A new restaurant has closed its doors after one of its chefs berated a TikTok influencer about her follower count when she collaborated with the business.
TikToker ‘itskarlabb,’ real name Karla, had just around 15,000 followers before her video detailing the altercation went viral. Now, she’s got over 300,000 — and the restaurant is shutting down.
In a video uploaded on Wednesday, July 23, Karla shared her experience at the Kis Cafe wine bar in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood. She explained that she was going to collaborate with the bar and promote it to her followers… but the deal soon turned sour.
Karla is a TikToker and foodie, who uses her platform to review local eats in the San Francisco area.
TikToker goes viral after chef allegedly berates her
Karla claimed that she was sitting at the bar when the host and a chef began talking about her TikTok presence a mere “two to three feet” away from her in the small establishment.
“This guy [the chef] is not happy about it. He’s saying that I have too little followers and that this was a mistake. …saying to the host that he shouldn’t have invited me and that this was a mistake, and that this was bad,” she recounted.
“At this point I am turning red because I am so embarrassed and I feel really disrespected.”
The chef finally introduced himself to her — but despite Karla making it clear she was still “excited” about their collaboration, he ended up berating her.
“Immediately he says, ‘Did you do any research on this restaurant? Do you know what we do? Do you know who we are?’” Karla said.
After informing the chef that she’d researched the menu, despite the new restaurant not yet having an official website, she says the chef “smirked” at her, saying she “didn’t do any research” and that “there’s been some miscommunication.”
Karla says the chef then pulled up her TikTok account on his phone and played some of her videos from the search results at full volume before saying he didn’t think her videos were “at the level at which he wants his restaurant to be represented.”
“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. “It seemed like he was insinuating that my followers would not be able to afford to eat at this restaurant.”
“Then he says, ‘Not to be snobby, but do you know who I am?’”
After regaling her of his status as a James Beard award nominee and describing how his daughter had a TikTok account with over 600K followers, Karla began to cry and left the restaurant, informing the chef that she would be “taking note” of their altercation.
Cafe closes after chef’s altercation with TikTok sparks outrage
Karla’s video instantly went viral, sparking attention from major personalities like Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper, who commented: “I’m so sorry queen. He spoke it into existence tho! We your audience will never ever be dining at Kis Cafe.”
As evidenced by Cooper’s comment above, it didn’t take long for netizens to figure out what restaurant Karla was discussing, even though she didn’t name it in her video. Kis Cafe soon became inundated with critical remarks on social media as the clip continued to gain traction, reaching over 21M views at the time of writing.
Viewers’ theories were confirmed when Kis Cafe published an official statement in response to Karla’s video on their Instagram account, where they apologized for the chef’s behavior, identifying him as two-time James Beard nom Luke Sung.
“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 statement read. “As of this post, he has reached out to the creator with a personal apology.”
Kis Cafe went on to state that they are “closing soon and restructuring after these events,” and made it clear that Luke was not fired, but merely left of his own accord in the wake of the viral incident.
Two days later, the cafe posted a statement from Luke on his behalf, where he apologized to Karla, his daughter, and his family for the situation.
“Karla – I am truly sorry for my actions towards you,” he wrote. “I was condescending, hurtful, and intimidating. You did not deserve to be made to feel less than or unimportant, nobody does. Regardless, I thank you for teaching me a valuable lesson in kindness and respect.”
As of publication, the Cafe’s Instagram profile lists the establishment as “permanently closed.”
Karla’s account has racked up over 300K followers in the aftermath. She thanked them in a follow-up video, reiterating that she hoped the restaurant would “take accountability” and expressed some sadness that so many people discovered her because of an incident that “wasn’t very positive.”
Despite this, Karla has been met with an outpouring of support, with even more famous figures like YouTube stars Tana Mongeau and Trisha Paytas commending her food reviews in the Bay area.
“You are a queen. Happy you stood up for yourself. Immediate follow,” Tana wrote.
“Thankful it popped up on my fyp, ’cause your content is soooo good. Immediate follow,” Trisha said.
Tana Mongeau has experience dealing with less-than-stellar service, too; in 2023, she sparked criticism after describing her unpleasant interaction with a wine expert during a vineyard tour in France that didn’t live up to her expectations.
Content shared from www.dexerto.com.