It takes more than a top chef to produce a great experience.
(Bloomberg) — The Van Gogh-like chef who does everything is the biggest myth of hospitality, and Darjeeling Express owner and star of Netflix’s Chef’s Table Asma Khan wants to shatter it.
There’s at least eight people behind every perfect restaurant dish, Khan said. Yet many of them are over-worked, underpaid and treated badly in hot kitchens laden with abuse and racial discrimination. The solution might be for hospitality staff to unionize—not something you’d normally hear form a restaurant boss.
Until then, it’s lead by example. Everyone in the Darjeeling Express kitchen is on the same hourly rate, from the chef to the all-important kitchen porter who washes every dish twice to ensure customers get an impeccable experience.
Ever since her days as a Cambridge law student selling home-made samosas to raise money for Sarajevo siege victims, Khan has always cared more about creating something meaningful than turning a profit. “When things get hard and the storm comes, you need to hold onto that light in your life,” she said.
Khan is well accustomed to adversity. She lost her Covent Garden restaurant because of Covid. Now comes the cost of living crisis. While Khan’s had to raise prices at her restaurants, she’s also launching a range of ready-made meals in supermarkets to keep her staple Indian recipes affordable for as many as possible.
“What drives me is this whole idea that I will get up irrespective of what’s happening,” Khan said. “Failure’s not an option, and I will not be defeated.”
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