In recognition of Women’s History Month, IFMA The Food Away from Home Association is looking back at six women whose pioneering work earned them the association’s coveted Gold Plate Award, an honor synonymous with foodservice operator of the year.
We present them chronologically beginning with our first female Gold Plate honoree who received the award in 1961.
Just how did that restaurant name come to be? She was a struggling single mother that, without any prior industry experience, grew a failing business into a steakhouse juggernaut....with a quirky name.
Ruth Fertel’s story has inspired many. Read her story and be inspired yourself.
Ruth Fertel proved steakhouses didn’t have to just be a man’s world
The odds were stacked against Ruth Fertel when she decided to give the restaurant business a try, but opportunities didn’t abound for a divorced single mother of two back in 1965.
A gifted child, she’d skipped enough grades to graduate from college at age 19 with a science degree, having focused on chemistry and physics. That enabled her to land a job as a lab technician in a local hospital—at a salary of $4,800 a year.
She tried supplementing her income by sewing drapes in her home. But, even with alimony, her income wasn’t enough to sustain the family.
Her response has become the stuff of restaurant legend. Seeing a For Sale classified ad in her local paper for a nearby restaurant, Fertel figured she’d give it a try. Never mind that she had zero experience in the trade, or that the place she was considering had failed six times since its opening 38 years earlier.
The exact date of the restaurant’s opening was Feb. 5, 1927, which also happened to be Fertel’s birth date. She took that as a good omen, a veritable green light from the Fates. So, against the advice of her banker, family, and just about everyone else she knew, the Louisianan mortgaged her home for $18,000 to buy the place with an additional $4,000 to renovate it. .
The restaurant was called Chris Steak House. Contrary to the popular myth, Fertel didn’t tack “Ruth’s” onto the front of the name at that point. But she apparently did lack the capital to have signage made with any new name.
On the 60-seat restaurant’s first night under Fertel’s ownership, the place sold 35 steaks at $5 a pop. The back-of-house was largely a one-woman show. Fertel even taught herself how to break down big cuts of beef into individual steaks, which were then broiled rather than grilled.
Mindful of her own financial straits, she populated her waitstaff with single mothers, believing they were highly motivated to deliver the caliber of service that brought big tips.
Having an all-female staff was a point of differentiation that helped to popularize the restaurant. They gained traction and before long, the place became the haunt of local musical stars, standout athletes, and politicians. Chris Steak House became a landmark destination.
She also brought some whimsy to the place. One of her touches: the restaurant’s signature dessert of a trifle-like portion of cake and whipped cream served in a tiny flowerpot. It was a particular favorite of Lady Bird’s.
Then, right after Fertel signed a 10-year extension of her lease, the place burned to the ground.
Fortunately for the scientist turned businesswoman, Fertel had just acquired a property with the intention of renting it out for parties with the restaurant as caterer. She converted that space into a restaurant but couldn’t move over the Chris Steak House name from the first location; the purchase deal for the original space prohibited her from putting the name on any other restaurant in the area.
Fertel’s workaround was to personalize the logo. Thus was Ruth’s Chris Steak House officially born.
The business would grow in leaps, particularly after Fertel started franchising. She continued to run the chain until she was diagnosed with lung cancer at age 73, after 50 years as a hardcore smoker. She died two years later.
The business would be acquired several times, most recently by Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants. The company paid $715 million for the 150-plus-unit chain, whose systemwide sales at that point surpassed $505 million.
Fertel was awarded the prestigious Gold Plate by IFMA The Food Away From Home Association in 1995.
Special thanks to our sponsors The Coca Cola Company and Screiber Foods.