BBC Saturday Kitchen star Asma Khan has revealed she confronted a group of diners in her restaurant after refusing to be served by a waitress because of her skin colour.
“I have a young daughter – she’s a teenager – and an Asian-Indian family told her that [because] she’s black, they’d rather be served by someone else,” Asma said of the incident at her Darjeeling Express restaurant in London’s Covent Garden.
“I intervened and asked them to apologise. I wasn’t aggressive, abusive or angry, otherwise I would be like them. If you don’t call it, nothing changes.
She fumes, “Where is race or gender mentioned in hospitality? Why am I the only one talking about it? Am I the only one seeing the discrimination? »
Khan, 53, who moved to Cambridge from Calcutta in 1991, found culinary fame when she launched Darjeeling Express as a supper club at her west London home in 2012. Within five years its launch, it moved to a location in Soho, staffed with an all-female team before moving to Covent Garden.
BBC Saturday Kitchen star Asma Khan has revealed she confronted a group of diners in her restaurant after refusing to be served by a waitress because of her skin color
However, the popular Indian restaurant, whose customers include London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Hollywood actor Paul Rudd, last closed earlier this month. While reservations were still strong, the restaurant owner gave Khan an eviction notice.
She is now struggling to find a new location, blaming the hospitality industry’s ‘all-white, men-only Mayfair club’.
“Women are invited as guests, they are not powerful and they are on the fringes,” she told the Ways To Change The World podcast. “To the powerful, mostly white, mostly male who network and know each other very well, you are an outsider.
‘The fact that I managed to get where I am, I’m damn lucky. I could have been sunk by all of them.
The Dolce Vita continues for the Duchess of York
Sarah, Duchess of York, won’t be ‘fleshing out into the limelight’ following the fall from grace of her ex-husband Prince Andrew, I was told earlier this year. And, damn it, she turns out to be as good as her word.
Fergie, 62, who still shares the Royal Lodge in Windsor with the Queen’s second son, joined the house band at a tavern on the Isle of Capri in Italy, where she is on vacation.
Sarah, Duchess of York won’t ‘flee into the limelight’ after ex-husband Prince Andrew falls from grace
Band leader Gianluigi Lembo, whose father owns the venue, put his arm around the Duchess as they posed with a saxophonist.
Andrew hasn’t dared to travel overseas since being accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old, which he strenuously denies.
Prince Charles’ restaurant, the Rothesay Rooms, which he set up in Ballater on Royal Deeside, has so far not reopened following the pandemic.
Managed by the Prince’s Foundation, it informs customers: “We will reopen for the summer of 2022.”
However, no date has been set and he seems to be having trouble recruiting staff. This is an advertisement for a supervisor, waiters, housekeeper, assistant manager, chef de partie and pastry chef.
A spokesperson said the Rothesay Rooms were preparing “to reopen after temporarily closing during the pandemic”.
The Duke of Northumberland’s daughter, Lady Melissa Percy, 35, appears to have closed her clothing brand Mistaminadown after less than five years of negotiations
Melissa needs a spell as business stays offline
Lady Melissa Percy – who grew up at Alnwick Castle, who also played Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films – has found the magic in short supply in her clothing brand Mistamina.
The Duke of Northumberland’s daughter, 35, appears to have closed it after less than five years in business. A statement on Mistamina’s website says it is “currently offline” and no one at the company could be reached for comment. The ‘affordable country chic’ collection, which included camouflage bomber jackets and chunky knitted jerseys, was worn by his society friends, including Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriend, Chelsy Davy.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised if Lady Melissa (left) has lost interest: after all, she’s swapped her green boots for Manhattan, where she lives with her second husband, billionaire financier Remy Trafelet, 52 .
Best-selling novelist James Patterson failed to impress a potential reader.
“Once, in an airport bookstore, I stood in line to buy some books and chewing gum,” he says. “I was behind a woman and noticed that she had one of my novels in her basket. I said something like, ‘Oh, you’re going to read one of my books. “The woman didn’t want to believe it was me. I finally pulled out my wallet and showed her my photo ID, but she still didn’t believe me. He adds, “She also handed over my book. It hurts.’
Mylo Sangster, 29, grandson of late billionaire horse racing tycoon Robert Sangster married film producer Alice Burridge over the weekend
Sangster and love go the way of the bride
The family of late billionaire horse racing tycoon Robert Sangster have welcomed a newcomer to the winners’ compound. Her dashing grandson, investment manager Mylo Sangster, 29, married film producer Alice Burridge last weekend. Mylo is the son of Guy and Fiona Sangster, who are such loyal friends of Prince Andrew that they attended his 60th birthday in 2020 after being shunned by many others.
Emma Freud has revealed her beloved cat Meep and four kittens did not survive the fire that destroyed her holiday home in Suffolk last week. “Unfortunately my darling cat and her four little kittens were in the room where the fire started,” said the broadcaster, who lives with Four Weddings screenwriter Richard Curtis. “She could have left through the open window but she stayed with them. Firefighters gave them CPR, but neither of them was successful.
Gladiator star Crowe brings his sons back to the office…
Russell Crowe blasted: “Aren’t you entertained?” after killing five opponents in the Colosseum as Maximus in Gladiator.
And the Oscar-winning actor, 58, may have been hoping for a similar reaction when he took his children to Rome’s ancient amphitheater last weekend.
Russell poses with his friends and family
“Take the kids to see my old office,” he joked alongside this selfie he shared with fans. He was joined by his girlfriend, Britney Theriot, 31, his sons Charles, 18, Tennyson, 16 and a few friends.
Crowe has spoken about wanting to be with his sons from his former marriage to Australian actress Danielle Spencer, admitting in 2020 that he hasn’t “spent enough time with them”.
