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In chef Gabrielle Hamilton's best-selling memoir Blood, Bones & Butter , she tells of running into a colleague on the street, where he introduced her to his mother as "one of the two best female chefs in New York City." Hamilton, owner of beloved East Village restaurant Prune and newly minted James Beard Award winner, then turned to the mother and cracked, "You know what would be great next? If we could just take the word 'female' out of the sentence." Yes, women chefs are still definitely a minority, even though the likes of Hamilton, Nancy Silverton (Los Angeles's Osteria Mozza), Stephanie Izard (Chicago's Girl & the Goat)—and of course the old-school game changers Alice Waters and Lydia Bastianich before them—run wildly popular, critically praised establishments. So how do female chefs not only deal, but thrive in a notoriously macho industry

One of the best things about the Aspen Food & Wine Fest is The Grand Tasting: three tents filled with kitchenware suppliers, restaurant reps, and most of all, dozens and dozens of winemakers offering samples of their product. The famous and non-famous alike milled about, stopping at whatever booth struck their fancies, whether it was snagging an autograph from The French Laundry's Thomas Keller during his book signing, or savoring a taste of $3,700 a bottle port at the Premium Port Wines station. The only problem is with so much choice, how does a girl whittle down her tasting options?