So why don’t more women in the industry come forward, as Ms. Burnham did? Many do: According to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the restaurant industry is the largest source of sexual harassment complaints. Yet all but a handful of them come from the “front of the house.” That’s because, in many restaurants (though certainly not all), working in the front of the house — tending bar, waiting tables — is often transitory work, the sort of thing you’re doing while getting a degree or trying to make it as an artist.

The kitchen is different. Particularly in high-end restaurants, people there are building careers. They start off working prep, or somewhere on the line, with hopes of one day making it to sous chef, or starting their own restaurant. The best kitchen staffs work as a tight team, and foster competition as a way of improving themselves, and for forging through 14-hour days.

That camaraderie needs to exist for the demands of the job, and it can, without sliding into a chaotic environment of accepted abuse and harassment, supported by an understood code of silence. Many women just don’t see the benefit of pointing fingers.

That’s especially the case in a town like Toronto, which is big, but not big enough that you can shake a reputation for not being a “team player.” Even in a huge metropolis like New York, the high-end restaurant community is small, and word travels fast. And so women stay quiet and adjust themselves to fit into a testosterone-fueled environment, or they leave the business.

Although there are many talented women coming out of culinary schools, it’s no surprise that there are relatively few at the top of the industry. Apologists will tell you they can’t cut it. The reality is, women ought to be uninterested in a workplace that’s not just unwelcoming, but so obviously degrades them.

It took great courage for Ms. Burnham to go public, but it has taken even more for her to weather the onslaught of sexist attacks against her on social media. (She has since left the restaurant business.) The challenge now is for other women in the industry to stand up as well.

When I’ve learned of sexism in my kitchens, I’ve taken action, and I’d like to think I’ve set the right tone for my staff. But the problem goes beyond bad apples. It’s the culture. We need public awareness, more people speaking out and a standard of zero tolerance from industry leaders. Slowly we’ll create a new restaurant industry, one that will make the era of kitchen machismo look like the sad anachronism it deserves to be.