restaurant industry and "social media influencer" collaborations?

y_p_w

y_p_w

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What's the restaurant industry coming down to with "social medial influencer" collaborations?

There's been some controversy over this incident at a restaurant in San Francisco. The gist is that they were having an "influencer" event where they invited several people to come in, try their food, and then have some sort of video posted about their experience. And it was apparently invitation only. Sounds like the co-owner (not the chef) invited a woman who refers to herself as a "micro-influencer" with something like 15,000 "followers" on TikTok. I won't get into what I feel about TikTok or this phenomenon. But apparently when she arrived early, she sat down at the bar and the chef apparently started doing research on her and came to the conclusion that she wasn't important enough. Then loudly talking about her like she wasn't there, when she was just a few feet away. Then confronting her.

As much as I dislike the whole social medial game, I can't figure out why someone can't just chalk it up to a mistake and just let her do her thing and it all gets forgotten. I get that some chefs have huge egos, but insulting diners for not being important enough seems a bit strange.

https://abc7news.com/post/kis-cafe-...viral-confrontation-food-influencer/17300676/
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This week, a TikTok video in which the restaurant's name is never mentioned went viral, with influencer @itskarlabb, Karla B, describing an awkward situation in which she went to a restaurant for a "collab," and was fairly quickly dismissed by the chef and sent packing because she only had 15,000 followers. She describes overhearing the chef and the host/manager arguing about the fact that she had been invited in for a comped meal, and that this was a mistake.​
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Sung then allegedly confronted Karla, asking to see her TikTok account, and telling her her videos were not of the quality he would want to represent his restaurant. He then, essentially, kicked her out, and she posted the video below describing her embarassment and mortification after she walked away, and the video subsequently went viral — gaining her over 100,000 followers in the process, and garnering KIS Cafe many one-star reviews on Yelp.​

But the restaurant has been doing a lot of damage control. The chef is no longer working nor a partner in the business but did allegedly supply an apology.

 
ripcord said:
What can be lower than trying to be an "influencer?" Virtue is minding ones own business and allowing others to do the same.
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This whole event was contrived by the restaurant though. They're the ones who looked up people they wanted to invite, and this woman was apparently good enough for the co-owner of the business. At least until the chef vetoed her.

I don't really care about Instagram or TikTok, but apparently this sort of thing is where a free meal is exchanged for publicity. I would say that I've followed assorted food videos on YouTube, but as far as I know most are generally paid for, although there might be special access, including the chef. Like being able dine before opening at a place like Goldee's near Fort Worth, or being allowed to set up video equipment. In this case, everyone there was taking video to the point where it was expected.

But in this case, a lot has been made of how the chef went about berating someone for not being important enough to warrant being there after she was already invited and there. First talking loudly about her as if she wasn't there to hear it, then going up to her and even bringing up his own daughter as being more influential. And she didn't mention him or the restaurant by name, but internet sleuths figured it out pretty quickly. And his daughter didn't exactly take his side.

 
I guess chef's are the new pro athletes. Who knew.

Last week I went to an Asian noodle place I had not been before. I believe the son took my order at the counter, dad cooked it, and mom delivered it to our table. They all seemed like wonderful people and the Vietnamese noodle salad was amazing. I wonder if I can get some micro influencer on tik- toc interested?
 
SC Maintenance said:
I guess chef's are the new pro athletes. Who knew.

Last week I went to an Asian noodle place I had not been before. I believe the son took my order at the counter, dad cooked it, and mom delivered it to our table. They all seemed like wonderful people and the Vietnamese noodle salad was amazing. I wonder if I can get some micro influencer on tik- toc interested?
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I frankly prefer mom and pop places to fine dining.

But for the most part this chef is getting grief for being self-important. Someone from the restaurant reached out to her about attending this event, getting a meal, and posting about it. Doesn't sound all that controversial. I for one question this sort of arrangement, but it was the restaurant's idea.
 
y_p_w said:
I frankly prefer mom and pop places to fine dining.

But for the most part this chef is getting grief for being self-important. Someone from the restaurant reached out to her about attending this event, getting a meal, and posting about it. Doesn't sound all that controversial. I for one question this sort of arrangement, but it was the restaurant's idea.
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There were food critics writing for major city newspapers decades ago. And Michelin stars. This is just the new way. In many ways the new way is far better because its much less concentrated and controlled.

If they didn't want to serve this person, they could simply have declined.
 
SC Maintenance said:
There were food critics writing for major city newspapers decades ago. And Michelin stars. This is just the new way. In many ways the new way is far better because its much less concentrated and controlled.

If they didn't want to serve this person, they could simply have declined.
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Well - that's the thing. She was actually invited to this event. Declining her after she'd probably had a fair bit of expenses getting ready to attend would seem rather petty. But the "You're not important enough" part is what the chef is getting savaged over.
 
y_p_w said:
Well - that's the thing. She was actually invited to this event. Declining her after she'd probably had a fair bit of expenses getting ready to attend would seem rather petty. But the "You're not important enough" part is what the chef is getting savaged over.
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Yes, I get that. She was invited, showed up, talked to the guy that invited her, but the chef himself threw a fit. So the issue was ultimately really between those two. She was caught in the fray.

But she now went from 15K to 100K followers and the restaurant is closed - per the article. So the system seems to be working properly - FAFO.

Yes I feel bad for her because she did nothing wrong. Sounds like she was pretty local "her husband was meeting her there after work" I think is what she said in her video, so not a ton of expense likely.

Not sure what your point is. Some chefs / people are idiots. Yes thats certain. I have walked out of a few restaurants for stupidity and poor treatment, and I wasn't even invited.
 
I hate the fake reviews by influencers or whatever you want to call them. The restaurant must pay. We have tried a couple spots with all these videos showing how amazing it is. We went there and the food was bad and overpriced. Reviews are just modern paid advertising now.
 
SC Maintenance said:
I guess chef's are the new pro athletes. Who knew.

Last week I went to an Asian noodle place I had not been before. I believe the son took my order at the counter, dad cooked it, and mom delivered it to our table. They all seemed like wonderful people and the Vietnamese noodle salad was amazing. I wonder if I can get some micro influencer on tik- toc interested?
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I don't think owners would like that.
 
Rmay635703 said:
Except in this case the restaurant closed.

Food influencers are in the top 100 near the beast man.

I ended up watching Jolly because they went to Culver’s. British guys eating Merican food the first time supposedly.
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JOLLY/Korean Englishman does a variety of different content that's not all food. But it's clear that they specifically reach out to many restaurants before the come for visits. Especially if they have a room all to themselves. Or if a chef/owner comes to the table to explain.

When they've done Texas barbecue, it's been different. Their Terry Black's visit in Austin looked like they got in line like everyone else and sat at a convenient table. But for Goldee's near FW it seems that they pretty much had the dining room all to themselves, in addition to having one of the co-owners come by and talk about the food.

This was the Terry Black's visit:



For Goldee's, they were at a table without any other customers visible. In a restaurant that people are waiting 3+ hours to enter. Obviously they got special access.



A lot of their higher end dining has to be arranged in advance. Most of these places won't let people set up tripods without permission. This is different than many of their footage that's clearly handheld cameras from a member of their crew.

 
y_p_w said:
For Goldee's, they were at a table without any other customers visible. In a restaurant that people are waiting 3+ hours to enter. Obviously they got special access.
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Special access for videos (that are well produced) is pretty common for Goldee's.
 
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