History made: Meet the first woman ever awarded a Michelin star for sushi
At 54, Chizuko Kimura has made history as the first female sushi chef to be recognised by the Michelin Guide, not just for her culinary skill but for a promise kept.
"This star still belongs to him," she says softly, her hands resting on the counter once shaped by her late husband, Shunei Kimura.
The story of Sushi Shunei goes beyond food. It stems from grief, love, transformation, and a woman who never set out to become a sushi chef.
In 2021, Shunei Kimura, a veteran chef with decades of experience in France, fulfilled his dream of opening a restaurant: Sushi Shunei—the minimalist and elegant restaurant in Montmartre, Paris, seats just nine guests.
Just months later, in March 2022, Sushi Shunei earned its first Michelin star. But the celebration was heartbreakingly brief. By June, Shunei had passed away from cancer at 65.
The following year, the restaurant lost its star.
A situation which could have marked the end of the story for many was just the beginning of a quest for Chizuko.
The genius that is Chizuko, in just five years, went from a novice to a Michelin-starred chef in a world where apprenticeships often last over a decade.
When the restaurant first opened, Chizuko was working as a tour guide. The 2020 pandemic had shuttered the travel industry, and with her husband already sick, she stepped into the kitchen to help.
“I had no experience. I was just learning little by little—cutting fish, cooking rice, serving. It was difficult. But I kept going,” she recalls.
Even on the day he died, Chizuko kept the restaurant open. Not out of obligation, but because he had asked her to continue their shared dream. And she did.
“I told Shunei that I hadn’t received a new star, but that I had recovered the one that had been taken from him,” she told AFP, in reaction to the new star.
