EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Top TV chef Asma Khan steps in after diners abuse her waitress 

BBC Saturday Kitchen star Asma Khan has revealed that she confronted a group of diners at her restaurant after they refused to be served by a waitress because of her skin colour.

‘I have a young girl — she’s a teenager — and she was told by an Asian-Indian family that [because] she’s black they would prefer to be served by someone else,’ says Asma of the incident which happened at her Darjeeling Express restaurant in London’s Covent Garden.

‘I stepped in and made them apologise. I wasn’t aggressive, abusive or angry, or I would be just like them. If you don’t call it out, nothing changes.’

She fumes: ‘Where is race or gender being mentioned in hospitality? Why am I the only one that talks about it? Am I the only one seeing discrimination?’

Khan, 53, who moved to Cambridge from Calcutta in 1991, found culinary fame when she started Darjeeling Express as a supper club at her West London home in 2012. Within five years of its launch, she moved to a place in Soho, staffed with an all-woman team before relocating to Covent Garden.

BBC Saturday Kitchen star Asma Khan has revealed that she confronted a group of diners at her restaurant after they refused to be served by a waitress because of her skin colour

However, the popular Indian restaurant, whose patrons have included London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Hollywood actor Paul Rudd, closed its doors for the final time earlier this month. While bookings were still strong, the restaurant’s landlord gave Khan a notice of eviction.

She is now struggling to find a new location, blaming the ‘all-white, Mayfair, men-only club’ of the hospitality industry.

‘Women are invited as guests, they are not powerful and they’re on the fringes,’ she tells the Ways To Change The World podcast. ‘To the powerful, mainly white, mainly men who network each other and know each other very well, you are an outsider.

‘The fact I’ve managed to get where I have I’m bloody lucky. I could have been sunk by all of them.’

La Dolce Vita still goes on for Duchess of York

Sarah, Duchess of York will not be ‘shrinking away from the limelight’ after the disgrace of her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, I was told earlier this year. And, by golly, she’s proving as good as her word.

Fergie, 62, who still shares Royal Lodge in Windsor with the Queen’s second son, joined the house band at a taverna on the Isle of Capri in Italy, where she’s on holiday.

Sarah, Duchess of York will not be 'shrinking away from the limelight' after the disgrace of her ex-husband, Prince Andrew

Sarah, Duchess of York will not be ‘shrinking away from the limelight’ after the disgrace of her ex-husband, Prince Andrew

Band leader Gianluigi Lembo, whose father owns the venue, put his arm around the Duchess as they posed with a saxophonist.

Andrew has not dared travel abroad since he was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old, which he strenuously denies.

Prince Charles’s restaurant, the Rothesay Rooms, which he set up in Ballater on Royal Deeside, has so far failed to reopen after the pandemic.

Run by the Prince’s Foundation, it informs customers: ‘We will reopen for Summer 2022.’

However, no date has been set and it appears to be struggling to recruit staff. It is advertising for a supervisor, waiters, cleaner, assistant manager, chef de partie and pastry chef.

A spokesman says the Rothesay Rooms is preparing ‘to reopen following a temporary closure 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 trading

The Duke of Northumberland’s daughter, Lady Melissa Percy, 35, appears to have closed her clothing brand Mistaminadown after less than five years of trading

Melissa needs a spell as business stays offline

Lady Melissa Percy — who grew up at Alnwick Castle, which doubled as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films — has found magic in short supply at her clothing brand Mistamina.

The Duke of Northumberland’s daughter, 35, appears to have closed it down after less than five years of trading. A statement on Mistamina’s website says it is ‘currently offline’ and no one could be reached at the business for comment. The ‘chic, affordable, country clothing’ collection, which included camouflage bomber jackets and chunky knit jerseys, was worn by her society pals, 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 green wellies for Manhattan, where she lives with her second husband, billionaire financier Remy Trafelet, 52.

Best-selling novelist James Patterson failed to impress a would-be reader.

‘One time, at an airport bookstore, I stood in line to buy a couple of books and some bubble gum,’ he says. ‘I was behind a woman and I noticed 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 would not believe that 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 put my book back, too. That hurt.’

Mylo Sangster, 29, grandson of the late billionaire horse racing magnate Robert Sangster got married at the weekend to film producer Alice Burridge

Mylo Sangster, 29, grandson of the late billionaire horse racing magnate Robert Sangster got married at the weekend to film producer Alice Burridge

Sangster and love take the bridal path

The family of late billionaire horse racing magnate Robert Sangster has welcomed a newcomer into the winners’ enclosure. His dashing grandson, investment manager Mylo Sangster, 29, got married at the weekend to film producer Alice Burridge. 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 he’d been shunned by many others.

Emma Freud has revealed that her beloved pet cat, Meep, and four kittens didn’t survive the blaze that destroyed her holiday home in Suffolk last week. ‘Sadly, my darling cat and her four tiny kittens were in the room where the fire started,’ says the broadcaster, who lives with Four Weddings screenwriter Richard Curtis. ‘She could have left through the open window but she stayed with them. The firemen gave them CPR but none of them made it.’

Gladiator star Crowe brings his sons back to the office…

Russell Crowe boomed: ‘Are you not entertained?’ after slaying five opponents in the Colosseum as Maximus in Gladiator.

And the Oscar winner, 58, may have hoped for a similar reaction when he took his children to the ancient amphitheatre in Rome at the weekend.

Russell poses with friends and family

Russell poses with friends and family

‘Taking the kids to see my old office,’ he joked next to this selfie he shared with fans. He was joined by his girlfriend, Britney Theriot, 31, sons Charles, 18, Tennyson, 16, and some friends.

Crowe has talked about wanting to be with his sons from his former marriage to Australian actress Danielle Spencer, admitting in 2020 that he hadn’t ‘spent enough time with them’.

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