A Bay Area restaurant has temporarily closed its doors after a dispute between its award-winning chef and a food influencer ended with the woman leaving in tears and the cook being out of a job.
Chef Luke Sung opened Kis Cafe along Hayes Street in San Francisco in April alongside partner Eric Lin.
Three months on, a press release from the restaurant announced that Sung has left the business and that it would be “closing soon and restructuring after these events.”
“Our chef’s behavior was unacceptable and he is no longer part of the team as a co-owner, a chef, or in any other way,” the restaurant wrote in a statement on Instagram on Thursday evening.
“That behavior does not reflect the remainder of our team. We want to create a space that’s welcoming and respectful to everyone. In this instance, we failed to do so.”
Seemingly part of a publicity push, the restaurant reportedly partnered with a self-described micro-influencer known only as Karla, offering free meals in exchange for a TikTok post.
In a video posted Tuesday under her handle @itskarlabb, the woman claimed that Sung dismissed her because her 15,000 followers weren’t enough to represent his establishment.
“He was saying I had too little followers,” Karla recalled overhearing while sitting at the bar, awaiting her husband. “I am turning red because I am so embarrassed, and I feel really disrespected.”
After introducing himself, the TikToker alleged Sung insinuated that her followers couldn’t afford to dine out at his restaurant.
“He goes on to say that my audience and my followers are not the kind of people that are going to be at his restaurant,” she continued.
“Do you know who I am?” said Sung, a two-time James Beard nominee, according to the influencer.
Sung allegedly criticised the quality of Karla’s videos and made insulting remarks before she agreed to leave.
“At this point I’m crying, and I want to get out, so I tell him that I’m no longer interested in doing the collab’,” the influencer said. “I tell him that I felt disrespected because they were talking about me right in front of me and belittling my work.”
Reflecting on the incident, Karla called the collaboration a “mistake.”
Kis Cafe said that Sung had reached out to the influencer to apologise, and since posting a video about the exchange this week, she has gained more than 185,000 followers.
On Thursday, the woman posted an update to her TikTok account, saying she woke up to a wave of new followers and supportive messages.
“I woke up today to the most supportive and kind and genuine and encouraging comments and messages,” she said.
“I could not be more grateful and shocked at how much empathy you guys have toward basically a stranger on the internet.”
Since the incident, Kis Cafe’s Yelp rating has dropped to below two stars, while Google Reviews has temporarily disabled its review section.
