Photography by Kelsey Shoemaker.
Far more than 50% of people in the service industry are women, but when it comes to leadership positions, men outnumber women 2-1. Michelle Carpenter is looking to change that.
Carpenter owns two restaurants in Oak Cliff — Zen Sushi and Restaurant Beatrice. Zen Sushi has been a Bishop Arts staple for 17 years now, while Restaurant Beatrice made its home off of North Beckley Avenue two years ago.
“I’m half Japanese and half Cajun, and with Beatrice, I was ready to tell the other half of my story,” Carpenter says. “Throughout the whole time that I had Zen, I’ve always wanted to explore the Cajun part of my culture and provide high-quality Cajun food.”
Carpenter was born in Tokyo and moved to America at age 5. She grew up in San Antonio and worked in various Japanese restaurants. In her early twenties, she decided that she wanted to expand beyond being a sushi-maker and train to become an actual itamae, a highly-revered profession in Japanese culinary culture.
She moved to San Diego and trained under several itamaes during a two-year stage, later returning to Texas where she found work at Mr. Sushi in Addison. She then moved on to Yamaguchi’s in the Park Cities, where she was eventually promoted to executive chef under itamae Yama-San.
In 2006, Carpenter decided to open her own restaurant, Zen Sushi.
Zen Sushi has found plenty of success as it has been awarded over 14 ‘Best Sushi in Dallas’ awards, but Carpenter wanted to pay homage to her Cajun family traditions in a second restaurant.
Restaurant Beatrice, named after Carpenter’s grandmother, is an independent restaurant sourcing from local farmers, gulf seafood suppliers and they even have a hand in raising their own pork. They strive to make everything from scratch and their contemporary Louisiana menu provides a large variety of dishes to explore.
“We’re not doing the same things as everyone else,” Carpenter says. “There are lots of very good restaurants in Dallas that make good food, but few tell a story about a chef, people or a culture. Food is culture, and chefs are the leaders of culinary culture.”
In 2023, Restaurant Beatrice was a finalist for the ‘Best New Restaurant’ in America by the James Beard Foundation.
After being in the restaurant industry for 38 years, Carpenter has learned a lot, and wants to share her knowledge with women who desire to be leaders in the restaurant industry.
Last fall, she partnered with Dallas College and Steve DeShazo, the Dallas College Workforce Director, to create the Women in Restaurants Leadership Program. The tuition-free, eight-week program was offered in the spring of 2024 and included seminars, training and stagiaire opportunities to anyone looking to advance in the restaurant industry.
“We really wanted to do something to make an impact on the industry,” Carpenter says. “There is certainly a gap, and personally, I didn’t have any mentors like myself or at all. I know that it would have made my journey as a chef or restaurateur, and a business owner much easier. I wanted to make sure that the students in the program could learn from my mistakes and missteps along the way and take away some hesitation and barriers for them.”
Classes were hosted on alternate Mondays where industry leaders helped students master leadership skills and strategies to grow their careers. Outside of the classroom, students attended stages at Restaurant Beatrice, Zen Sushi and other restaurant partners for shadowing experiences in different areas of restaurant management.
The program was a huge success and will be returning for the fall. Overall, 82% of the students received paid opportunities and 100% of the students felt the tuition-free class was worth paying for given the content and networking opportunities. Two of the students were hired for Restaurant Beatrice and Zen Sushi, and one student signed a lease and is opening her own concept in Fort Worth this summer.
Carpenter says they are also planning an advanced women’s class where a number of select students from the first class will be part of an intensive program taught inside the restaurants. The students will prepare their own menu, market their own concept and open it to the public with a safety net.
“It feels great to see that success, and it gives me energy to continue doing what I’m doing and it just makes it worth all the time and effort and the volunteer hours that we’re doing — we see that we’re making a difference,” Carpenter says. “Even if it’s a small difference in a small number of people’s lives right now, this could certainly grow and become bigger and have a bigger impact.”
