Nicola Horlick, the multi-millionaire mum-of-six nicknamed 'Superwoman', has blamed mothers who prefer to stay home at night for the failure of her first restaurant.
In an interview with the Telegraph, the former City fund manager said she had to close her bistro in Barnes, south west London, after 18 months because, she said: "The problem is Barnes is full of mothers with children who don't go out much at night.
"So although we were doing 200 lunches on a Saturday and breaking even, I need to give a proper return to shareholders."
She said it did a roaring trade at lunchtimes but not enough at night.
And she also cited 'outrageous' business rates in the smart suburb for the restaurant's failure and blamed local estate agents for pushing them up.
However, the businesswoman was criticised by mothers who said that while they regularly eat out, they were not 'stupid' enough to meet Ms Horlick's 'ridiculously expensive' prices.
Louisa Platt, 43, told the Evening Standard: "It's absolute rubbish. We eat out at least twice a week, but Georgina's was expensive and had no atmosphere. There are plenty of other restaurants in Barnes that are always busy and really good.
"She opened this place that was just so ridiculously expensive no-one went there. She just assumed people would go because they have lots of money, but they're not stupid."
Cindy Glenn, 38, added: "It's got nothing to do with the stay-at-home mums. It was simply overpriced when they opened. They did change the pricing, but the damage was already done. You were being charged £3 for a croissant."
The 53-year-old named the restaurant Georgina's, after her eldest daughter who died of leukaemia in 1998.
She is now planning to try again in nearby Chiswick, where - although it, too, is home to a large population of 'yummy mummies' - she believes she has found more suitable premises.
And she said, after the furore erupted, that she didn't mean to criticise mums and said the decision to move from Barnes to Chiswick was a 'purely commercial' one.
She told the Standard: "Of course I would never criticise any mother - I'm a mother of six. It's absolute rubbish... I'm not trying to be rude about anybody."
She said the move was based on a number of factors, including the fact the area is more of a daytime destination which limits alcohol sales, the low footfall and expensive rents and council tax.
More on Parentdish: Going out without the baby