She is one of the rare women to have won a Michelin star, but for French chef Virginie Basselot, being a woman in the kitchen has "never been different" and has even been a strength: "As there are fewer of us in kitchen, we are always a little more supervised and that is what pushes us to perfection,” she notes. Basselot is the Head Chef of the Chantecler restaurant at the Palace Hôtel Negresco in Nice on the French Riviera. The 44-year-old from Normandy defines her cuisine as “fairly simple”, “very straightforward” where the product is at the center of everything. At Chantecler, Basselot sends out Mediterranean-inspired dishes, infusing her scallops with mimosa or grapefruit, preparing beef with anchovies, olives and artichokes, working to regain the second Michelin star that the restaurant lost in 2020. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES