At San Francisco's Besharam, Heena Patel is Joyfully Shameless

Don’t be fooled by Heena Patel’s gentle, quietly spoken demeanor: The woman has moxie. Patel’s time has finally arrived…and she’s got the chef’s knife to prove it.

In 1986, after graduating from university, she moved to London (where a sister lived) in order to find a husband. Her father had given her two choices: Get a master’s degree or get married. Those were the only options for a young, middle-...