{"id":1096,"date":"2025-08-15T16:06:23","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T16:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/?p=1096"},"modified":"2025-08-21T10:49:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T10:49:17","slug":"chef-claims-viral-moment-with-influencer-destroyed-his-career-but-whos-in-the-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/15\/chef-claims-viral-moment-with-influencer-destroyed-his-career-but-whos-in-the-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Chef claims viral moment with influencer destroyed his career \u2013 but who\u2019s in the right?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Chef\t<\/div>
Luke Sung of Kis Cafe stepped down from the business after his conversation with Karla Marcotte (Picture: @k.arlabb \/ Isa Sung)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The chef and co-founder of a restaurant in San Francisco<\/a> has said that a viral scandal with an influencer has ruined his career and family. <\/p>\n

Last month, Luke Sung of Kis Cafe stepped down from the business, after a micro influencer named Karla Marcotte said she was left ‘shaking’ and ‘frazzled’ by Sung’s alleged ‘disrespect’. <\/p>\n

In a video<\/a> posted by the influencer under her handle @itskarlabb, she claimed that Sung dismissed her because her 15,000 following (at the time) was too small for the collaboration. Since then it has rocketed to 477,000.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The San Francisco Standard<\/a>, Sung said the incident being made public has since ruined his career and hurt his family \u2013 adding that this mishap came about because his business partner did not make him aware of the influencer’s visit.  <\/p>\n

He said: ‘That night, I was running a special with this beautiful coho salmon. I didn\u2019t want to be misrepresented by someone who doesn\u2019t understand the difference between Atlantic salmon and king salmon.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Luke\t<\/div>
Who is really at fault? (Picture: Luke Sung)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

‘So I went over to her and said, \u201cHi. Somewhere along the line, I think there may have been a mistake. I\u2019m not sure if we have the same audience”.<\/p>\n

‘I think I asked her, \u201cHave you looked up Kis Cafe? Do you know my background? Do you know what we\u2019re trying to do?\u201d <\/p>\n

‘I think there was a lot of “do you know,” and she was intimidated \u2014 which I can understand.’<\/p>\n

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\n
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@itskarlabb<\/a> <\/p>\n

its a long video and not something i would normally upload but i feel like i had to talk about this experience. i basically ran out of there but i wish i would\u2019ve stood up for myself. if you are a micro influencer i know it\u2019s easy to feel discouraged at times but don\u2019t let anyone make you feel small or unimportant!! <\/p>\n

\u266c original sound – itskarlabb<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

After the influencer’s TikTok<\/a> went viral, Kis Cafe said that Sung’s ‘behavior was unacceptable’ and he was ‘no longer part of the team’. <\/p>\n

But who is really at fault here? The TikTokker for such a public slamming or the chef who decided to confront someone just doing their job? <\/p>\n

As a food writer who reviews restaurants around London for Metro’s food and drink newsletter The Slice<\/a>, I’ve had my fair share of incidents that were simply a result of miscommunication. <\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"\"\t<\/div>
Lola is the producer of Metro’s The Slice (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With invitations to restaurants typically managed by a separate PR team it’s easy for them to happen \u2013 I’ve had waiters not been made aware that the PR has arranged a complimentary meal, and incidents where the wrong booking time had been made. <\/p>\n

To me, this is all part and parcel of running a hospitality business, and I like to give staff grace. We all make mistakes after all. But how a restaurant deals with those hiccups is how they can set themselves apart. <\/p>\n

To question the influencer on her knowledge of the restaurant, and according to the account given in her TikTok, ask for her handle and play her videos out loud right in front of her is condescending, inappropriate and unprofessional. <\/p>\n

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\n
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@lolachristinaeats<\/a> <\/p>\n

my top three Italian restaurants in london \u2014 taverna trastevere, lina stores + padella\u2026 any more I should try? #londonrestaurants<\/a> #londonitalianfood<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u266c original sound – lola christina eats \ud83d\udc85\ud83c\udffe<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Whether a restaurant offers complimentary meals in exchange for written reviews or content, and who they choose to work with is completely their discretion. <\/p>\n

And it’s clear that somewhere along the lines, there was a failure in communication with Sung and his business partner which should have been addressed between them privately. <\/p>\n

The pair should have had a prior conversation to make sure they were aligned in their influencer outreach strategy. But to embarrass a guest, whether they are a paying customer or not, is wrong. <\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Karla\t<\/div>
Karla did not name the restaurant she was describing, but viewers were quick realise the restaurant was Kis Cafe (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is also a lot to be said about taking to social media<\/a> to publicly ‘out’ a restaurant \u2013 and some might say that the influencer was too quick to share her experience on the platform.<\/p>\n

However, Karla did not name Sung or Kis Cafe in her video, viewers simply worked out where the restaurant was as it rose in views and received support from the likes of Jameela Jamil. <\/p>\n

And, like it or not, people are entitled to speak about their own experiences on public platforms – whether it’s deemed classy or not.<\/p>\n

A few days later the chef apologised on Instagram for his behaviour, however Kis Cafe has since closed down which ultimately results in a whole team losing their jobs.<\/p>\n

It’s a desperately sad end to the situation, as innocent staff have borne the brunt of the incident, and I hope there are two lessons learned from this unnecessary scenario. <\/p>\n

Firstly, Luke Sung can take from this experience and deal with incidents like these in a better way in his next venture, and secondly, perhaps influencers should pause for a second and think about just who will be impacted by their posts. <\/p>\n

As it might not just be the person they’re targeting.<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\tComment now<\/title><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"comment-now__label\">Comments<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Luke Sung of Kis Cafe stepped down from the business after his conversation with Karla Marcotte (Picture: @k.arlabb \/ Isa Sung) The chef and co-founder of a restaurant in San Francisco has said that a viral scandal with an influencer has ruined his career and family.  Last month, Luke Sung of Kis Cafe stepped down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1096"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1103,"href":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1096\/revisions\/1103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}