After one of his employees was disrespected and harassed, a chef forbade wealthy diners to return to his restaurant.
Lee Sket, the owner and manager of Cora restaurant in Cardiff (Wales), shared screenshots from the email he sent to the rude customers via Twitter.
His post, which has garnered 14.3K retweets and 132.3K likes, said: “I’m not clout chasing or looking for likes. I just think we should start calling out rich people who think they can treat people like cr*p.”
Scribbling out the addressee’s name in the letter, Lee wrote that the diner and his group ran up “the biggest bill we’ve ever had on one table here.”
Lee realized that this was a good thing for the business, but it was not for Lily, who was the employee who served them.
“Unfortunately throughout the evening I was made aware that your party’s behavior was inappropriate towards lily, who runs front of house,” the chef said.
Lily, 22, had told him she was “talked down to, disrespected, and touched unwantedly” by the members of the group.
“I have spent the last hour having conversations with her that break my heart, make me feel like a s**t employer, and a terrible dad having my own daughter,” he continued.
He asked the diner for his bank information so he could refund their entire bill of £1,000, deducting the £100 that Lee believed they should have tipped Lily because they actually didn’t leave her anything at all.
Lee also asked them not to return to the restaurant.
“Lily means a lot more to me than money,” he concluded. “I also think you should assess the people you surround yourself with.”
People on Twitter praised Lee for being a good employer, with some suggesting that he shouldn’t refund the money.
Lee realized that they had a point after reflecting. He made a follow-up tweet the next day to explain that he “reacted too quickly and emotionally.” With that, he decided not to refund the customer’s money and transferred it to Lily instead.
Lee’s tweet included a screenshot of a bank transfer of £1,000 to Lily, whose full name is Elisabeth Griffin.
If you aren’t familiar with Lee, he is a renowned chef who has worked with Gordon Ramsay, Marcus Wareing, and Tom Aikens. Cora, opened in January of this year, was his first restaurant.
In February, he managed to raise £30,862 on Kickstarter to buy a commercial kitchen for the restaurant. Lee previously used domestic equipment to whip up meals for diners, including “a small oven held together with duct tape.”
“I have an incredible, very small front of house team consisting of the excellent Lily who’s just 21 and runs the show, myself when I have a spare moment to serve, and we’re sometimes helped by my incredibly supportive partner Hannah when she isn’t at her full time career!” he wrote on the Kickstarter page.
You may have heard of Lee a few decades ago in the news. He almost died in 2017 when a truck carrying a crane struck and ran.
“By the time I saw the lorry coming at us I could pretty much touch it,” he told Wales Online. “I just panicked and pushed my son as hard as I could. He was able to get on his own wheels before the lorry struck me. It just completely wiped me out into a wall.”
The driver drove away, but was stopped hours later. He pleaded guilty. Due to the crime, he lost his driver’s licence.
Lee’s son, Jackson, suffered minor injuries, but his dad’s leg was completely crushed. Lee was able walk again after rehabilitation.
Lee deserves praise for being a great and compassionate employer. His employer is very fortunate to have him.
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