Kolkata-born chef Asma Khan has finally revealed the location of her famous restaurant Darjeeling Express in a post shared on her Instagram handle. The song she chose for the Reel? Sia’s Unstoppable.
Unstoppable is apt as Asma’s culinary journey has been nothing less. Darjeeling Express started as a supper club on Sundays at her home, frequented mostly by women from diverse backgrounds, which grew through word of mouth to include a more cosmopolitan crowd.
It took the shape of a restaurant for the first time in 2017 in Kingly Court, Soho. It was a small rented place in Soho and a team of five passionate girls with dreams in their hearts. The struggle of starting a restaurant is immense anywhere, and racism and narrow-mindedness made it a tougher task. A review by a noted food critic in the UK got her food noticed.
Asma then shot to fame with her appearance on the popular Netflix show The Chef’s Table.
A scene from ‘The Chef’s Table’ Netflix
The pandemic put forth new challenges and Darjeeling Express shut in 2020. It later reopened in Covent Garden and then closed again in July this year. It then found a temporary home as a pop-up at The Pembroke, a gastropub located in the heart of Kensington and Chelsea.
Asma had hinted that the new location would have an open kitchen so that guests could see the all-female kitchen running the show.
Now it’s back where it all started. “We are returning to our spiritual home… This was where we began our journey five years ago… It is a joyous homecoming,” wrote the girl who went to Kolkata’s La Martiniere and Loreto College. The post also hints that it’s a “bigger space” and we can’t wait to know more!
