Bianca Marchi-Simon has just learnt she’s gluten-intolerant. It’s devastating news for an Italian whose growing hospitality empire includes both a wood-fired bakery and an Italian restaurant – named after her.

But she’s taking it well. Agnes Bakery now has gluten-free sourdough, she says, handing me a brown paper bag containing a loaf of bread and a tightly wrapped stick of smoked butter, and inquiring about my own gluten preferences before I sit down for our interview.