee women restaurateurs in each city are peers alongside owners of all sizes, stripes, colors and formats. We are in the NRN Power List 2021 Top 50 for inclusive impactful leadership alongside giants within our industry.
- Collaborative city initiatives have included Women’s Restaurant Weeks, multi-restaurant tasting menus, targeting the corporate segment, gift baskets, food fairs, meal kits and subscriptions. Much more is afoot.
- Let’s Talk Women have applied for grants collectively, met with a governor, met city councils, written OpEds, negotiate with vendors, and we participate on panels to share this collaborative uplifting model.
- We are tired of receiving manuals, guidelines & webinars. Our needs are business building visibility and funding to survive.
- We deliberately have no lofty mission statement, statement of values, or five-year plan. The universe abounds with these well-meaning, murky, unaccountable articulations.
- The goal of Let's Talk is simply to build camaraderie and build the combined economic power of our women entrepreneurs through this crisis and beyond.
- Let’s Talk is a business initiative – of women restaurateurs who are battling jointly to survive this crisis. It is a story of collaboration and hope amidst doom. We are happy to share our “B cube model” to inspire other sectors and all women.
- Let’s Talk is founded and led by Rohini Dey, Ph.D. Vermilion restaurateur in Chicago, former McKinsey & Co. and The World Bank, former trustee/founder/chair of the James Beard Foundation Women's Leadership Program for a decade.
Let’s Talk Women Chicago
Supper Club
ORDER BY JUNE 22ND
HOSTED AT VERMILION. THE LAST FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH.
Five incredible women. Five incredible courses. One incredible cause.
Limited In Person Tickets with Panel & Conversation. Or Takeout.
Let’s Talk Womxn Chicago
Picnic in White
Sunday July 11, 12-3pm, Jay Pritzker Pavilion Great Lawn in Millennium Park
Closing event for Taste of Chicago To-Go by Let’s Talk Womxn and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE)
Join thousands of guests dressed in breezy summer whites for a picnic hosted by the City of Chicago and Let’s Talk Womxn on the lawn of the iconic Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. This closing event for Taste of Chicago To-Go on July 11 includes entertainment by women performers on stage, a power-women soundtrack, and interviews with Let’s Talk Womxn restaurateurs and entrepreneurs. Guests are encouraged to dress in white in solidarity with inclusivity and diverse womxns’ power. Join us to make this the biggest annual women power celebration in Chicago.
We encourage all men and women to bring families and friends for this celebration of summer, dining out, and coming together as a city. The event is free to attend, but pre-ordering a picnic lunch and cocktails is encouraged. Food and drinks at this picnic are supplied exclusively by Let’s Talk Womxn. Expect fare from Vermilion, Saigon Sisters, Paramount Group/Eden, Demera, Frontera Group, Bistronomic, The Dandy Crown, Antique Taco, Savory Crust, You’re A Cookie, No Bones Beach Club, La Luna, Chef Q, Justice of the Pies, Pretty Cool Ice Cream.
Let’s Talk Womxn Chicago is deeply thankful to United Airlines and Sysco as our Champions for this event. The technology is powered by UberEats.
Donate
Donate to Let's Talk Womxn to support women restaurateurs during the biggest crisis their businesses have confronted. Enable them to survive and grow.
City Cohosts
Mary Aregoni
Chicago
Rohini Dey
Chicago
Anne Quatrano
Atlanta
Deborah VanTrece
Atlanta
Rosa Thurnher
Atlanta
Jen Ziskin
Boston
Tracy Chang
Boston
Carla Chalkley
Cincinnati
Julia Petiprin
Cincinnati
Diane Gross
Washington, DC
Fiona Lewis
Washington, DC
Micheline Mendelsohn
Washington, DC
Ruth Gresser
Washington, DC
Lara Swan
Lexington, Louisville
Ouita Michel
Lexington, LouisvilleScroll To Top
Bridget Foy
Philadelphia
Ellen Yin
Philadelphia
Jennifer Carroll
PhiladelphiaLatest News
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Reach out to Let's Talk Womxn. If you are a woman business owner in food and drink in a city we're in and would like to join us. Our forum is open to all and we'd love to have you. Or if you're a corporation who would like to work with us. We're open to all help. Or media who would like to feature us. Share our collaboration.
