SOME restaurateurs don’t like to admit it when their talented chefs leave. But management at one eatery consistently refuses to tell its customers their cooks have flown the coop.

“They’re not telling people I’ve left,” says Suvir Saran, former co-executive chef at Amma, at 246 E. 51st St.

“Instead, they’re telling [customers] I’m sick and in the hospital, or that I’m not working that particular shift.”

Saran says he and the executive chef, Hemant Mathur – who together received high marks for their Indian cuisine from several reviewers – left last week after a dispute with the owners. They say they’re concerned that any subsequent reviews could reflect poorly on them.

When The Post called the restaurant and asked for Saran, an unidentified man said simply that he “wasn’t in today.”

Saran and Mathur, formerly of Tamarind, say they plan to open a restaurant of their own in the next few months.

* Restaurateur Shelly Fireman is coming to Times Square.

Sources say the owner of Brooklyn Diner, Shelly’s New York, Redeye Grill and several other theme eateries is taking 5,000 square feet of space just off Broadway on 44th Street.

Fireman could not be reached for comment.

* To celebrate its 25th year, Chanterelle owners Karen and David Waltuck are offering dishes at 1979 prices May 10-12.

Bargains will include appetizers for $5, entrées for $11 and desserts for $3. (These days, prices average $15 for appetizers, entrees run around $30 and desserts, $11.) The French TriBeCan is at 2 Harrison St., at Hudson Street; (212) 966-6960.

* Boldface Noshing: Prince Andrew and Ghislane Maxwell lunching at Fred’s at Barneys . . . Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher spotted at the Flat on the Lower East Side with owners Greg Link and Granville Adams.