Brand-new wine bar shuts after TikTok influencer spat
Kis Cafe chef Luke Sung allegedly scoffed that the influencer’s 15k fans couldn’t afford his restaurant. He’s now apologised for his “condescending, hurtful and intimidating” behaviour, but the drama has sparked debate over the power of influencers.
A San Francisco wine bar has permanently closed after its chef “disrespected” a TikTok influencer, fuelling viral backlash.
On Wednesday, the Bay-Area based influencer, who goes by Karla, posted an emotional video to TikTok where she described a collaboration-gone-wrong with Kis Cafe, a wine bar in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley that opened in May.
According to Karla, while she was setting up to film a pre-arranged promo video, a chef, later revealed to be Kis Cafe co-owner Luke Sung, questioned how many followers she had.
When he pulled up her account and saw she only had 15,000, the chef slammed the TikToker within earshot, calling the collaboration a mistake as she didn’t have enough followers to justify it.
Emotional video
Next, Karla said he asked her where she’d discovered the eatery, and implied her audience couldn’t afford to dine there.
He also boasted that his daughter, Isa Sung, had 600,000 TikTok followers.
Karla subsequently axed the collab, left the restaurant, and recorded the five-minute video summary that she posted to social media, quickly racking up 21m views, ironically boosting her follower count to more than 400,000.
The video triggered strong backlash and Kis Cafe closed its doors for good on Monday 28 July.
‘This was not okay’
Isa Sung, Luke Sung’s daughter, commented on Karla’s video, critiquing her father’s behaviour. “I’m honestly really embarrassed that you had to go through that,” she said. Later, she posted her own video addressing the controversy: “This was not okay,” she said.
Social media reactions flooded in, with a video from TikToker Ed Choi urging the public to boycott Kis Cafe outstripping 3.2m views.
“He was right about one thing: Your followers are not going to be eating at this restaurant,” quipped one TikTok user, while another added, “I can’t believe follower counts are the new currency for respect.”
Following the backlash, the small plates restaurant plummeted to 2.8 stars on Yelp.
Shutting up shop
Its staff released a statement to Instagram, condemning Sung’s behaviour as “unacceptable”, and did not reflect the rest of the team.
It confirmed the chef had been fired, and the restaurant was closing to restructure. The statement also asked the public not to use the situation to “foment racism and hate speech towards us and our loved ones”.
Two days later, Sung posted a public apology to Instagram, after claiming he’d apologised to Karla privately first.
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Sung speaks out
He said: “Karla – I am truly sorry for my actions towards you. 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. There are no excuses to be made, and I’ve decided it’s time for me to step away from Kis cafe permanently and in all capacities.
“I also want to be clear the responsibility of this whole situation is mine alone and my behaviour should not be a reflection on anyone else who works there, or anyone who is related to me.
“I truly care about my staff and am devastated that my actions have impacted both them and their families.”
Public apology
Sung continued: “I have worked with many of the employees at the restaurant for years and they are incredible people who don’t deserve to suffer due to my behaviour.
“Finally, the last person I want to apologise to is my daughter Isabelle. I am sorry I put you in this position, and am ashamed that you had to be the one to own up for my mistake.
“All I have ever wanted to do is give you the opportunity to create a better life for yourself than the one I grew up with, and I’ve failed you in the worst way.
“I came to this country to give all my kids the best chance to work hard toward their goals, and now I’ve given the public nothing but a reason to tear them down for my actions.
“I am sorry for disrespecting all of your efforts and hard work to build your careers.
“To Karla, my kids, and everyone else in the hospitality industry, I hope you will accept my apology and thank you for taking the time to listen to me.”
Social media splits hairs
But the incident divided social media users. Some doubted the apology. “I truly hope this apology is genuine and a learning experience that results in change,” said one. “Cry us a river Sung,” another added, “you are only sorry because you had to face the backlash. The internet will always win.”
Others questioned whether an influencer should have so much power: “His actions were awful, but I feel the restaurant handled it too harshly,” another commented.
And one user chipped in: “Seems a bit ridiculous… no one should expect new food, especially if they are a new establishment,” while one hospitality worker claimed he’d always been “shocked” by influencers entitlement: “I’m sorry this has had such an impact on your career.”
According to Yelp, Kis Cafe was open from 5pm to 10pm and served seasonal tapas. All dishes were allegedly priced under USD $19, with an 18% service charge tacked on to every bill.
Dishes included steak carpaccio hand cut with parsley, Catalan-style pork with tomato and paprika; and Hanger steak with Chimichurri.
San Francisco is dubbed to be one of America’s most expensive cities for wine, with residents, on average, expecting to cash out $17.75 for the drink.
