Donia Bijan is a San Francisco Bay Area chef who left Iran in 1978 during the Islamic Revolution that threatened the life of her mother, an outspoken women’s rights advocate. After graduating from UC Berkeley, Donia went to Paris to attend the Cordon Bleu. In 1994, she realized her dream of opening her own restaurant, L’Amie Donia, a celebrated French bistro in Palo Alto, California. Since closing her restaurant, Ms. Bijan has divided her days between writing and teaching. Ms. Bijan lives in Northern California with her husband, the painter Mitchell Johnson, and their son.