A fussy diner got a public roasting by a top chef after ordering a custom made meal because of her ‘incredibly restricted diet’.
The woman attempted to book a table for eight at the award-winning Middle Eastern restaurant, The Pazar Food Collective, in Canterbury.
But she got an angry reply from chef Attila Yilmaz when she said she couldn’t order anything from the current menu.
The would-be customer said she would need to be cooked a lean steak with sweet potato and a side salad but that she was not prepared to pay the same as her friends.
Mr Yilmaz is no stranger to controversy after previously banning iPhones, iPads, colouring books and building blocks, at his restaurant earlier this year.
Attila Yilmaz, the owner of award-winning Middle Eastern restaurant The Pazar Food Collective in Canterbury, blasted the customer saying: ‘We are looking forward NOT to feeding you.’
Popular Sydney restaurant, Pazar Food Collective (pictured)
Mr Yilmaz posted the entire email exchange posted to The Pazar Food Collective Facebook page.
The woman initially asks if she can just sit and drink while her friends are eating.
‘Can I just sit there and drink or you can only sit at the table only if you are dining,’ she asked.
The restaurant replied saying its liquor licence only covers for ‘dining customers.’
‘All seats occupied by guest of a large group are required to participate in the collective feast,’ it said.
‘We can accommodate to most needs with notice but can’t come up with eight courses for very special needs.’
The email exchange posted to The Pazar Food Collective Facebook page shows the customer wanted to make a booking at the restaurant for seven or more people, but she had a condition
The restaurant replied saying its liquor licence only covers for ‘dining customers’
The customer then replied saying the party would go elsewhere unless she was cooked a ‘lean steak and sweat potato with leaf and sheep’s milk or goat cheese salad’.
She then said she was not prepared to pay the $68 fee her friends were paying for the Pazar Food Collective ‘feast’.
The chef lost his cool with a curt reply.
‘You want to come to our restaurant, don’t like our menu and hence want to create your own menu and want us to cook that for you at a price you determine is fair?’ he writes.
The chef lost his cool with a curt reply
The customer wrote back saying she could ‘sense a little bit sarcasm’ and announced she would go somewhere else.
Yilmaz hit back with a long email.
‘If you and seven of your friends were going to a concert and you were the only one who didn’t like their songs, are sensitive to offensive language and had an intolerance to loud noise would you contact the band and ask them to tone it down, lower the volume and edit their playlist so it is more to your taste?’ he said.
‘Would you then ask for a discounted price when they do this because, well, it’s just not reasonable?’
The customer wrote back saying she could ‘sense a little bit sarcasm’ and announced she would go somewhere else but Yilmaz hit back with a long email
The customer wrote back saying she works for a caterer and they accommodate people with food intolerances every day.
Yilmaz fired back: ‘You work for a caterer? That’s great! Can I book you to cater for one person? Me?
‘I will require you to supply a cook, tableware, water, cloth napkins, a waiter, a venue with a chair, table, music, aircon or heating dependent on the weather. Please email me your quote ASAP.’
The customer wrote back saying she works for a caterer and they accommodate people with food intolerances every day
Yilmaz said he gets such messages all the time and he tried to accommodate requests from people who have a food allergy
He said his business is successful, but he only makes about ‘five cents’ of every dollar
Yilmaz told Daily Telegraph said he gets such messages all the time and he tries to accommodate requests from people who have a food allergy.
‘But when you have someone saying they are on a diet and there is nothing on the menu that they can eat … you have to say to them: “Well, maybe this isn’t the restaurant for you”,’ he said.
He said his business is successful, but he only makes about ‘five cents’ of every dollar.