Chef: Nora Pouillon, chef-owner, Restaurant Nora Maroufi-Colle placed Pouillon and a glass of wine within an intricate trompe l’oeil frame. “She has nostalgia in her eyes,” the artist said.

The figures around female chefs in the UK are as familiar as they are stark: just 17 per cent of professional chefs are women ...

The female sushi chef in America, who helms, or even owns her own restaurant, is a rarity, a figure who’s been reduced to somewhat of a myth.