She is living the dream - focusing on hyper-local bounty and about to be a household name - but we are sworn to secrecy about that bit.

What Nub News can tell you is that less than three years into a transformation of a neighbourhood pub in Glastonbury, this colourful chef has made Queen of Cups a magical dining experience with a menu as colourful and inventive as her look.

Jordanian by heritage, growing up in Wales and following a successful stint in London, thirty two year old Ayesha Kalaji is now happily part of the Glasto community and has no regrets on taking the decision to step from a high-profile life in the capital to the Somerset levels.

So we went to find out more about her, her passions and her plates at the Queen Of Cups.

Bounty on the doorstep - only rarely too much of a good thing

Ayesha told us: " Honestly I have not looked back since moving to Glastonbury and there was no way I could be THIS close to suppliers when I was in London, this is the dream, bounty coming in, sometimes literally, to my doorstep for me to cook with. "

Hazelnuts, quinces, courgettes, asparagus... all manner of local harvests arrive at the Queen Of Cups and are then incorporated into a colourful menu, which is always changing, except for a couple of key family dishes.

"This way of cooking is so much more fun and energising and I am creating a chef network too. Then again there can be TOO much of a good thing, last year I had so many apples I had to tell people to stop bringing them to me. But to say TOO many ingredients, how fortunate and lucky I am to be able to say that?!"

Flamboyant, bursting with energy and purple flamed hair, chef tries to link together all elements of her heritage, so there is a special Welsh ingredient in her falafels which (in Nub News opinion) make them some of the best ever tasted.

That said, she does not want to be known simply as a Middle Eastern chef, or to be like any other chef in fact.

" I do try to reconnect with my culture through cooking, but I also want to break the notion that Middle Eastern food has to be kebab and falafel. It is so much more than that. "

Another key dish currently on the Queen Of Cups menu, Nabulsi cheese (made by a Syrian refugee couple) dipped in Somerset honey, sprinkled with preserved lemons and sage.

From London, Anglesey and the Middle East

Ayesha cut her chef chops in some of the most prestigious restaurants in London - having swerved from a degree in Middle Eastern politics and history into cooking after studying for her course tenth century cookbooks.

Her dishes too are a swerve too; they swap in and out as the produce comes in with tasters to marry up with local producers such as local cider maker, Pilton Cider.

"It is not my job to gatekeep Middle Eastern food, I love reinventing dishes, sharing my passions, incorporating new tastes and becoming excited about new recipes," she tells us.

Bountiful area for a chef : Photo by artist Katie Fields

Ayesha has plenty of choice when it comes to suppliers and unlike her London work, they are on her doorstep : " I work with a butcher who is five doors down, I can point to where the cows come from, I work with Avalon Organics and I am going to be doing work with Godney Aquaponics There are all these local growers, so for me it is a bit of a paradise, in London I never had any relationship with any of my suppliers."

Of course until Somerset grows sesame, some ingredients have to be imported, but she tries to make as much as possible local.

" It tastes better for a start and I want to change the fact that Glastonbury is not making the most of what it has on its doorstep. It is crazy that I have just heard of a man who makes miso in Glastonbury - there are people out there doing amazing things."

Such as last week's offer of llama meat - a taste she tells us of somewhere between beef, venison and goat.

The unique cooking twist has already netted Ayesha many awards, who was invited to Glastonbury by her now business partner, already running a local B&B and who would always be asked by guests where to go to have dinner. " Now she can say come to the Cups - a real gourmet baby,* jokes Ayesha.

It is unlike anything we have tasted before and she is unlike any other chef you have seen too

" How many half Arab female chefs are there with purple hair ?" Ayesha asks. "I am ambitious, " she tells Nub News. " Although a Michelin star would be nice I am not sure Glastonbury is the right place for a star. I just don't think it would be affordable for the local community and this place, my place is all about the local community. So I will just have to build an empire, " she laughs.

" I can have more than one restaurant, I want books, TV shows... I want to see more people who look like me in this industry. And I am passionate about mental health and hospitality, I don't just want to create some dishes and that is that."

Of one thing she is sure, one dish will ALWAYS be on the table, an appetiser of pickled turnips, made to her grandmother's recipe. She passed away in February this year aged 95 having learnt the secret recipe from HER mother.

A perfect pairing with Pilton - and Glastonbury

One of the local companies Ayesha has done a menu with was Pilton cider, for the launch of their new product, creating a five course taster as a showcase for the Somerset Food Trail.

She told Nub News : " It was for their grown-up cider, Pomme Pomme which is not sickly or sweet and marries up apples with quince. The company also uses the artisan method of making cider keeving, which makes the ciders a full flavour, so it was a good match to my menus.

"This kind of cross pollination and collaboration, helping out each other, is perfect and I plan to do more, but it is finding the time since I am working here six days out of seven."

Not just food - community too

Although the pub is no more, the Glastonbury community is still very welcome at what was previously called The Hawthorns and music nights are still on the menu.

Ayesha told us: " We still do very Sunday night open mic and we sell our real ales. I would make more money if I made dinner but it is important to the locals that it still happens, so that makes it important to me, and then every every fourth Tuesday is a queer cabaret night, the first queer events in Glastonbury. A safe space for all.

" I was shocked that for a town based on peace and love, there wasn't one of these kind of nights already."

The Queen Of Cups (previously the The Hawthorns which became available when the owner retired) can be found at 10-12 Northload Street, BA6 9JJ

"This is my baby, I am doing what I love, with people who care about me - what could be better than that ?"