The popular White owner of a popular Vietnamese restaurant in Dallas is being accused by Asian American chefs of verbal harassment and cultural appropropriation, reports the Dallas Observer.
In response to criticisms, Peja Krstic of Mot Hai Ba issued a video apology over Instagram on June 24, stating he was busy opening a new location of his restaurant.
“I apologize for not reading everything,” Krstic said in the video. “I know I need to eat some crap right now, because I deserve it.”
Responders to the apology commented that it was a “joke” and a “non-apology,” while other internet users posted in support. Some Asian American chefs in the Dallas area, however, have criticized the video.
Krstic originally received corrections from internet users when he misspelled “bánh mì” on a June 16 Instagram post, Dallas Observer reported.
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When bakery owner and regular Mot Hai Ba customer Tiffany Tran corrected the misspelling, she said Krstic messaged her, accusing Tran of racial profiling and “kicking him in the guts,” according to Eater Dallas. Tran also claimed he obtained her number through the restaurant’s reservation system.
At the time the misspelling was posted, Tran told Eater Dallas, that she assumed there was a person in charge of the social media who would issue a correction without reaching out about her comment.
Tran also told Dallas Observer that Krstic texted her boyfriend, saying, “Your girl took it too far with me today for no reason.” Krstic has worked with Tran’s boyfriend in the past.
“I gave him five days to reach out to me and apologize, and the whole five days I was miserable just sitting on it,” Tran says. “I find it weird that as soon as one person tells their story, all these other stories come out, Tran says. “I got phone calls with people telling me their own story.”
Krstic’s original posts have also led another Dallas area chef and Vietnamese restaurant owner Reyna Duong to post on Instagram on her past interactions with him.
On top of alleging Krstic called other Asian Americans who called him out on his past behavior “Asian piece of shit,” Duong wrote that Dallas media and the community need to have a “larger conversation” what they praise, especially when it comes to white chefs who cook Asian food.
These conversations about cultural appropriation and discrimination against chefs of color in the culinary industry goes beyond Dallas, however. Earlier this month, Bon Appétit assistant food editor, chef and restauranteur Sohla El-Waylly called on former editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport to resign after pictures of him surfaced in brownface, according to The New York Times. Rapoport resigned the same day.
Testimony by chefs and staff of color who made video appearances in Bon Appétit’s wildly popular YouTube channel revealed they were also subject to tokenism and lesser pay than their white counterparts.
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