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[00:00.41] Georgiana Viou is self-taught chef, or cook, from the west African country of Benin.

[00:08.11] She moved to France in hopes of becoming a translator.

[00:12.89] Instead, she opened a restaurant there.

[00:16.61] On Monday, her restaurant was awarded a star by the Michelin Guide.

[00:22.46] A restaurant is considered highly respected if it is awarded a star by the Michelin guidebook.

[00:30.16] Viou’s restaurant is called Rouge.

[00:33.61] It is in the southwestern French city of Nimes.

[00:38.13] Viou was not the only self-taught chef to get the award this year. A chef who studied literature, David Degoursy, and pastry chef Jeanne Satori, with a degree in sustainable development, also won a star for their restaurant de:ja. That is in Strasbourg, in eastern France, where the yearly awards ceremony was held.

[01:06.29] Of the 44 new Michelin stars given out this year, Viou's is the only one won by a single woman.

[01:15.05] Several other women were honored as part of a team, like Satori, the pastry chef at de:ja.

[01:24.34] Viou, who is 45-years-old, has said her cuisine is a mix of French Mediterranean and Beninese food.

[01:33.91] She has written several books about Benin's cooking.

[01:39.49] Becoming a chef was a backup plan for Viou.

[01:43.47] She came to France in 1999 to study languages at Sorbonne University in Paris, hoping to become a translator.

[01:53.56] But after working at a communications company, her life changed directions. At age 33, cooking took over.

[02:03.13] As a chef in training, she was one of the few women in the male-centric world of professional cooking.

[02:11.62] She said she does not like being judged because of her sex or skin color.

[02:18.00] She said that “it’s completely ridiculous” to be considered “a la mode” for being a Black female chef.

[02:25.97] A la mode is French for “fashionable or modern.”

[02:31.01] Instead, she wants to only be judged for the food she serves.

[02:36.86] Viou learned to cook from her mother, who had a small restaurant in Benin.

[02:43.24] She first worked toward becoming a chef in Marseille.

[02:48.01] She joined Rouge, in Nimes, after it opened in June 2021.

[02:54.93] Viou's Michelin star was given for her cuisine that celebrates “her Mediterranean environment and Benin roots."

[03:03.69] She was emotional at the awards ceremony.

[03:07.41] At Rouge, “We’re not a team. We’re a family,” she said.