head chef; master chef
Specifically refers to the top chef in a traditional Japanese restaurant, especially one who works at the counter cutting board. The term carries a sense of mastery and authority in the kitchen.
The head chef of that traditional Japanese restaurant has been training since he was young.
The master chef himself served us the sashimi.
A traditional culinary term formed with 板, an abbreviation associated with 板前 “Japanese chef,” and 花 in its sense of the foremost or most distinguished member.