There’s a series on Netflix that I love called the ‘Chef’s Table’. It’s a series of documentaries about Chefs around the world 'who areredefininggourmetfood withinnovativedishes andtantalizingdesserts.’ I really recommend it!

I watched the episode about Asma Khan. She’s an Indian-born British chef that has a restaurant in London called The Darjeeling Express. It has receivedrave reviewsand was named by the Evening Standard as one of the 15 best restaurants in London. The food is described as “amazing”,'divine' and'to die for'.It is particularly unique because it has an all-female team that run the kitchen and Asma is not a trained chef but a woman who discovered that she had an intense passion for cooking.

Asma is extremelyresilientandbattled on despite all the obstacles she faced. She came to the UK in the early 90s with her husband as a trained lawyer . Loneliness hit her and she admits that she felt a'vastemptiness’ inside. She wasdriftingand in the end decided to go back to India where her mum and female relativesralliedtogether and taught her how to cook.

She returned to the UK andthe turning pointcame when she started aclandestinesupper clubin her home. It was a huge success and soon her dining room table was regularly packed withheartyeaters thatsung her praisesShe then moved to apop-uprestaurant in Soho and explains in the Netflix episode that it was a realstruggleat first as they werescrambling around.However ‘losing was not an option’ so ‘shewinged it'and found a way to make it work. Ittook offin a big way and it was doing so well that they have had toscale upShe’s just found a new home for the restaurant in Covent Garden and actuallystruck luckyas shebaggedan incredible site during the pandemic.